As part of a consortium of global public and private organisations involved in the development of the Principles, BlueOrchard has significantly contributed to their conceptualisation. The Principles provide a clear and common market standard for what constitutes an impact investment, addressing concerns about “impact-washing.” They will bring greater transparency, credibility, and discipline to the impact investing market.
Patrick Scheurle, CEO of BlueOrchard said: “It is very encouraging to see the growing commitment to impact investing from both investors and the investment management industry in general. More and more investors rightly expect impact measurements which can be compared industry-wide in the same way as mainstream financial measurements. A comparable, common set of impact measurements will help additional investors to enter the space and make a social and environmental impact. Building on our nearly 20-years of impact investing track-record, we will continue to share our expertise and lead the way in developing and implementing best-practices in impact management.”
“In order to achieve its true potential and fully contribute to the achievement of the SDGs, it is necessary for the impact investing industry to reach scale. An essential component of this process is the improvement, professionalisation and standardisation of the industry’s impact management processes as this demonstrates the effectiveness and relevance of impact investing in achieving the SDGs,” said Peter A. Fanconi, BlueOrchard’s Chairman of the Board.
“Since its inception nearly 20 years ago, BlueOrchard has been contributing to the development of a global and common set of tools and best practices for impact management. We are proud to be one of the few impact investors with a proprietary impact management tool, which we have constantly improved and aligned to industry standards. We are convinced that the IFC principles will become a benchmark standard and therefore have proactively contributed to their development. Furthermore, we are among the first who have already aligned their impact management practices to the Principles, portrayed in our recently published BlueOrchard Impact Report,” said Maria Teresa Zappia, Chief Investment Officer of BlueOrchard.
About BlueOrchard Finance Ltd
BlueOrchard is a leading global impact investment manager. The firm is dedicated to fostering inclusive and climate-smart growth, while providing attractive returns for investors. BlueOrchard was founded in 2001, by initiative of the UN, as the world’s first commercial manager of microfinance debt investments. Today, BlueOrchard provides investors around the world with premium investment solutions, including credit, private equity, and sustainable infrastructure. Being an expert in innovative blended finance mandates, the firm is a trusted partner of leading global development finance institutions. With a major global presence and offices on four continents, BlueOrchard has invested to date more than USD 6bn across 80 emerging and frontier markets, enabling tangible social and environmental impact. BlueOrchard is a licensed Swiss asset manager of collective investment schemes authorized by FINMA. Its Luxembourg entity, BlueOrchard Asset Management S.A., is a licensed UCITS management company as well as a licensed alternative investment fund manager (AIFM) authorized by CSSF. For additional information, please visit: www.blueorchard.com.
For further information, please contact:
Tahmina Theis
+41 22 596 47 69
tahmina.theis@blueorchard.com
www.blueorchard.com