Our Thinking

Women Effect Investments, in its role as a field-building initiative, has established thought leadership by publishing both a set of research on the roots of the field, its current state, and its potential and also a set of short overviews that make the case for gender lens investing and explore specific themes.

In its first two years, the initiative surveyed the landscape of the current investment opportunities, analyzed gender metrics used to assess impact, researched women’s attitudes toward impact investing, engaged women in building the field and worked with intermediaries on the potential they see for integration of a gender lens into investment vehicles. Some of the key findings from this phase include:

Strong momentum – The questions, the hypothesis, the possibilities evoked in this work resonated loudly from many directions. Individuals and organizations are eager to talk, strategize and partner.

The investment landscape lacks depth – Despite strong interest, the current investment landscape is not robust for individuals or institutions that seek to apply a gender lens.  Even in categories traditionally associated with gender, such as microfinance and community development, applying a gender lens as an investor creates challenges.

Women investors want diversity – While the emergence of a particular investment vehicle would be supported, the desire is for a set of options, both for validity and to meet differing investment needs.

Multiple definitions of a gender lens – Supporting women and children means different things to different people. At least three distinct gender lenses in social investing emerged: providing access to capital, supporting gender equity in the workplace, and services/products that support women.

Incomplete metrics to assess impact – The standards for measuring impact on women are unevenly applied across social sectors and often lack depth, adding to the challenge investors face in evaluating investments and their impact.

Barriers to information on investing – There are few channels for investors looking for information on investment opportunities focused on gender. Investors are also challenged by the concepts and language of impact investing, whereas the investment sector struggles with understanding the world of gender.

Read on in our research and short overviews pages.