Social Stock Exchanges – Do We Need Them?

Friday, January 9, 2015

Public interest in the development of global impact investing received a significant boost last year, due to an international campaign to divest in fossil fuels by superannuation, pension, and university endowment funds.

This emerging market (estimated to be worth $650 billion by 2020) aims to connect social enterprises with so-called “impact” investors. An important aspect has been the creation of social stock exchanges.

While securities exchanges have been facilitating financial market transactions for centuries, the first social stock exchanges were officially launched only recently. So what are they? Are they working? And do we need them?

We explore these questions as part of our ongoing research, interviews and analysis, and recent business media attentionon this market innovation.

Source: The Conversation (link opens in a new window)

Categories
Impact Assessment
Tags
impact investing, social enterprise