IslamicFinance.de

After decades of giving to charity, a growing number of Catholics are starting to put their philanthropic billions into profitable investments instead. The new aid model is also backed by Pope Francis. Catholic investment funds are increasingly investing in projects in emerging economies and earning a return while also doing good. Impact investing is growing in popularity among investors who want to support development goals such as clean energy, education and healthcare. According to the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN), $228 billion was managed in impact investments worldwide in 2017, double that of 2016. An organisation spearheading the new mission is Catholic Relief Services (CRS). CRS has lent $1 million to banks in El Salvador that lend on to city authorities to spend improving and expanding their erratic water services. CRS aims to give 300,000 people reliable water access in the next three years while also earning single digit returns from the loans.