MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Global Impact Investment Network (GIIN) Updates IRIS to IRIS+ Impact Measurement, Management System

The Global Impact Investment Network (GIIN), a US-based nonprofit association of investors, asset managers and other financial institutions with an interest in impact investing, recently announced the launch of its Impact Reporting and Investment Standards Plus (IRIS+). The aim of IRIS+ is to provide a framework to “identify, measure and manage the social and environmental impact of investors’ actions and report their impact to a wider audience in a consistent and standard way” as well as provide investors with “impact data” that can inform their investment decisions. This impact data includes metrics relating to topics such as gender equality, affordable housing and minimizing climate change.

The predecessor to IRIS+, the Impact Reporting and Investment Standards Catalog of Metrics (IRIS Catalog of Metrics), is a collection of criteria for reporting the performance of capital deployed by impact investors. The Catalog of Metrics remains a component of IRIS+, which aligns the catalog contents with standards and analytics platforms that are used in various sectors – such as microfinance – to benchmark social and environmental impact.

Speaking about IRIS+, GIIN Chief Executive Amit Bouri expressed “hopes that IRIS+ can serve as a one-stop shop for investors seeking to understand how a particular goal can, or cannot, be accomplished through a particular investment.”

Established in 2009, GIIN has a 57-member Investors’ Council that works to increase “the level and effectiveness of capital that is supporting market-based solutions to social and environmental problems.” Its total membership includes about 300 organizations.

By Jolene Khor, Research Associate

Sources and Additional Resources

GIIN press release: “The GIIN Launches IRIS+: The New System for Managing Impact”
https://thegiin.org/assets/IRIS+%20Press%20Release_Final.pdf

The New York Times article: “Investing for Social Impact Is Complicated. Here Are 4 Ways to Simplify It”
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/03/your-money/impact-investing-standards.html

IRIS+ overview
https://iris.thegiin.org/

GIIN homepage
https://thegiin.org

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