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VIDEO: What's next for social finance?

by Astrid Zweynert

SAN FRANCISCO (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Big data, impact investing and pay-for-success tools, such as impact bonds are hotly debated in the social finance industry.

During a session on "What's Next" at SOCAP, an annual conference to help improve the flow of capital towards social good, panelists provided insights related to these innovations and also discussed pitfalls, in particular in the sector's quest for better measurement of impact and the use of data.

Panellist agreed that even if there is more data, there is a risk that it adds up to nothing or leads to misleading information. The focus should be on insight and making connections between the numbers, rather than creating floods of data, they said. Too much of a focus on measuring risks too narrow a focus and could lead to programmes not getting funded, they warned.

The panelists were:

Katherine Collins, Honeybee Capital

Natalie Foster, Peers

Tim Freundlich, Impact Assets

Vineet Rai, Aavishkaar

Wayne Silby, Calvert Investmetns

Penelope Douglas, Mission HUB (moderator)

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