After a long march toward mainstream acceptance, many in impact investing are claiming victory. The industry is garnering attention at major publications like "The Economist", and recently celebrated the emergence of a star-studded $2 billion fund. Meanwhile, studies have proliferated supporting the idea that you can earn market rate returns while making a meaningful difference in the world, and investors have taken note: The GIIN’s 2016 Annual Impact Investor Survey states that 84 percent of survey respondents were targeting risk-adjusted market rate returns or close to market rate returns.

In a report launched by Oxfam and Sumerian Partners today, we argue that it’s time to look at impact investing differently; to start with a focus on the needs of the businesses working to make a meaningful impact on poverty reduction, rather than on the investors who stand to benefit from their work. Enterprises working in this space are in new territory – continually adapting their business models, earning low and slow returns and operating in markets that are subject to considerable exogenous shocks (e.g., economic instability, weak infrastructure, extreme weather events and poorly developed value chains).

Read the full article by Mara Bolis about impact investing from NextBillion