Investors weigh meaning of social return on investment

With some institutional investors turning their analysis to impact and social value investments, measuring how those investments provide value has also seen a concomitant rise in visibility. Social return on investment (SROI) is a principle that has been in existence for at least a decade, and serves to provide a measure of social, economic and environmental results generated by an organisation. But participants on all sides say that while SROI may have value, its utility is limited as a means of weighing prospective investments against each other, and may be dangerous as a benchmark.