UK social investors must address dangerous inequality levels, new report demands

A “big mental shift” is needed among social investors if they are to address inequality – including actively seeking out campaigning groups and other equality-focused organisations for their portfolios.

This is the message of Equality Impact Investing: From Principles to Practice, a report published on Wednesday by the Equality Impact Investing Project, created in 2016 with funding from the Connect Fund and support from Social Investment Business.

Introducing the report, author Ceri Goddard said investors are currently addressing inequality only in a “relatively limited” way, and need to move from just including equality-focused outcomes, to actively targeting them. Some do so already, often by investing in marginalised entrepreneurs — but they could also back organisations mitigating the effects of inequality or addressing its root causes, invest in other types of business with good internal or supply chain standards, and improve diversity among their own teams. […]