#16 | Bridges US Sustainable Growth Fund: Distilling Impact to a Single Robert Parker-like Score

Brian Trelstad has been a driving force of virtually every innovation in impact investing for the last 20 years. He helped start the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs when Chief Investment Officer of Acumen Fund and Brian helped lead the creation of the widely used Impact Reporting and Investing Standards (“IRIS”). Now, he’s telling the impact investing community to stop innovating and start implementing to provide a clear, concise description of what impact is and how to judge it. After all, if Robert Parker can distill the quality of a fine wine to one number, why can’t impact investors pick a simple way to describe impact? Brian challenges core aspects of private investing business models. Is the 2 and 20 economic model of private equity a bug in the impact system as it perpetuates inequality? Should LPs pay more carry to firms that deliver above promised impact? After all, today, (almost) no one gets compensated on their impact metrics. But some day, LPs will be able to incent impact the same way they incentivize performance – with cash payments to good managers. Brian dispels the myths of impact investing and then builds back towards a more equitable future.