Impact investing is on a steep growth curve — expanding about 14% each year and already topping $1.1 trillion globally (GIIN Impact Investor Survey 2024). Financial performance has decades of standards behind it. Impact performance, however, still doesn’t have a shared, practical standard.
Alice Stappen, Impact Manager at Trill Impact
Most investors and companies rarely see and value impact in the same way
More than two-thirds of investors include impact in their governance rules. But translating that into daily investment decisions remains a challenge. There are tons of frameworks and metrics out there, which makes implementation more difficult. What’s missing is a shared foundation: something clear, consistent, and practical enough to use in the day-to-day investment context.
For both Limited Partners and General Partners that means maturity, performance, and value creation are often judged completely differently – making apples-to-apples comparisons almost impossible.
And the risks are real
- Without clear standards, it’s hard to assess impact objectively in transactions.
- Vague claims give greenwashing plenty of cover.
- Complexity scares off founders, making the true value of impact harder to realize.
Trill Impact: Raising the bar with practical standards
General partners are under increasing pressure to make impact measurable, credible, and scalable – not just for LPs, but for regulators and the public too. Good intentions alone won’t cut it. We need tools that actually drive performance.
One proven approach is to treat impact the same way we treat financial results – measure it, manage it, and improve it. At Trill Impact, we’ve built our investment strategy around a proprietary Impact Scorecard that aligns with leading standards such as the Operating Principles for Impact Management, Impact Frontiers, and IRIS+ from the GIIN.
This Scorecard shapes every step of our investment process. It helps us evaluate each asset, compare performance across the portfolio, and spot untapped value creation opportunities.
The IMMPACT Guide: Designed for real-world use
The IMMPACT Guide gives investors and founders a practical system for measuring and managing impact with transparency. It supports investors and companies in analyzing their impact so that they can level it up.
With frameworks like these, impact becomes:
- A stronger basis for decisions – measurable and comparable.
- A real driver of value – the maturity level provides clarity on where investors can unlock growth.
- A signal of credibility – because results are backed by data, not storytelling.
Turning impact into a competitive edge
The market is changing fast. Impact is shifting from a niche topic to a standard part of decision-making processes that are powered by better measurement and management tools.
As more investors align around shared, practical frameworks, impact becomes a true performance metric, not just a feel-good narrative.
That’s why impact standards are quickly becoming a competitive differentiator – not only for dedicated impact investors, but across mainstream capital. They enable better investment decisions, stronger portfolio performance, and more trust from every stakeholder involved.
