ESG TRIVIA · INSIGHTS
Can investing create social and environmental impact — while earning returns?
06 February 2026
What is Impact Investing?
Traditional investing is guided by financial returns; philanthropy focuses on social and environmental impact. Is there a way to achieve both -competitive returns and quantifiable social and environmental benefits? That is precisely what impact investing sets out to do.
Nearly 90% impact investors report that impact investing delivers a “win–win”
Impact investing is a fast-rising global trend. Assets under management have doubled in five years, reaching an estimated USD 1.57 trillion in 2024, spanning opportunities from low-carbon transition technologies and healthcare and education innovations to nature-based solutions.
In Hong Kong, the ecosystem is taking shape, with philanthropic foundations, family offices, asset managers and private equity funds becoming active participants.
The evidence is encouraging. Nearly nine in ten impact investors report that impact investing delivers a “win–win”: projects achieve their intended social and environmental outcomes while generating financial returns comparable to market rates - and, in private equity, sometimes exceeding market averages.
In Hong Kong, the ecosystem is taking shape, with philanthropic foundations, family offices, asset managers and private equity funds becoming active participants.
The evidence is encouraging. Nearly nine in ten impact investors report that impact investing delivers a “win–win”: projects achieve their intended social and environmental outcomes while generating financial returns comparable to market rates - and, in private equity, sometimes exceeding market averages.
What sets impact investing apart?
What sets impact investing apart from traditional approaches is its clear impact intent.
Instead of leading with financial returns and only later asking what good (or harm) occurred, impact investors start by defining clear, measurable and verifiable impact goals, and then decide how to allocate capital to achieve them.
Instead of leading with financial returns and only later asking what good (or harm) occurred, impact investors start by defining clear, measurable and verifiable impact goals, and then decide how to allocate capital to achieve them.
In short: invest for financial returns and for outcomes - by putting outcomes at the heart of the investment thesis.
Companies looking to attract impact investors can start by clarifying which social and environmental problems their product or service addresses — and how much change it can plausibly deliver in scale and depth. Key questions include:
WHO
Who are the people you serve?
WHAT
What specific changes are you delivering for them?
MEASURE & MANAGE
How will you quantify and manage the scale and depth of those outcomes?
To that end, companies can consider adopting an internationally recognised impact measurement and management (IMM) framework (as introduced in this column previously) to continuously track and manage your social and environmental performance. Doing so not only strengthens your ability to attract impact capital; it also helps accelerate the uptake of impact solutions globally.
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