NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Thursday, July 13, 2017

As impact investing gains steam, with the Ford Foundation recently swinging behind the trend in a big way, more critics are also emerging to question whether foundations should deploy endowment capital in this way.

That’s a good thing. In an $18 trillion economy, the wealth held by private foundations is small in scale and highly valuable. It needs to be managed wisely and used strategically. We should welcome a robust debate over impact investing that’s not just confined to foundation board rooms; a larger audience needs to hear the different arguments.

But as new criticisms start to flow, I’ve noticed that while some raise very good questions, others feel wildly off base.