What Is Impact Investing? Is It Different From ESG?: QuickTake

If global finance is turning away from ethical investing strategies in the “anti-woke” era, at least one corner of the industry didn’t get the memo.

Despite the US Trump administration’s attacks on ESG — investment strategies guided by environmental, social and governance concerns — impact investing is still growing in popularity. Japan’s $1.7 trillion Government Pension Investment Fund is the latest major financial institution to say it’s studying the approach.

ESG and impact investing can be confused as they both apply factors to investment decisions beyond simple financial gain. But they come from quite different places: ESG is used as ...