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Contribution Details

Type Journal Article
Scope Discipline-based scholarship
Title Between impact and returns: Private investors and the sustainable development goals
Organization Unit
Authors
  • Falko Paetzold
  • Timo Busch
  • Sebastian Utz
  • Anne Kellers
Item Subtype Original Work
Refereed Yes
Status Published in final form
Language
  • English
Journal Title Business Strategy and the Environment
Publisher Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, Inc.
Geographical Reach international
ISSN 1099-0836
Volume 31
Number 7
Page Range 3182 - 3197
Date 2022
Abstract Text We investigate the expectations of wealthy private investors regarding the impact and financial return of sustainable investments. Our paper focuses on the sustainable development goals (SDGs) as a framework for investors' attempts to create impact. We analyze the behavior of 60 high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs), a powerful yet overlooked investor segment. Our results show large allocations in line with the SDGs, which demonstrates these investors' aim of achieving real-word changes. Furthermore, we show that these “impact investors” have a clear preference for SDGs that are associated with high financial returns. As such, we confirm that both impact and attractive financial returns are expected. Our findings provide rich, deep insights into how HNWIs practice impact investing and their underlying motivations. We outline practical implications for different stakeholders, notably regarding the fact that financially attractive SDGs are likely to attract substantial amounts of capital, with other SDGs remaining underfunded.
Free access at DOI
Official URL https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.3070
Digital Object Identifier 10.1002/bse.3070
Other Identification Number merlin-id:23019
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