Impact investing has grown rapidly in recent years as more investors seek to generate positive social and environmental impact alongside financial returns. The Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) has played a key role in advancing the impact investing industry through initiatives like the IRIS catalog of impact measurement metrics. Launched in 2009, IRIS aims to provide common standards for investors to measure the impact of their portfolio. After several major upgrades, IRIS is now used by over 5000 impact investing institutions globally. The latest iteration – IRIS+ – builds on the IRIS catalog by offering core metrics, practice guidance, benchmarking tools aligned with major frameworks like the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and more. As the impact investing industry continues maturing, widely-adopted measurement standards like those provided by GIIN’s IRIS+ will be critical for comparing impact data across funds and enabling further growth.
GIIN launched IRIS impact measurement catalog in 2009, now adopted by over 5000 institutions globally
The Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) launched the IRIS catalog in 2009 with support from major foundations and financial institutions. The goal was providing common metrics investors could use to measure the impact of their investments and portfolios. After multiple major upgrades over the past decade incorporating stakeholder feedback, IRIS has become an industry standard adopted by over 5000 impact investing institutions globally. This includes major asset managers with impact investing funds as well as philanthropic foundations engaged in areas like global health and education.
Latest IRIS+ system builds on IRIS metrics with core indicator sets aligned to major frameworks
While the IRIS catalog provided a strong foundation, investors demanded more comparable impact data tied to international frameworks. GIIN responded by launching IRIS+ in 2019 based on input from 800+ stakeholders. IRIS+ provides impact measurement tools tailored to investors’ objectives including: core metrics sets benchmarked to best practices, IRIS indicator sets compatible with existing systems, practice guidance and resources to improve impact performance management, and mapping to over 50 major international agreements like the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Thematic taxonomy and nested core indicator sets allow comparing impact data across funds with different industry focuses like agriculture, education, healthcare, and environment.
Continued IRIS development focused on benchmarking, data aggregation for scaling impact investing
GIIN plans to continue improving IRIS+ measurement standards over 5-10 years to further catalyze growth of the impact investing industry. Main areas of focus include expanding benchmarking capabilities to better contextualize fund performance, aggregating impact data sets across investors to identify gaps, continuously adding indicators, and providing implementation resources. While updates will happen regularly, IRIS+ takes a rigorous, principles-based approach to any substantive changes to underlying methodology or indicators.
As the impact investing industry sees continued strong growth, widely adopted measurement standards like those provided by GIIN’s IRIS+ system will be critical. IRIS+ gives investors tailored tools aligned with major international frameworks to manage impact performance. With over 5000 institutions now using IRIS, GIIN is focused on improving benchmarking and data aggregation to help investors better understand impact investing opportunities.