Flory Wilson on Metrics, GIIRS and B-Analytics

The Impact Investing Podcast

Flory Wilson is the Director, International for GIIRS at B Lab. She joined B Lab in April 2010, working on the core team that has launched the Global Impact Investing Rating System (GIIRS) Ratings & Analytics. Flory chairs the Emerging Markets Standards Advisory Council that crafted the GIIRS rating methodology, and led a beta-test of the GIIRS assessment in early 2011 that involved over 200 companies and 25 leading impact investing funds in 30 different countries. Flory also focuses on business development, working with emerging market based mission-driven enterprises, investment vehicles and impact investors who are using GIIRS Ratings & Analytics, and GIIRS’ communications efforts.

Furthermore, as the Director of Analytics at B-Lab - the non-profit behind B-Corps - Flory has oversight of the B Impact Assessment, which is the responsibility of B Lab's Standards Advisory Council, an independent committee of 20-22 members, each respected in the field for their wisdom and with deep industry or stakeholder expertise. The Standards Advisory Council is divided into two subgroups — one to oversee the content and weightings for the version of the B Impact Ratings System that is appropriate for companies and funds in developed markets; the other for the version that is appropriate for companies and funds in emerging markets.

Previously, Flory was a Senior International Economist in the Office of Investment Policy at the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) in Washington, D.C. At OPIC, she focused on measuring the developmental, social and environmental impacts of private sector-led investment across OPIC’s $12 billion portfolio. Prior to OPIC, Flory established a new protocol for tracking international remittances from the U.S. to developing countries as an economist in the Balance of Payments division at the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), Department of Commerce. Ms. Wilson holds a M.A. in international relations from Johns Hopkins Nitze School for Advanced International Standards (SAIS), with a concentration in economics, and graduated cum laude from Colgate University with a B.A. in History and EconomicsShe

What is the Global Impact Investing Rating System (GIIRS)? GIIRS Ratings are the gold standard for impact measurement in impact investing. GIIRS Ratings are rigorous, comprehensive, and comparable ratings of a company or a fund’s social and environmental impact.

How does GIIRS work?

Find Companies & Funds - GIIRS rated companies and funds are highlighted in the search features of B Analytics as being best in class in terms of measurement practices.

Measure & Evaluate - Gain a holistic picture of a company’s or fund’s impact through a GIIRS rating, not just a component of their model or operations.

A GIIRS Rating is comprised of a Fund Manager Assessment Rating and two Investment Roll-Up Ratings: an Overall Impact Business Model (IBM) Rating and an Overall Operations Rating. The Investment Roll-Up Ratings are weighted averages of the portfolio companies' impact business model and operations ratings based on the amount invested in each company.

Criteria to Get a GIIRS Fund Rating

• Funds in Formation can become GIIRS rated by committing to being rated for the life of the fund. Until 25% of capital is deployed, initial GIIRS Fund Impact Rating Reports will only feature the fund manager's assessment score and each portfolio company will receive an individual company rating (no portfolio aggregation rating is generated).(1)
• Actively Investing Funds can receive a GIIRS Fund Impact Rating once 25% of capital(2) is deployed. A typical fund is required to have at least 75%(3) of their portfolio companies complete the rating process in order to receive a GIIRS fund rating.
• Fully Invested Funds can receive a GIIRS Fund Impact Rating using the standard fund rating methodology, though at least 80% of the total portfolio (in terms of capital deployed) must receive a company rating in order to receive a fund rating.

How can you use B-Analytics to research companies?

• Find Companies & Funds - Conduct research on the 1400+ individual companies and funds in B Analytics.

• Follow Trends - Track market trends in the impact investing space.

• Measure - Collect impact data on the companies and funds in your portfolio, platform, supply chain, or association. B Analytics offers you the flexibility to measure what matters to you.

• Benchmark - B Analytics houses the largest database of social and environmental performance data on private companies globally. Use B Analytics to benchmark your portfolio’s impact and easily export data for reporting to stakeholders.

• Improve - Through B Analytics companies can access “do-it-yourself” consulting tools to improve their impact.

METHODOLOGY:

GIIRS Ratings are the gold standard for impact measurement in impact investing. They are rigorous, comprehensive, and comparable ratings of a company or a fund’s social and environmental impact. The GIIRS Rating is powered by the B Impact Assessment. It measures the overall impact of a business on all of its stakeholders. The B Impact Assessment has been accessed by over 15,000 users in 57 countries in 176 industries. Learn more about the B Impact Assessment.

B IMPACT ASSESSMENT STRUCTURE:

Impact Business Models: Speci?c models designed to create social and/or environmental impact through a company’s products or services, target customers, value chain, ownership or operations.

Operations: Impactful practices, policies and achievements related to a company's: Governance structure, Workers, Community, Environmental footprint.

Each company receives an overall score and two ratings; one for its impact models and one for its operations.