Founded in 2006, HIP Investor Inc. has built a unique methodology to track, rate and rank companies’ quantifiable impact on society – transforming traditional Wall Street views that “doing good” and “doing well” are incompatible. HIP’s research has shown that in many cases, these outcomes are symbiotic: “doing good” leads to the creation of new markets, innovative products, boosted revenue, lower costs and ultimately, greater profitability.
Where’s the Human Impact + Profit?
The basis for HIP was spurred by self-made entrepreneurs contributing charitably to the non-profit Ashoka. Why, they asked, could they not get a great social return on both their donations and for-profit portfolios? As Ashoka’s Chief Development Officer at the time, Paul Herman, HIP Founder and CEO, sought to answer their question – and find attractive investments delivering both human, social and environmental benefits and profit.
However, when presenting these opportunities to financial fiduciaries (family offices, wealth managers, CFOs), they asked for the “proof” that it already worked. How can you “backtest” innovation, he asked? Show us the data, they said, and we would strongly consider it. And thus, HIP Investor was born.
The HIP Scorecard
So, Herman applied his experience as an entrepreneur building the first online-debit card for kids, teens and parents; at McKinsey advising Boards and managers; at Omidyar Network advising on social investing; his government project expertise at the Hanford Nuclear Site; and his observations of the targeted systems-change successes of social entrepreneurs to build the HIP methodology as a society-wide framework for all sectors (business, social, government) to focus on outcomes and results.
Since 2004, the HIP methodology has been taking shape with the benefit of ongoing collaboration of social entrepreneurs, advisors and feedback from investors, entrepreneurs and executives.