Evidence suggests that many thousands of people and institutions around the globe believe our era needs a new type of investing. They are already experimenting with it, and many of them continue even in the midst of a financial and credit crisis. That’s why the idea of using profit-seeking investment to generate social and environmental good is moving from a periphery of activist investors to the core of mainstream financial institutions.

-Monitor Institute 2008

SAIIN is a national membership association that aims to:

• Fulfil an advocacy role by raising awareness and stimulating debate around the concept and practice of impact investment and its value in the South African context
• Grow the body of research available to facilitate the expansion of impact investing in South Africa
• Research and examine the capacity and technical challenges facing social enterprises, social purposes businesses and other high impact investment opportunities, and chart possible solutions to these
• Consider the impact of policies and regulatory frameworks: how they create barriers and/ or how they could be used to facilitate and encourage the growth of social enterprise and impact investing in practice
• Provide programs and resources to advance impact investing in South Africa through investor awareness and understanding
• Develop effective mechanisms for investors, issuers and intermediaries, including service providers committed to building the technical and organisational structures within social enterprises to enhance their abiltiy to absorb capital, to work together to grow the impact investing sector in South Africa.

SAIIN’s activities will speak to the sector and to demand for additional research and advocacy acitivities as identified by members. A SAIIN Membership programme is currently being finalised and is designed to include organisations and individuals from private and public businesses (from the small owner managed business to multi-national companies), investors, private consultancies, asset managers, pension fund managers, NGOs and relevant government departments.

SAIIN intends to implement a variety of programs to expand the potential and practice of impact investing in South Africa. Member-driven working groups will identify trends, provide information, recommend action and create opportunities for collaboration amongst socially responsible investing professionals. These programmes include:

• Conducting and integrating cutting-edge industry research that showcases opportunities for SRI in academic and policy circles, increases SRI visibility and provides a key information service benefit to members.
• Media, networking and educational campaigns and opportunities to enhance SRI in practice and increase the visibility, credibility, impact and growth of SRI, and particularly of social enterprise in South Africa.
• Member-driven working groups that focus on a wide variety of SRI issues and provide information, recommend action and create opportunities for collaboration amongst socially responsible investing professionals