At the GIIN Impact Forum in Berlin earlier this month, I was struck by the diversity of models now driving the impact investing movement. From global asset managers scaling evidence-based funds to independent family offices experimenting at the start-up stage, and new frameworks rethinking how to target capital to specific beneficiaries — the field is evolving rapidly. This article explores three approaches which stood out to me: AXA Investment Management’s Health and Nature impact funds, JC Impact’s family-office model of planetary-boundary investing, and the emerging field of Child-Lens Investing championed by UNICEF, Triodos and partners. Together they signal a maturing market that is becoming more rigorous, collaborative, and opportunity rich.

The state of the market: GIIN 2025 insights

According to the Global Impact Investing Network’s (GIIN) 2025 State of the Market report, global impact assets under management have surpassed $1.6 trillion, growing 11% year-on-year despite macroeconomic volatility. Over 400 organizations from 54 countries reported increased allocations, with health, biodiversity, and inclusive finance emerging as top growth sectors. Notably, the report highlights a stronger focus on evidence-based impact measurement and a growing alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals — a sign that the sector is becoming both more data-driven and more accountable. However, it’s not all good news. Capital deployment is 30% lower than in 2023 at around $50bn probably due to higher interest rates, limited exits, and overall volatility. It would be good to examine the reasons in more depth, the size of the funding gap and see more evidence that the capital is reaching the entrepreneurs who can use it best, and the people who need it most.

Case Study 1: AXA IM – Solutions in health and nature

AXA Investment Management’s impact funds illustrate how major asset managers can scale measurable impact. The AXA team’s strategy for Health and Natural Capital combines strong financial discipline with tangible outcomes across markets. The $350m Global Health Fund targets a 20–25% IRR over ten years, investing after preliminary clinical validation and regulatory approval but before full-scale commercialization — so products can still be adapted, and returns are still good.

AXA’s focus is on product innovation rather than service delivery — from cholera and malaria vaccines to rapid diagnostic tools, AI-driven health screening, and accessible cataract surgery devices. I was particularly interested in their strategy of working intensively with portfolio companies to adapt products for lower-income, high-volume markets globally, with the aim of improving affordability and usability. The Odon birthing device, developed to replace forceps and suction, is one example now scaling from the US and UK into India and Africa.

One constant emerges: the importance of evidence-based impact.

On the natural capital side, AXA IM manages a $500m fund (target $750m) with an expected 10-12% net IRR, investing in projects such as reforestation, biodiversity restoration, and carbon capture, where they see a big increase in demand, and buyers including Microsoft, Maclaren F1, and Google. The firm’s 2024 Impact Report notes that natural solutions could deliver one-third of global climate mitigation needs by 2030 Projects like Mombak in Brazil (degraded pastures and deforestation), and Pantheon Regeneration in the US (degraded peatlands), illustrate how equity capital can accelerate large-scale carbon removal and ecosystem repair.

Case Study 2: JC Impact – A family office model for deep impact

Family offices control more than $5.5 trillion in assets globally, yet only around 4% is estimated to be in impact investing. JC Impact, founded by Peter Jäderberg in Hamburg, challenges that status quo, investing directly in entrepreneurial ventures often at a start-up stage. Drawing on its origins in sustainable sandalwood forestry, JC Impact has built a model for ‘planetary boundaries’ investing — targeting high-impact, nature-based solutions that respect ecological limits while delivering competitive returns.

Its flagship JC Sandalwood project in Australia, developed with Quintis, integrates biodiversity enhancement, carbon capture and ethical production. By converting degraded farmland rather than clearing forests, it exemplifies regenerative land use. JC Impact’s approach is “anchored in science”, and combines scientific measurement, co-investment structures and shared governance with aligned investors.

More recently, JC co-founded Ecomet Urban Metals — a green-tech venture tackling e-waste recycling. Using 85% less energy and 98% lower CO? emissions than traditional mining, Ecomet demonstrates JC’s belief in ‘causal impact’: investing where capital directly enables outcomes that wouldn’t otherwise occur. As Jäderberg puts it, the goal is not to ‘fight the old system’ but to ‘create a more attractive new one’.

Case Study 3: Child-lens investing – Building future generations

One of the most thought-provoking sessions in Berlin explored Child-Lens Investing (CLI) — a movement led by UNICEF, GIIN/IRIS, Triodos, and other partners, to integrate children’s rights and wellbeing into financial decision-making. Over one billion children worldwide still lack access to basic health, nutrition, and education, yet few investment frameworks treat them as a defined stakeholder group needing special attention.

Triodos’ Future Generations Fund provides a powerful example. Its impact strategy focuses on five key areas: child health and survival, access to education, protection from violence and exploitation, environment and climate, and equality and inclusion. The fund engages listed companies through active stewardship and directs capital toward solutions that safeguard and empower young people.

Applying a child lens helps identify risks (like child labour or digital exclusion) and opportunities (such as edtech or maternal health). As Triodos put it during the session, investing in children ‘creates both social and long-term financial value — because today’s children are tomorrow’s workforce, consumers and decision-makers.’ But CLI needs to extend beyond public markets to solution-based private markets.

Call to action: From intent to evidence

These three different types of investing organizations and their models — institutional, independent, and thematic — show the breadth of innovation now reshaping impact investing. Yet across them all, one constant emerges: the importance of evidence-based impact. Investors are demanding clearer data, credible attribution, and demonstrable outcomes. Entrepreneurs, in turn, need to build the systems and partnerships that make that possible.

Image Courtesy of INNVEST

For investors, the message is clear: commit capital where impact is measurable, additional, and scalable. For entrepreneurs, it’s an invitation to align with this growing wave — to embed impact in design, not as an afterthought. As global challenges intensify, so too does the opportunity for impact capital to deliver solutions that are not only profitable but transformative for our planet and people’s lives.