Investimenti a impatto sociale: l'imperativo d'impatto inteso come strumento per le sfide sociali, ambientali ed economiche nel panorama degli investimenti sostenibili

The essay intends to present the state of the art of the concept and functions of social impact investments. To this end, following an introductory preamble in which the broad ecosystem of sustainable and responsible investments will be discussed and reviewed, with the related definitions and taxonomies, the concept, the purposes, the uses and criticalities regarding social impact investments will be examined in more detail. Understood as a relatively "new" tool in the broad scenario of how capital is used, the social impact investment has obtained in recent years a worthy consideration and approval in the world of insiders. What distinguishes it most, in its nature and its application, is the fact that the investment generates, together with an economic "profit", a real positive, tangible, measurable social and/or environmental impact. In other words, impact investments can be defined as a wide range of sustainable investments strategies with the primary objective of creating values and positive effects on society and the environment, at the same time as an economic return. According to the reference literature Intentionality, expected financial return and measurability are the three main element that characterize it. The potential, still not fully expressed, that investments with social and environmental impact have, is extremely high and is an instrument that can be used at local, national and international level. The paper will review the most authoritative publications and expert considerations on the role impact investing has in supporting and giving a new impetus to sustainable development and in achieving the “Sustainable Development Goals”, then it will reflect and support the thesis that impact investment can present itself as a model of "social business", able to guide cooperation along new paths by triggering virtuous mechanisms of investment on entrepreneurial dynamics but by “social” vocations. The essay will therefore try to highlight and explain how impact investing can take charge and represent a new model, a catalyst of resources, a new frontier of the idea of development promotion. Subsequently, the thesis will present more technical and analytical chapters, in which the macro-concept of "social impact investments" will be fragmented and examined piece by piece, depending on whether you want to study its functionality, the reference financial instruments, the actors involved, the investment sectors and the disciplines that characterize it. Moreover, the essay will present a chapter entirely dedicated to methodologies and tools for measuring impact, as well as different evaluation methods and reference indicators. In this part, after a brief presentation about the concept and origins of measurement techniques and methods, some specific index and instruments will be examined. Finally, before the conclusions, the main criticalities and major challenges related to the embryonic world of impact investments will be analyzed. Like all the phenomena in a developmental phase, also this type of market, presents its contraindications and the related risks; in this part of the report i will try to reflect on what may be such negative externalities and what are the main limits related to it. In the final phase I will try to propose a current overview of the evolutionary phase of impact investing and reflect on which could be the future developments of it.