Register For Our Mailing List

Register to receive our free weekly newsletter including editorials.

Home / 123

Impact investing: wealth creation with a social return

Impact investing is a growing field of investment that is helping to finance solutions to many of society’s most pressing challenges.

Impact investments set out to achieve a financial return, as well as positive and measurable social, cultural or environmental impacts.

In Australia, impact investing is in early stages of its development but the momentum both in Australia and globally is building rapidly. There will be many twists and turns on the way, but the opportunity for investors to put their capital to work in ways that contribute to solving issues in line with their values is an exciting one.

There are two ends of the spectrum.

One is the financial return spectrum, where investors will only consider investments that offer a market rate of return and investors at the other end who will accept low or sub-market returns because of the impact on social or environmental returns.

The second is the impact measurement spectrum, where investors are content with anecdotal evidence about the impact of their investment and at the other end, investors expect impact measurement using a global standard independently verified.

Regardless of where an investor sits, the investment opportunities fall into three broad categories.

1. Investing in real assets

Many not-for-profit organisations and social enterprises need an asset to deliver their social or environmental mission, for example, social housing requires houses. Could investors own the properties? Yes. Models are being developed in Australia but overseas examples like UK’s Cheyne Capital, an alternative asset manager that has established a social housing fund, demonstrates the potential.

There are also examples of more exotic real assets such as the Australian Chamber Orchestra’s Instrument Fund, seeded with $1.79 million ($1.00 unit price) in 2011 to purchase a Stradivarius violin. The fund is now valued at $1.40 (2015 unit price).

Clean energy generation assets like solar and wind projects are becoming increasingly popular as direct investment opportunities like the $50 million Coonooer Bridge Wind Farm or via green bonds like NAB’s $300 million bond issued last year that funded 17 clean energy projects utilising the NAB balance sheet to offer investors NAB issued risk.

2. Developing social enterprise

Social enterprises are businesses that trade in goods and services, to generate funding for or directly deliver social or environmental change:

  • Product or service impact Pollinate Energy aims to provide safe, affordable energy solutions to India’s vulnerable urban slum communities. Impact – 8,963 systems installed, 41,229 people reached.
  • Operating model impact StrEat, a hospitality operator, employs young homeless people in Melbourne providing training with the aim of supporting them into long term employment in hospitality. Impact – supports 108 young people per annum.
  • Revenue/profit share impactWho Gives a Crap toilet paper where 50% of the profit goes to WaterAid to build toilets and improve sanitation in the developing world. Impact – 46,500 people given access to toilets, 4,604 trees saved via recycled paper.
  • Ownership impact – Feast of Merit restaurant in Swan St Richmond owned by YGAP, an organisation that uses profits from the restaurant to fund social entrepreneurs in developing countries. Impact – 149 entrepreneurs supported, 84,142 lives impacted.

Investing in social enterprises is like investing in any other business. It can be debt or equity and whilst many of the current Australian examples are at venture capital stage, they don’t have to be. In 2014 it was announced that Bain Capital had acquired 50% of Toms Shoes in the US. For every pair of shoes Toms sells, a new pair is also provided to an impoverished child (see 3 above). And the financial return was significant; Reuters reported that the transaction valued the company at $625 million.

Three Social Enterprise Development Funds were established and co-funded by the Australian Government in 2012, managed by Social Ventures Australia (SVA), Foresters and SEFA ($40 million) for investing in development of social enterprises. Privately funded vehicles like Impact Investment Group have appeared since, providing investors with opportunities to invest directly in businesses with a social or environmental mission.

3. Financing programme delivery

There has also been a change with government, philanthropic funders and service delivery organisations shifting some of their funding arrangements towards ‘payment by outcomes’ as opposed to ‘payment for delivery’, which can then lead to an instrument like a social impact bond.

Prevention is certainly better than cure. In many cases we often wait for a social issue to occur and then government or a social service provider manages the issue. In most cases, paying for prevention is less financially burdensome.

Let’s use an issue relating to early childhood as an example. We know an investment made in the first three years of a child’s life gives the greatest returns. According to one international study, with every $1 spent on early childhood education, society sees a return of over $7. On the flipside what if we knew the issue of children not being ready for education when they reach school was costing the taxpayer a lot of money?

An impact investment on this issue would:

  • Analyse the landscape of how much it costs the taxpayer to address social issues connected to children not being properly ready for education when they reach school.
  • Assess the effectiveness of an intervention to prevent the issue and enable children to be school ready.
  • Assess the cost saving that can be achieved by focusing on the prevention.
  • Determine a partner to fund that will enable the delivery of this service and share the cost savings with that organisation that has intervened to stop the future cost occurring.

This is one version of a ‘payment by outcomes’ arrangement. Private investors are offered the opportunity to fund the programme and receive a financial return linked to the outcomes achieved. This is called a social impact (or benefit) bond.

There are two bonds currently in Australia (approximately 50 globally), the Newpin Bond ($7 million) and The Benevolent Society Bond ($10 million), both focussed on prevention of out of home care for children. The NSW Government has committed to two similar transactions a year for the next four years, South Australia is close to a potential bond programmes and Queensland has just announced its plans.

There is interest and momentum growing daily, and Australia is playing a leadership role in the global market development through our participation in the Global Steering Group (previously G8 Social Impact Investment Taskforce). Impact investing is estimated to reach A$32 billion domestically over the next decade.

 

Daniel Madhavan is CEO of Impact Investing Australia. The inaugural Impact Investment Summit Asia Pacific will be held in Sydney from 19-21 October 2015 and will showcase the strategies for finding impact investments and measuring their success.

 

RELATED ARTICLES

Beyond the acronym, navigating important ESG choices

Responsible investing is now retail and mainstream

Impact investing – Australian market in 2014

banner

Most viewed in recent weeks

Raising the GST to 15%

Treasurer Jim Chalmers aims to tackle tax reform but faces challenges. Previous reviews struggled due to political sensitivities, highlighting the need for comprehensive and politically feasible change.

7 examples of how the new super tax will be calculated

You've no doubt heard about Division 296. These case studies show what people at various levels above the $3 million threshold might need to pay the ATO, with examples ranging from under $500 to more than $35,000.

Are franking credits hurting Australia’s economy?

Business investment and per capita GDP have languished over the past decade and the Labor Government is conducting inquiries to find out why. Franking credits should be part of the debate about our stalling economy.

Here's what should replace the $3 million super tax

With Div. 296 looming, is there a smarter way to tax superannuation? This proposes a fairer, income-linked alternative that respects compounding, ensures predictability, and avoids taxing unrealised capital gains. 

The rubbery numbers behind super tax concessions

In selling the super tax, Labor has repeated Treasury claims of there being $50 billion in super tax concessions annually, mostly flowing to high-income earners. This figure is vastly overstated.

9 winning investment strategies

There are many ways to invest in stocks, but some strategies are more effective than others. Here are nine tried and tested investment approaches - choosing one of these can improve your chances of reaching your financial goals.

Latest Updates

Taxation

100 Aussies: seven charts on who earns, pays, and owns

The Labor government is talking up tax reform to lift Australia’s ailing economic growth. Before any changes are made, it’s important to know who pays tax, who owns assets, and how much people have in their super for retirement.

7 key charts on the state of the Australian property market

The Australian property market stirs fierce debate - often bullish optimism versus crash predictions. But beyond the noise, seven charts reveal what's really driving prices and the outlook for residential real estate.

A simple alternative to the $3 million super tax

Division 296 aims to introduce improved fairness into the superannuation system, yet is overly complex. This scours the world for better ideas and suggests a simpler alternative which can achieve the same goals.

CBA and the index conundrum for super funds

After the hyperbolic rise in CBA shares, super funds are floating the idea of carving out the weightings of ASX bank securities and indexing them within their portfolios. This looks at why that might be a big error.

Strategy

10 policies to drive Australian productivity higher

Here's a comprehensive list of proposed reforms to fix Australia's stagnating economy, including introducing a flat income tax rate, reducing migration, and making childcare tax-deductible.

Interviews

Where to find big winners in Asia

As more money looks for a home outside the US, Asia may soon get some love. Fidelity's Anthony Srom outlines the best places in Asia to invest, including in Chinese consumer names, Indian financials, and Thailand.

Investment strategies

We have trouble understanding the time value of money

We overvalue the present and underestimate the future - it’s a cognitive glitch called hyperbolic discounting. It affects savings, spending, and loans, and it's more common - and costly - than we think. 

Sponsors

Alliances

© 2025 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved.

Disclaimer
The data, research and opinions provided here are for information purposes; are not an offer to buy or sell a security; and are not warranted to be correct, complete or accurate. Morningstar, its affiliates, and third-party content providers are not responsible for any investment decisions, damages or losses resulting from, or related to, the data and analyses or their use. To the extent any content is general advice, it has been prepared for clients of Morningstar Australasia Pty Ltd (ABN: 95 090 665 544, AFSL: 240892), without reference to your financial objectives, situation or needs. For more information refer to our Financial Services Guide. You should consider the advice in light of these matters and if applicable, the relevant Product Disclosure Statement before making any decision to invest. Past performance does not necessarily indicate a financial product’s future performance. To obtain advice tailored to your situation, contact a professional financial adviser. Articles are current as at date of publication.
This website contains information and opinions provided by third parties. Inclusion of this information does not necessarily represent Morningstar’s positions, strategies or opinions and should not be considered an endorsement by Morningstar.