Investing for Impact

Total Portfolio Project (TPP) develops methodologies and tools to help investors 'Invest for Impact'. 

This means:

• To see impact as a goal not a constraint

• To set more ambitious impact goals while avoiding harm 

• To achieve these goals more consistently

Our quantitative and visual tools enrich the predominantly qualitative world of impact. They enable better decision-making and attract a wider audience of investors to actively invest for Impact.

TPP works with the Center for Sustainable Finance and Private Wealth (CSP), the global leader in impact training for private wealth holders, to leverage the synergies between our initiatives. Together we focus on private wealth because of private investors' relative freedom to pursue their impact goals (versus the strict fiduciary obligations of institutional investors). 

We align our work with consensus frameworks, especially those of Impact Frontiers. We're also not afraid to share ideas that challenge existing norms, including:

• Most impact cannot really be 'measured'.

• Impact risk can be just as important as financial risk.

• Investor contribution is not binary (i.e., 'additional' or not) but rather a spectrum.

What we do

To change a system as complex as the investment world, we need to act on multiple fronts. We work across three streams:

1. Applied Research to demonstrate how to 'invest for impact' in practice. 

   • We are currently building a demonstration portfolio aimed at reducing extreme poverty.

2. Academic Research to align the understanding of impact of leading financial researchers with what is needed in practice.

   • Our research aims to provide a formal, mathematical definition for key terms like 'investor contribution', 'enterprise contribution' and the 'impact frontier', so future research can build on this foundation.

3. Training to change the investor community's ability to 'Invest for Impact'. 

Who we are

What TPP is not

Total Portfolio Project is a thought leadership initiative. Our work is complementary to but different from the following:

• Impact Measurement. TPP helps investors assess the available impact information and use it to make the best possible decisions. We do not do measurement ourselves.

• Wealth Management. TPP helps wealth holders and wealth managers integrate impact into their processes. We do not manage money ourselves.

To maintain our neutrality, we are unable to recommend service providers.

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