Pensions and Impact Investing

With their long-term investment approach, large ticket sizes, and market leadership roles, pension funds have the potential to be powerful drivers of positive economic, social, and environmental outcomes.

Grasping the urgency of the climate crisis and social inequalities over the world, an increasing number of GSG National Partners are engaging with pension funds to raise awareness of the practices and opportunities afforded through impact investing.

Through peer-led examples, this paper provides 30 examples sourced from 12 partners of how GSG National Partners and other market builders are engaging with pension funds to provide introductory information about the impact investment market.

Why now?

To date, Pension funds represented only 2% of all respondents to the GIIN’s 2022 Annual Impact Investor Survey. This low figure is alarming, if not peculiar, considering the risks and opportunities that lay before us and the need among pensions to ensure they can make payouts in the long term.

Fortunately, the influence of pension funds participants is growing, resulting in more pension funds not only promising to deliver a good pension, but beginning to prioritise investing in real assets with sustainable features to ensure we continue to exist in a liveable world.