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

Thursday, December 15, 2016

For impact investing to grow, a critical mass of mainstream funders needs to embrace it. Helping to make that happen is the goal of ClearlySo ATLAS, a recently announced platform with which private equity investors can assess the impact of their portfolio companies. The underlying framework is geared to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

It also can be used by social enterprises to gauge their impact and look for strengths and weaknesses.

“We wanted to develop something that would engage those investors who don’t currently associate themselves with this topic,” says Lindsay Smart, head of impact innovation & research. ClearlySo is a UK-based impact investment bank, focusing on businesses with positive social and environmental returns.