Impact investing to promote health equity and improvement

The health of our communities is shaped by our homes, jobs, air and food — factors often governed by commercial decision making. This talk explores how impact investing can shift capital flows to address these upstream commercial determinants of health and, in doing so, improve health equity at scale.

It will examine financial models such as blended finance, outcome-based contracts and mission-driven property funds that are being deployed to improve health outcomes. These approaches seek to align social benefit with financial sustainability, offering investors a route to support health improvements. Drawing on case studies from the UK and internationally, the session will explore how these mechanisms are being used and where their opportunities and limitations lie.

The talk will also highlight the importance of place-based approaches, examining how the combination of local insight, delivery capability and catalytic capital can lead to more targeted and durable interventions. It will explore what makes these approaches effective in practice and how they might be adapted or scaled.

Finally, it will consider how investors are engaging in efforts to shift market norms and corporate practices that affect health — and the strengths and critiques of this emerging role.