Impact Investing (II) – your future career destination?

So II currently represents the fastest growing segment of the global investing landscape, projected to continue to grow at 30 % p.a. and reach $500 billion by 2025 in Australia alone. Staggering when you consider it weighed in at a mere $30 billion in 2021, a fraction of the $1.54 trillion of AUS FUM at that time.

What advice can we offer those considering a career in II? Well, firstly you’ll need to acquire a financial/analytical framework in the same way you would for any other form of investing. Just because you may possess a good heart and an altruistic streak doesn’t mean to say you won’t have to do some hard yakka in a CA firm/IB/Consulting firm for a couple of years first.

Secondly, you’ll need to work out what particular type of II you are passionate about, or maybe you are simply driven by a broader desire to ensure your endeavours will have a positive social/environmental outcome. Either way, this can lead our aspirant II investor down a path of great confusion as there are many different types of funds that exist under the II banner and can lay claim to be impact driven.

So, the good news is that you’ve acquired the prerequisite skill set and managed to work out the II target fund of your dreams. However, the route to on-boarding that fund may not be quite so straightforward. Whilst the sector is growing, it still remains relatively niche and as a result the volume of roles still pales into insignificance when compared to the more established investment strategies such as PE/Credit /listed/VC etc.

A plan B might be to secure a role in one of these rather than have to wait at the “careers bus stop“ for an unspecified period of time in the hope that that elusive II opportunity comes along. A sound strategy given this allows you to build an actual investment track record upon your already hard-earned technical skill base. Hopefully this will make you even more competitive for those II opportunities that will inevitably increase in number as the sector grows, as well as give you a good vantage point to figure out your preferred II poison of choice ….!

Food for thought?? Feel free to contact us if want further advice in relation to the II market - certainly one to watch.