Impact Investing vs. Sustainable Outcome Investing

中文标题

影响力投资与可持续成果投资之比较

State Street09/24/2026updated 10/17/2026

Unknown economy

Citable research brief

Core conclusion · Tlines extraction

State Street Investment Management defines impact investing around three tenets: intentionality, contribution and measurement, with investor additionality as the defining requirement. Because secondary-market trades provide no new capital to issuers, additionality is difficult to demonstrate in public equities. The paper therefore introduces Sustainable Outcome Investing (SOI), a complementary public-market framework that applies intentionality, asset contribution and measurement via a Theory of Change, without asserting investor additionality or causal impact. SOI is positioned as distinct from impact investing on the sustainable investing spectrum.

Institution: State Street
Published: 09/24/2026
Research topic: Not explicitly stated
Time horizon: long-term · 2023

Key arguments

Impact investing requires intentionality, contribution and measurement, with credible investor additionality as the distinguishing feature.
Most public equity trading is secondary, so capital does not flow to issuers, making additionality difficult to demonstrate.
SOI focuses on asset contribution and measurable outcomes rather than investor additionality, and does not claim direct causal impact.
A Theory of Change links inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes and impacts for both asset and investor contribution.

Key numbers

Core tenets of impact investing: 3 (intentionality, contribution, measurement)
Theory of Change chain components: 5 (inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes, impacts)

Main risks

Using 'impact investing' loosely across sustainable approaches can create a lack of clarity and enable impact-washing.
Strategies without credible investor contribution and additionality would not qualify as impact investing.
SOI avoids unsubstantiated impact claims but does not claim direct causal impact or investor additionality.

Corresponding source evidence

This principle requires an explicit statement of intent to target a specific social or environmental outcome alongside a financial objective.5 Impact can therefore be treated as a third element in portfolio construction for impact investing strategies, alongside risk and return.
• Impacts: The broader, long-term social or environmental effect of the outcomes.6 For example, a simplified ToC for a direct investment in a new wind farm might look as follows: • Inputs: The provision of additional investment capital. · long-term
Guidance for Pursuing Impact in Listed Equities (2023): https://thegiin.org/publication/research/listed-equities-working-group/ 7 Busch, T., Bruce-Clark, P., Derwall, J. · 2023

Context: the conclusion is Tlines' automated extraction, not the institution's wording. Quoted evidence is publisher wording. Scope and date must travel with the conclusion.

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