The social investment market is moving beyond the philanthropy investment arena, and starting to raise capital from pension funds and other financial institutions, as well as increasingly delivering market-rate returns, according to a new report from Bridges Ventures and the Parthenon Group.

Investment for Impact: Case Studies Across Asset Classes interviewed 50 pioneers in the social investment landscape and catalogued diverse social investment opportunities.

It broadly found that social or ‘impact’ investment is a growing phenomenon globally. It also found that many funds delivered market-rate or above financial returns, and were attracting investors outside the traditional philanthropy arena.

Microfinance, global health, sustainable forestry and cleantech areas were listed in the report as popular social investments for pension funds and financial institutions.

The report also noted that the social investment sector was moving beyond the quoted asset class in which Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) had its roots and diversifying across a wide range of asset classes that provided investors with numerous options to trade off between risk, return and level of impact.