IMPACT REPORTING VERIFICATION

We assess the quality of an investor’s external impact reporting based on industry best practices.

 

IMPACT REPORTING VERIFICATION

We assess the quality of an investor’s external impact reporting based on industry best practices.

 

Our Approach

We evaluate the quality of an investor’s impact reporting based on four key principles:

Relevance

Integration of sustainability goals (e.g., SDGs), stakeholder identification, and engagement practices

Completeness

Thorough description of the impact thesis, investor contribution narrative, and impact performance

Comparability

Use of impact indicators that facilitate the analysis of performance over time, relative to other organizations, and relative to expectations

Balance

Discussion of negative impact, identified impact and ESG risks, and instances of impact underperformance

BlueMark’s Reporting Assessment documents the quality and degree of alignment of the client’s impact reporting with best practices and a list of recommendations on areas of strength and areas for improvement.

The BlueMark Value-Add

With the threat of impact-washing a growing concern in the market, asset owners and other stakeholders need a way to know that investors are living up to their impact pledges. Impact reports are an important way to communicate the progress of an impact fund or initiative, but can often contain either too little, too much, or confusing information. That’s why when we verify these reports, we evaluate their quality against a range of relevant market standards and provide recommendations on areas for improvement, thereby providing Limited Partners and other stakeholders with the assurance they need while also encouraging investors’ continued advancement towards best practices.

The Types of Clients We Serve

We serve a variety of impact investors, including asset managers, asset allocators, and companies.

The Best Timing for Client Verification

Impact reports should ideally be verified with the same frequency as financial reports, which in the case of most organizations is annually. In a fund context, these verifications would generally be required throughout the lifecycle of the fund to ensure ongoing impact integrity.

The Industry Standards We Use for Verification

We draw on a variety of impact investing industry frameworks and standards, depending on the particular type of client and their particular impact thesis, investment strategy, and asset class. These standards include but are not limited to:

Learn more about our other impact verification services — Mandate and Practice.

The Industry Standards We Use for Verification

We draw on a variety of impact investing industry frameworks and standards, depending on the particular type of client and their particular impact thesis, investment strategy, and asset class. These standards include but are not limited to:

Learn more about our other impact verification services — Mandate and Practice.