The UK impact investing market: Size, scope, and potential

As challenges like climate change and social inequality intensify, the role of finance in shaping our collective future has never been more critical. The UK impact investing market represents an important pool of capital that can help address these challenges.

Our impact investing market report estimates the size and the features of the UK impact investing market in 2024. It is based on a comprehensive investor survey and engagement with over 100 market actors, thought leaders, and policy makers, and updates our inaugural market sizing report, published in 2022.

For the first time, we have collaborated with the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) on data collection to improve the quality and increase the quantity of the data around impact investing. 

Key findings

• The UK impact investing market has grown to £76.8 billion in assets under management (AUM) as of end-2023. This marks a £19.3 billion increase from the Institute’s inaugural report and represents a 10.1% compound annual growth rate from the beginning of 2021 until the end of 2023. 

• Impact investing growth has significantly outpaced the broader UK asset management sector, which had an annual growth rate between -2% and 0% over the same period. We estimate that impact investing accounts for just under 1% of the whole UK investing market.

• UK-based impact investors are supporting impactful companies, projects and assets domestically (34%) and across the globe (66%). Two-thirds of survey respondents plan to increase or sustain their allocation of capital towards impactful companies, projects, and assets in the UK in the next five years.
  
• The UK impact investing market accounts for approximately 8% of the global impact investing market. 

In addition to insights into the market, the report provides a comprehensive overview of emerging and future trends for market growth, analysis of key policy initiatives and regulation, as well as case studies of investment in critical sectors such as place-based impact, biodiversity and nature, and equity, diversity and inclusion.