Goals, as defined by the UN, and standardised in September 2015. Historically, economic development has been the domain of governments, with expert guidance from academicians and policy makers. These experts spent their energy and focus studying and evaluating alternative routes to development, and helped governments make the right choices in their nation building exercise. Obviously, the governments collected taxes and provided the funding for this development.

Then there are charitable institutions or family trusts that have also participated in carrying this burden of development. These independent groups, at times bigger than nations, have wielded significant influence over economic improvement. Often criticised for religious or personal biases, their goals and objectives are the same as the government; to help develop communities across the globe. More recently, billionaires with philanthropic attributes, a burning desire to change the world, and deep pockets of personal wealth, are replacing traditional benevolent patriarchs, thereby adding more resources. A prominent example is the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, with endowments in excess of USD 44 billion.

In the backdrop of this economic development framework there is emerging another contributor, albeit currently in small scale, but set to grow. Impact Investing, a concept that is influenced by two emerging trends, is fueling this.

First is the expanding middle/affluent class in emerging market nations, in particular, China, India and other SEA countries, where demographics, and growing local consumption play a big role. This Millennial generation is wealth empowered, technologically connected and wants to make a difference to society. This is also a generation that values social enterprise, which in turn, influences their choices. The second aspect is technology, which has not only brought hitherto marginalised parts of the economy closer to the world, it has also raised the level of awareness, access to resources and rate of learning. These trends are manifested in the success of fundraising campaigns like Movember, Ice Bucket Challenge, or fund raising platforms that have democratised the process of charity and succeeded in raising millions of dollars through the power of social media.

This has also put the spotlight on a sector which has been around for some time, impact investing. In essence, impact investments are those made in corporations or businesses with the intention to generate social impact alongside a financial gain. These double bottom line organisations work with dual objectives; social purpose and a profit goal that helps in the sustainability of the enterprise. They help allocate capital to areas like education, energy, agriculture, microfinance or healthcare, to name a few of the 17 Sustainable Development.