On the issue of the Essence of impact investing

The subject of the research is impact investing as a tool to achieve a balance between economic development, environmental conservation and social justice. The objectives of the work are a systematic understanding of a number of key concepts related to the theory and practice of implementing the UN concept of sustainable development in order to reduce categorical uncertainty that makes it difficult to act within the framework of empirical economic and sociological research.; development of an impact investment mechanism that takes into account the diversity of social roles performed by different subjects of economic relations in investment processes. The article presents the results of a systematic categorization of numerous concepts explaining the two-way cash flows within the framework of responsible sustainable investment, in which investors (retail/institutional) and business play an active role. The author’s model of the impact investment mechanism is proposed, and the process of its institutionalization is described. It is concluded that investing for sustainable development is a complex mechanism that includes two interacting subsystems operating on the basis of two basic methodologies for responsible sustainable investment: in the field of real (IFSI) and financial (SRI) investments.; Socially responsible investing is an investment model of behavior based on ethical values and principles of responsible investment, which allows investors to stimulate the development of both impact strategies in real business by their investment and financial actions, making their feasible contribution to the implementation of the UN sustainable Development concept.