Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • December 2016
  • Article
  • Capitalism and Society

Impact Investing: A Brief History

By: Brian Trelstad
  • Format:Print
ShareBar

Abstract

Over the last decade, impact investing has become an increasingly-discussed topic in the realms of both business and public policy. Impact investors are motived by a desire to advance social or environmental goals and an intuition that pursuing two goals at once - investment returns and social or environmental returns - is more effective than keeping them separate. This article reviews the recent history of impact investing, addresses some of the issues confounding the nascent field, and offers a few definitions that might bring more rigor and clarity to what remains, as yet, a simultaneously confusing and promising investment strategy.

Keywords

Impact Investing; Investment; Ethics; Strategy

Citation

Trelstad, Brian. "Impact Investing: A Brief History." Capitalism and Society 11, no. 2 (December 2016).
  • SSRN

About The Author

Brian L. Trelstad

General Management
→More Publications

More from the Author

    • January 2023
    • Faculty Research

    Natura: Weathering the Pandemic at Brazil's Cosmetic Giant

    By: Brian Trelstad, Pedro Levindo and Carla Larangeira
    • October 2022 (Revised December 2022)
    • Faculty Research

    SMART: AI and Machine Learning for Wildlife Conservation

    By: Brian Trelstad and Bonnie Yining Cao
    • October 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Founders First Capital Partners

    By: Brian Trelstad, Mel Martin and Amy Klopfenstein
More from the Author
  • Natura: Weathering the Pandemic at Brazil's Cosmetic Giant By: Brian Trelstad, Pedro Levindo and Carla Larangeira
  • SMART: AI and Machine Learning for Wildlife Conservation By: Brian Trelstad and Bonnie Yining Cao
  • Founders First Capital Partners By: Brian Trelstad, Mel Martin and Amy Klopfenstein
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College