Redefining Value From Outcome Based Funding to Tradeable Impact 2025

For companies and the market at large, this would transform social impact into a revenue- generating asset, driving business models and entirely new market opportunities. Companies that contribute to positive social outcomes – such as funding renewable energy, reducing plastic waste or supporting underserved communities – can earn ICs, which can then be sold in exchange for products, services or fiat currency. Alternatively, they can benefit from lower financing costs in line with their positive impact. Keeping these assets in circulation for secondary trading (and linking these trades to further impact creation) is one potential pathway. These mechanisms can transform impact-driven business strategies into profitable and scalable opportunities. Governments and financial institutions can further stabilize this market by integrating tradeable impact into policy incentives and investment frameworks, ensuring corporate participation while maintaining liquidity and price stability. A market for impact could complement the global carbon market, which is now valued at $949 billion (as of 2023).14 The macroeconomic effect would be potential ex-ante redistribution, inherent in the value creation process, as it is tied to impact. It might also redirect investment flows towards underserved communities and embed equity into market structures from the outset. It has the potential to shape future welfare institutions and public goods financing by introducing adaptive, performance-based models that attract both public and private investments into social value creation. Tradeable impact also introduces a new asset class that can be traded on the financial markets. Impact-linked and impact-backed securities, ICs and other securitized impact assets allow investors to include verified, financially viable positive impact in their portfolios to increase financing to impactful activities. Blended finance structures, in which investments are enhanced through impact rewards provided by public institutions, can make use of private sector investment for impact at scale. The transition towards sustainable finance is already under way. The value of sustainability- focused portfolios has grown to over $2.5 trillion in assets under management (2022), with studies showing that companies that prioritize social impact tend to outperform in the long run. In 2023, sustainable funds generated a median return of 12.6% (compared to just 8.6% for traditional funds).15 Integrating social impact into economic considerations as an additional incentive will likely amplify this development. Moreover, technological advancements such as blockchain and decentralized finance (DeFi) introduce new pathways to making impact assets feasible. By tokenizing social impact, global investors can engage in peer-to-peer (P2P) trading, expanding market accessibility and eliminating bureaucratic inefficiencies. This innovation ensures that impact is no longer constrained by geography, enabling investors to participate in global social change while securing financial gains.2.2 A new asset class for investors Image credit: Boomera Redefining Value: From Outcome-Based Funding to Tradeable Impact 10