A handbook is a tool, like an implement with which to dig into the dirt, a hoe with a rough-hewn handle one uses to work the soil, to remove the rocks and to till the ground, breaking up clods of earth, moving it into rows, and opening up new areas for seed and eventual, future growth.

A handbook may also serve as a compass, offering readers an orientation toward the North and helping position themselves in alignment with the forests, mountains and rivers to be entered, crossed and summited. But a handbook is neither a bible nor a book of wisdom to be reflected upon as much as a set of guidelines and guidance for the traveler.

Progress on the Fundamentals

In the brief two years since the publication of the first edition of The ImpactAssets Handbook for Investors, little has changed in the field of impact investing and everything has changed. The field continues to grow, newcomers continue to launch new products, funds and investment firms, and capital continues to flow into the field, seeking impact—but also seeking financial returns and diversified approaches to placing capital in pursuit of doing well while doing good. These newcomers bring fresh energy and new passions, just as they bring a lack of awareness of the past or sense of progress made to date. Indeed, many of the issues and themes impact investors were debating three years ago when we first began assembling this volume continue to be explored, with progress being made on a number of important fronts.

The Global Impact Investing Network (known as the “GIIN”) has now published its four Characteristics of Impact Investing.2 These include the ideas that impact investors:

These characteristics are important because they assert a fundamental set of concepts behind which all impact investors should gather, promote and hold themselves accountable.