Since entering the impact investing space in 2014, our portfolio has grown to 94% mission-alignment and will increasingly include even more impact investments. While our portfolio has transitioned to include environmental and social impact, so has the interest in impact investing worldwide. As of 2016, the sector grew by one-third to $9 trillion globally.

Part of the reason for the growth of this sector is due to financial advisers taking on impact investing as a central part of their business. The increasing demand by investors to incorporate ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) alignment requires advisers to educate themselves on the many approaches to impact investing. Our own advisers at Graystone Consulting have done just that. They have spent years learning strategies on how to manage portfolios to incorporate positive social impact without sacrificing financial returns. Their commitment and growing team of impact investing experts has steered them to become leaders in the space.

With over $5 billion in institutional assets in the nonprofit area, Graystone has come to specialize in impact investments specifically. Their honed experience and true understanding of our values and mission have helped us do the most good with the assets we have. Graystone is now getting the recognition they deserve. They were just named No. 7 in Barron’s 2018 ranking of institutional consultants! We are very proud to have had their guidance throughout the journey into impact investing and are looking forward to continuing to work with them!

At this year's Mission Investors Exchange Conference in Chicago, we had a chance to share our impact investing story. Our President and CEO Irene Pritzker and Graystone Consulting’s Managing Director Linda Stephans were on a panel discussing the importance of identifying the right advisers for investing with impact. Learn more here!