How do i get into impact investing as a fund manager?

Great question. As a professional investor, I see several different ways that my peers focus on impact investing, or a focusing on placing money in organizations, companies and projects that offer both a social return along with a financial return:

1. 
   

   Directly - there are mission-based organizations (examples: Gates Foundation, Grameen Foundation) whose mission is to invest in impact opportunities around the world. They employ professional investors to identify where an investment may support people who are trying to help a local community or achieve a broad environmental benefit;

   
   


2. 
   

   Indirect - many investment firms and large investors such as pension funds incorporate socially responsible principles into their investments. While they prioritize financial returns, they often seek to support opportunities that also may generate a positive social impact.

   
   

The key to both of these types of jobs is that they require knowledge of investing. Among the people I've known who have pursued each path above, most of them studied business in college, then took an entry-level job involving general investing. Over time, they were able to steer their careers towards impact investing.

Justin offers a great answer that I'd like to add to.

Impact investing is essentially a subset of other forms of investing such as venture capital or private equity, where the purpose of the investment is focused on social impact returns in addition to or instead of a focus on profit. Like other forms of investing, impact investing requires substantial training and experiences.

There are two main paths into a career in investing: 1) you can start as a professional investor after studying in college or business school, or 2) you can work in a business to gain knowledge about the industry, and then become an investor later in your career. Both paths are viable, though many investing firms prefer that their employees have experience on the ground before joining as an investor.

Justin mentions a couple grant-giving foundations, but impact investing also extends into organizations that both try to make a profit and have an impact. Take a look at Omidyar Network or DBL investors, among others.

Hope this helps!

Hi,

As a professional who is not directly in the impact investing space, but works with impact investing fund managers and their portfolio companies, I have a few words of advise. First, this is a demanding, but extremely rewarding field of work and one of the best ways to succeed is to have a passion for the field. This could generally mean a greater sense of purpose that comes from impact investing, or a specific field of interest of which to direct your impact investing focus (for example, investing in education in the Middle East, health care in Central America, etc.). Second, a strong background in finance will pair well with the passion for the work mentioned above (I typically work with fund managers with an MBA or CFA designation). Economics, mathematics, statistics, etc. would also be great areas of studies to enhance the technical aspect required of any type of fund manager, impact investing or otherwise. Therefore, I would recommend at the start of your college career, pursue as many business, mathematic and economic related classes as possible (you will most likely need a few of each to complete your major anyways). Finally, community college is a great way to save money and knock out some 101 classes that will be required of any major, but I strongly suggest if you choose that path, to work on applying to a four year college that is well known for its business/finance department. As you progress in your college career, you will want the most knowledgeable professors and comprehensive curriculum to ensure you have a strong foundation upon which to launch your impact investing career. Best of luck.

Hi,

I do not know if that's what you are looking for. Take a look at this link:

http://www.impactbase.org/info/examples-impact-investment-funds