It is now established: sustainable investments are not a utopia or an experiment, but a mature reality that guarantees real returns. Among the seven strategies of responsible investment, the most recent to emerge is that of impact investing (impact investing). In a sense, it is also the most courageous, because it means not only excluding less ethical sectors (tobacco, alcohol, weapons, etc.) from one's investment portfolio, but also pursuing a measurable environmental and social return that goes hand in hand with financial return. We are talking about a world in extremely rapid evolution, where things change from month to month. What should we expect in 2017? According to an editorial by Dennis Price for ImpactAlpha, great opportunities lie on the horizon — but so does one threat.

Following the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are the new, ambitious targets that the United Nations set for the post-2015 period. The most widely cited estimates say that achieving them will require a figure of between 3,300 and 4,500 billion dollars a year. The most attentive investors have therefore understood that the SDGs also represent a mine of new market opportunities. And they have begun to allocate capital to health, energy and the fight against poverty.

Putting the spotlight on social and environmental impact

According to the latest report by the Global Impact Investing Network (Giin), presented at the 2016 Investor Forum in Amsterdam, impact investments grew at an annual rate of 18 per cent between 2013 and 2015. The overwhelming majority of investors can only express satisfaction: 95 per cent of respondents achieved financial returns equal to or greater than their expectations. The time has come to demonstrate to everyone that impact investments do good for the planet and for people, by finding clear, precise and effective ways to measure their social and environmental impact. Investimenti Sostenibili LifeGate, the first impact fund listed on the Italian Stock Exchange, has chosen to periodically publish a full impact report. Tweet about #impactinvesting

Environment, but also social justice, territory, employment

One of the most common misconceptions about impact investing and, more broadly, about sustainable finance, is that investment is made exclusively in the environment and renewable energy. In reality, the universe is vastly wider: the acronym ESG (environment, society and governance) was coined to describe it. In 2017, not coincidentally, analysts are calling loudly on investors to focus on "hot topics" such as social justice, employment opportunities (especially for rural communities and categories at risk of social exclusion) and projects closely tied to local communities, which bridge the gap between people's needs and the services that the public sector is able to guarantee.

Not only banks in the world of impact investing

According to ImpactAlpha's analysis, attention should also be paid to certain players who have very little to do with the traditional world of finance. Private individuals, activists, artists and philanthropic organisations who choose impact investing to make their savings work for them — with the certainty of doing something positive for the planet — are growing in number.

The threat of greenwashing

Beyond all these growth opportunities, however, there is a threat looming over the future of impact investing. A threat called greenwashing. The success of sustainable investments is plain for all to see (68 per cent of Italians would prefer them to traditional ones, all else being equal in terms of returns). It is therefore predictable that some operators will try to ride the wave, cobbling together operations in which the scales tip dangerously towards marketing and the social and environmental impact is residual. Eyes open, then: not all sustainable investments are the same and, as in every sector, one must pay extremely close attention to one's choices.

Opening photo: Carl Court/Getty Images