Itad is pleased to announce the formal launch of a new Impact Investing and Innovative Finance Theme, led by principal consultant Charley Clarke.
Our decision to launch a theme focused entirely on Impact Investing and Innovative Finance is in response to emerging trends and challenges in international development. It is estimated that investment in developing countries needs to increase by around US$2.5 trillion per year to meet the Sustainable Development Goals. More than half of this needs to be from private investment delivered through innovative channels, structures and partnerships into projects and businesses.
A dedicated theme reflects a growing demand for Itad’s monitoring, evaluation and learning services with new and emerging clients and partners, including impact investment fund managers and non-financial intermediaries, private equity firms, Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), foundations, family offices and institutional investors.
The theme has a growing portfolio of work in innovative finance and impact investing, including in the core areas:
- Impact strategy audits: Itad works with investors and fund managers to critically evaluate their approach to impact measurement and management (IMM). We help explore the alignment between impact strategy and implementation, highlighting any resulting tensions and trade-offs and recommendations for improvement. We conducted an impact audit for UK-based impact fund manager Nesta Impact Investments’ £17.6m venture capital fund that invests in innovative, high-growth businesses addressing social problems.
- Portfolio assessments and portfolio-wide evaluations: Itad conducts independent evaluations of programmes receiving support from impact investors, to help both funders and beneficiaries gain an insight into the nature and magnitude of the social impact generated by these partnerships. We are currently working with the Argidius Foundation to assess the effectiveness of their support to a range of non-financial intermediaries offering support to entrepreneurs and Small Growth Businesses in developing countries to develop their capacity and investment readiness and build links to potential investor partners.
- Longer-term research studies and complex evaluations: Itad conducts long-term baseline-endline and longitudinal evaluations and studies to understand the results of complex, multi-tiered investment initiatives. Itad is leading on a ten-year study commissioned by DFID to systematically analyse the mobilisation of private investment in Africa and South Asia by CDC, the UK government’s DFI. The research study is expected to generate robust evidence and learning to support DFID and CDC understand the contribution it makes to direct and indirect private capital mobilisation. We are also conducting a baseline-endline evaluation for the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the first five years (2014-2019) of the Dutch Good Growth Fund, a revolving fund designed to support SMEs in the Netherlands and developing countries which lack appropriate finance for development related investments and trade.
If you’re interested in reading more about the theme, its members and current projects, take a look at 60 seconds with Itad’s Impact Investing theme.
