Impact Investing

Course goals

Learning objectives
At the end of the course, the student:

• understands what impact investing is and how it differs from traditional and sustainable (ESG) investing;
• has analysed the intention of impact investors to achieve positive social impact;
• understands what a theory of change is and have worked with it;
• understands what an impact investing strategy is;
• has seen different instruments that are applied within impact investing;
• has learnt about the trade-off between risk, return, impact, and ethical dilemma's;
• has seen different ways to measure and evaluate impact;
• has seen different impact investment examples.

Content

Fueled by rising concerns about climate change, societal inequalities, and heightened attention for the Sustainable Development Goals, many investors are seeking ways to achieve positive impact. That's where impact investing comes in. Impact Investing is investing with the intention to generate positive, measurable social and environmental impact alongside a financial return. It's a dual purpose: pursuing impact and financial returns.
Impact investors have the intent to generate positive impact. This course focuses on the investing and financing processes of impact investors. We'll discuss and analyse how they formulate the impact goals that they want to achieve, how develop a theory of change to understand how positive impact can be achieved, how they evaluate and measure the impact of their investments over time and how they engage with the companies and projects they invest in.
Although impact is key for impact investors, they also see financial returns. Think of pension funds that have the fiduciary duty to invest such that the pensions can be paid. Besides impact, the course also focuses on the returns and risks of impact investments.

Format
The course comprises lectures, workshops, group assignments, and a written exam. The course is taught using academic articles, textbook chapters and cases.  Additional course materials encourage students to undertake practical analysis of impact investments.