Thomson Reuters Foundation: Why impact investing can help solve the world’s problems
Mark Haefele, chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management

“…Impact investing, which seeks to generate measurable positive outcomes for people and planet as well as competitive returns, is a promising tool to support the United Nations’ framework for driving real, sustainable change, known as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, there are three major factors holding back these endeavors. … The first is a lack of awareness. … The second obstacle is too much complexity. … The third obstacle is too little financial contribution toward achieving the SDGs. … The current funding gap is a major impediment to achieving the SDGs. However, private investors are willing to make a greater contribution to this effort if the World Economic Forum and other organizations can work towards high quality investment standards and increase the awareness of opportunities to do well while doing good” (1/29).