"When you do the math, impact investing seems worse for the world and worse for your pocketbook than just investing traditionally, earning higher returns, and donating the difference. Impact investments are often marketed as a cost-free way of doing good. But they′re not cost-free, and under typical circumstances it doesn′t look like they′re doing much good."

[COMMENTARY]The arguments presented in this article are largely reliant on a newpaper by John Halstead of Founder′s Pledge and Hauke Hillebrandt at the Center for Global Development. Judging by their degrees they’re highly intelligent people.

However, their thesis seems largely dependent on biased, philosophical arguments with little or no empirical data to support their views. In a few cases though, they do make some useful observations such as sustainable funds investing in tobacco and fossil fuel companies.

Such misrepresentation is unfortunately common and that’s why investors who really want investments to closely resemble their personal values are better off with an individual stock portfolio which caneasily be accomplished.
“Impact investment” funds advertise great returns and social impacts. They aren′t delivering, by Kelsey Piper, December 18, 2018, VOX, USA.