Quantify the positive and negative impacts

of your organization and investments

Reveal the societal and environmental footprint of your organization and your investments with our science-based, standardized, and data-driven approach – and benchmark the performance of your investments against industry averages and peers with clarity and credibility.

PI Impact Accounting Framework, Impact Accounting Standard PI Value & Risk Framework, PI Strategy Framework PI Rahmenwerk zur Wirkungsbilanzierung, PI Wert & Risiko Rahmenwerk, PI Strategie Rahmenwerk

impacts investors

PI’s Impact Accounting Framework for Investors

Measure positive and negative impacts

Current and future impacts

Understand total current and future impacts

Use cases

For asset owners & LP’s:

  • Asset allocation
  • GP selection
  • Portfolio construction & re-balancing
  • Monitoring and reporting

For asset managers & GP’s:

  • Fund design and creation
  • Portfolio management
  • Reporting and stakeholder communication
  • Divestment decisions

What sets us apart

Our science-based, impact-washing-free Impact Accounting Framework helps you identify both positive and negative impacts. It directs attention to what’s truly material — so you avoid underestimating risks, overestimating opportunities, or wasting resources on what doesn’t matter.

Materiality

How to use quantified indicators to measure impact materiality

PI Impact Accounting Framework, Impact Accounting Standard PI Value & Risk Framework, PI Strategy Framework PI Rahmenwerk zur Wirkungsbilanzierung, PI Wert & Risiko Rahmenwerk, PI Strategie Rahmenwerk

our tools empower investors to

Identify financial effects, risks and opportunities
tied to the material impacts of your investments
Measure current impacts on
Topics covered by PI's Impact Accounting Framework
FORECAST future impacts 
based on strategies, trends, and set targets of your investments
benchmark
your portfolio or funds against industry average and peers
cross-sectoral
applicable across all industries and value chains
ACT with confidence
based on data and clear accounting rules – not assumptions

Impacts are no longer abstract – they’re measurable

Regulations are evolving, stakeholders are watching, and climate urgency is real. Knowing your impacts isn’t just smart — it’s essential. Yet most tools stop at vague, qualitative insights that don’t drive decisions. Our Impacts Accounting Framework and Tool changes that without impact washing the results.

Independent of sector-focus or size, you gain a clear and comparable picture of where your investments stand, what’s required, and the path to creating positive impacts — turning impact data into real strategic action.

PI's Impact Accounting Framework for Investments

Measuring the positive and negative impacts of your investments

Built on internationally recognized science and methodologies, the Science-based Targets Path® (SbTP) enables you to quantify both positive and negative impacts of every investments — not just in theory, but in actionable, measurable terms. It covers the issues that matter most: climate, water, biodiversity, health, social matters, and net tax.

The Science-based Targets Path®…

PI’s Science-based Targets Path® (SbTP) allows you to clearly measure positive and negative impacts and account for them. PI Impact Accounting Framework, Impact Accounting Standard PI Value & Risk Framework, PI Strategy Framework PI Rahmenwerk zur Wirkungsbilanzierung, PI Wert & Risiko Rahmenwerk, PI Strategie Rahmenwerk
  • The dotted line represents the science-based trajectory needed to meet global sustainability targets. An investment’s performance above the path delivers positive impacts, while performance below it results in negative impacts
  • Starting from today’s net global societal costs (a deficit), the path shows how we can move toward net societal benefits by 2050
  • Any investment can be mapped onto this curve — to see where it stands today, where it’s heading, and how to align with science-based targets across climate, people, and the economy

What's the added value?

The Science-based Targets Path® provides:

  • A science-based target value for six topics and 14 indicators
  • A clear trajectory from 2020 to 2050 (and beyond)
  • Full value-chain coverage — from operations to upstream and downstream impacts
  • Benchmark the performance of your investments against peers and industry averages — to see exactly where you stand and where to improve
  • CSRD alignment — enabling fact-based, auditable, and legally sound materiality assessments across short-, mid-, and long-term horizons

Topics and indicators of PI's Impact Accounting Framework

The topics included:

  • Climate
  • Water
  • Biodiversity (nature)
  • Health
  • Social matters
  • net Tax payments
In turn, each topic has its own set of indicators (see slider right)

Indicators

PI’s Science-based Targets Path® (SbTP) for climate allows you to clearly measure positive and negative climate impacts and account for them.PI Impact Accounting Framework, Impact Accounting Standard PI Value & Risk Framework, PI Strategy Framework PI Rahmenwerk zur Wirkungsbilanzierung, PI Wert & Risiko Rahmenwerk, PI Strategie Rahmenwerk
PI’s Science-based Targets Path® (SbTP) for water allows you to clearly measure positive and negative water impacts and account for them. PI Impact Accounting Framework, Impact Accounting Standard PI Value & Risk Framework, PI Strategy Framework PI Rahmenwerk zur Wirkungsbilanzierung, PI Wert & Risiko Rahmenwerk, PI Strategie Rahmenwerk
PI’s Science-based Targets Path® (SbTP) for biodiversity (nature) allows you to clearly measure positive and negative biodiversity impacts and account for them. PI Impact Accounting Framework, Impact Accounting Standard PI Value & Risk Framework, PI Strategy Framework PI Rahmenwerk zur Wirkungsbilanzierung, PI Wert & Risiko Rahmenwerk, PI Strategie Rahmenwerk
PI’s Science-based Targets Path® (SbTP) for health allows you to clearly measure positive and negative health impacts and account for them. PI Impact Accounting Framework, Impact Accounting Standard PI Value & Risk Framework, PI Strategy Framework PI Rahmenwerk zur Wirkungsbilanzierung, PI Wert & Risiko Rahmenwerk, PI Strategie Rahmenwerk
PI’s Science-based Targets Path® (SbTP) for social matters allows you to clearly measure positive and negative social impacts and account for them. PI Impact Accounting Framework, Impact Accounting Standard PI Value & Risk Framework, PI Strategy Framework PI Rahmenwerk zur Wirkungsbilanzierung, PI Wert & Risiko Rahmenwerk, PI Strategie Rahmenwerk
PI’s Science-based Targets Path® (SbTP) for tax (net) allows you to clearly measure positive and negative tax impacts and account for them. PI Impact Accounting Framework, Impact Accounting Standard PI Value & Risk Framework, PI Strategy Framework PI Rahmenwerk zur Wirkungsbilanzierung, PI Wert & Risiko Rahmenwerk, PI Strategie Rahmenwerk

PI's Science-based Targets Path basis

PI’s Science-based Targets Path® incorporates targets and data from authoritative sources such as IPCC, UNEP, Stockholm Resilience Centre, UN Sustainable Development Goals, ILO, IMF and OECD

Why use the path? The standardization is what makes our tool powerful: it translates global sustainability goals into concrete thresholds for individual organizations, so you can track where you are today, forecast your future, and take action with confidence.

Current and Future Impacts of your Investments

Our tool assesses both current and future impacts of your investments — across climate, water, biodiversity, health, social matters, and tax.

  • Current impacts show the actual effects of your investments in recent years
  • Future impacts project the performance of your investments based on trends, targets, and planned actions of you and your investments

All impacts are first quantified — in absolute values, percentages, or monetary terms (€/$) — and then translated into clear performance levels. This makes complex impact data understandable, actionable, and easy to benchmark.

PI's 4 Investment Impacts KPIs

CURRENT IMPACTS of your investments — in % and €/k€

Current Impacts show how your investments are performing today compared to the expected level for the current year — both in percentage and monetary terms.
They quantify how close you are to full alignment with the PI Science-based Targets Path®. They:

  • Express performance as a percentage (−X % to +X %) and in monetary terms (€/k€), where 0 = full alignment
  • Weight impacts by their severity, so more significant outcomes (e.g. a fatality vs. an injury) carry greater influence
  • Translate impact gaps into time — “Progress Years” show how many target-years performance is ahead or behind (see next tabs)
  • Highlight strengths and gaps, helping you prioritize what matters most
  • Aggregate results across six topics: climate, water, nature, health, social matters, and net tax
  • Enable benchmarking across sectors, asset classes and products of the financial services industry

After quantifying Current Impacts, each investment’s sustainability performance is classified into three Impact Ambitions — high, medium, or low.

These ambition levels reveal how your investments compares to the PI Science-based Targets Path® and to the global average, showing at a glance whether they are leading, aligned, or falling behind.

The CURRENT Impacts of the DAX 40 show overall negative impacts of -44 €/K€ revenue (-41%), covering operations + upstream for all indicators of the six topics while estimating missing data to ensure a complete picture PI Impact Accounting Framework, Impact Accounting Standard PI Value & Risk Framework, PI Strategy Framework PI Rahmenwerk zur Wirkungsbilanzierung, PI Wert & Risiko Rahmenwerk, PI Strategie Rahmenwerk

Climate Years left – for both current and future impacts

Climate Years Left shows how many years remain until the global 1.5 °C carbon budget would be used up — turning emissions into time. It

  • Answers the question: How many years remain until the global GHG budget for limiting warming to 1.5 °C is used up if everyone had the same GHG emissions as the company, investment, or product?
  • Can be calculated for current impacts (if today’s emissions stayed constant) or for future impacts (based on projected trends and targets).
  • If global emissions stay at today’s level, the world would exhaust the 1.5 °C budget in ~8.5 years.

This KPI complements our Impact KPIs — showing how emissions translate into time left within the global 1.5 °C budget.

Progress in Years – for both current and future impacts

Progress in Years shows how many target-years performance is ahead or behind plan — turning impact gaps into time.

Progress in Years — for current and future impacts

  • Current Impacts (Progress in Years):
    Show how far each indicator’s current performance is ahead or behind its annual target — expressed in “target-years.”
    Positive = ahead of time, negative = delayed.
    The overall result combines all indicators into one weighted average of Progress Years, weighted by their monetized impacts (€/k€).
    It shows how far the investment, overall, is ahead or behind its sustainability targets in time.
  • Future Impacts (Progress in Years):
    Show the average time gap between projected performance and the target path over the forecast horizon (e.g., 2025–2050).
    Calculated as a simple, un-discounted average of annual Progress Years:
    positive = ahead, negative = delayed.

Together, these KPIs complement our Impact KPIs — translating performance and alignment gaps into time.

FUTURE IMPACTS (NPI®) — in % and €/k€

Net Present Impact® (NPI®) is a forward-looking KPI that projects your organization’s future impacts and expresses them in both percentage and monetary terms, discounted to today.
Similar to Net Present Value (NPV), it gives greater weight to near-term actions and less to distant targets without clear milestones. It:

  • Discounts future impacts (e.g. 2025 – 2050) to present values, aligning them with PI’s Science-based Targets Path®
  • Expresses results in percentage (−X % to +X %) and monetary units (€/k€), where 0 = full alignment
  • Weights outcomes over time, rewarding consistent near-term progress and realistic long-term goals
  • Enable benchmarking across sectors, asset classes and products of the financial services industry
  • Supports target management — benchmarking ambitions, identifying gaps, and defining Impact Ambition levels (High / Medium / Low)
  • Uses an open-ended scale, capturing both positive and negative net impacts

By translating long-term performance into both time-weighted % and discounted €/$ values, the NPI® provides a credible and comparable view of expected future impacts — creating a clear bridge between sustainability performance and financial decision-making.

Investment Impact ambition levels

Once Current and Future Impacts of your Investments are quantified, results are classified into three Investment Impact Ambition Levels — High, Medium, or Low.

This allows you to measure, compare, and align your investment activities with the ambition level you aim for, providing a clear benchmark for strategy and performance.

Three Possible Investment Impact Ambition Levels: High Investment Impact Ambition (the impacts of your investments are net positive, their performance exceeds PI’s Science-based Targets Path®), Medium Investment Impact Ambition (the impacts of your investments are net negative, but their performance is better than the global average/business-as-usual) and Low Investment Impact Ambition (the impacts of your investments are net negative, their performance is below the global average/business-as-usual, but they are not the performance laggard of the respective industry); Existing Variations for No Investment Impact Ambition: Impact-/Greenwashing (allegedly “positive” impacts) and No Ambition (not known or don’t care) PI Impact Accounting Framework, Impact Accounting Standard PI Value & Risk Framework, PI Strategy Framework PI Rahmenwerk zur Wirkungsbilanzierung, PI Wert & Risiko Rahmenwerk, PI Strategie Rahmenwerk

use cases

Investors/Financial Market Participants

To evaluate the current and forecasted Impacts-Level of your funds, assets, or project portfolio, as well as identifying risks and opportunities, identifying areas for improvement, and track progress

Asset Owners/LPs

Intention: Incorporate ESG Impacts factors and sustainability goals into the long-term strategy

Challenge: Difficulty in quantifying sustainability Impacts (performance) and related long-term ESG risks and opportunities

Solution: Utilize PI’s Desired Impacts-Levels and Ambition Level Concept to determine overall investment strategies and conduct an Impacts-Level Forecast or a Strategy Stress test (external)/Due Diligence to assess sustainability Impacts, risks & opportunities, and strategy/governance gaps

Intention: Evaluate external asset managers’ strategic ESG integration capabilities
Challenge: Assessing managers’ sustainability understanding; distinguishing between asset managers who strategically manage the topic and those that don’t.

Intention: Continuously improve sustainability/ESG performance and integration, and maintain alignment with asset managers
Challenges:
> Lack of clarity on stewardship expectations
> Overemphasis on short-term performance
> Not taking enough account of stewardship outcomes which risk undermining longer-term sustainable growth

Solutions:
> Strategic engagement: Determine appropriate sustainability strategies for each investee to enhance their sustainability efforts and engage with them to ensure that they pursue them and use the PI KPIs to track and report your investor Impacts, using Strategy Stress test (external)/Due Diligence

> Integrated sustainability targets: Assess the level of alignment/ambition of sustainability targets set by portfolio companies to set targets for your portfolio, using Desired Impacts-Levels

Intention: Integrate sustainability/ESG Impacts & governance criteria alongside financial analysis
Challenge: Balancing sustainability/ESG priorities with financial performance expectations
Solutions:
> Investment strategy alignment check: Identify and assess potential investments for alignment with the overall sustainability goals of your organization using the Desired Impacts-Levels

> Integrated valuation & pricing: Quantify societal impacts of investments using Net Present Impact® to adjust valuations based on sustainability risks and opportunities by integrating sustainability-driven risks and opportunities into your valuations (NPV, Sharpe-ratio, etc.), using the Integrated ESGF Risk & Opportunity Assessment and Valuation

> Integrated decision-making: Inform investment decisions and portfolio rebalancing based on Desired Impacts-Levels and financial KPIs in the PI® Strategy Matrix

Intention: Track sustainability/ESG Impacts-Levels, guide and ensure a strategic sustainability management alongside monitoring financial indicators
Challenge: Lack of standardized sustainability/ESG data and metrics, as well as a lack of strategic sustainability management guides for consistent monitoring
Solutions:
> Identify & close data gaps for your portfolio on the KPIs of PI’s Science-based Targets Path® using PI’s Advanced Data Modeling

> Sustainability Impacts-Level Forecast for portfolio industries:

> Evaluate portfolio industries’ current and forecasted Impacts-Levels based on trends of your portfolio and obtain a general understanding how much the portfolio companies are ‘on track’ compared to science-based targets (i.e., the PI’s Science-based Targets Path®)

> Identify assets to be assessed further in a detailed sustainability Impacts-Forecast

> Detailed sustainability Impacts-Level Forecasts for individual assets:

> Evaluate the forecasted Impacts-Levels of selected portfolio companies/assets based on existing plans, targets, and trends and understand how much selected portfolio companies are ‘on track’ compared to science-based targets (i.e., the PI’s Science-based Targets Path®)

> Identify potential risks and opportunities and determine investment strategies using the PI® Strategy Matrix

> Impacts Benchmark: Compare investees’ performance across sectors and against peers to identify investment opportunities and engagement strategies

> Sustainability activity monitoring: Track progress on Impacts-Levels across your entire portfolio in the PI® Strategy Matrix

Intention: Include sustainability/ESG metrics in performance reporting

Challenge: Complexity of sustainability/ESG regulations and reporting requirements

Solution: Utilize PI’s sustainability-context-based KPIs, namely Impacts-Levels for the past fiscal year as well as Net Present Impact® and Net Present Target® for standardized reporting across the portfolio

Intention: Continuously improve sustainability/ESG performance and integration, and maintain alignment with asset managers
Challenges:
> Lack of clarity on stewardship expectations
> Overemphasis on short-term performance
> Not taking enough account of stewardship outcomes which risk undermining longer-term sustainable growth

Solutions:
> Strategic engagement: Determine appropriate sustainability strategies for each investee to enhance their sustainability efforts and engage with them to ensure that they pursue them and use the PI KPIs to track and report your investor Impacts, using Strategy Stress test (external)/Due Diligence

> Integrated sustainability targets: Assess the level of alignment/ambition of sustainability targets set by portfolio companies to set targets for your portfolio, using Desired Impacts-Levels

Asset Managers/GPs

Intention: Design fund structures incorporating sustainability/ESG criteria
Challenge: Defining clear, measurable sustainability criteria for fund creation (focusing on risks, opportunities, or meeting sustainability goals)
Solutions:
> Utilize PI Ambition Level Concept to determine overall investment strategies

> Set fund-level sustainability objectives based on PI’s Science-based Targets Path®

Intention: Apply sustainability/ESG integration in investment decision-making
Challenge: Ensuring sustainability/ESG integration throughout the full investment lifecycle while existing ESG data is mostly incomplete and full of missing information
Solutions:
> Identify and close data gaps for your portfolio on the KPIs of PI’s Science-based Targets Path® using PI’s AI-supported Data Modeling

> Conduct Strategy Stress test (external)/Due Diligence by identifying and assessing potential investments for alignment with the overall sustainability goals of the asset owner(s) or the fund(s), evaluating the target’s impacts, associated risks & opportunities, and gaps in its sustainability strategy

> Evaluate the current sustainability performance of potential investments by using Impacts-Level metrics

> Conduct a forward-looking Impacts Forecast for the investment lifecycle, calculating their Net Present Target® (NPT®) and Net Present Impact® (NPI®)

> Integrate valuation & pricing by using the quantified societal impacts of investments to justify premium pricing and adjust valuations based on sustainability risks and opportunities, using the Integrated ESGF Risk & Opportunity Assessment and Valuation for integrating sustainability-driven risks and opportunities into your valuations (NPV, Sharpe-ratio, etc.)

Intention: Actively monitor and manage sustainability/ESG impacts, risks, and opportunities (i.e., ongoing sustainability/ESG data management)
Challenge: Accessing reliable and up-to-date sustainability/ESG impacts data of your portfolio
Solutions:
In case your existing portfolio needs to be assessed:

> High-level Impacts-Level Forecast for portfolio industries:

> Evaluate portfolio industries’ current and forecasted Impacts-Levels based on trends of your portfolio and understand how much they are ‘on track’ compared to science-based targets (i.e., the PI’s Science-based Targets Path®) and industry averages, by using the Impacts-Level (%) for the current and the Net Present Target® (NPT®) for the projected Impacts Levels in % and the Impacts-Levels ($/€) for the current and the Net Present Impact® (NPI®) for the projected Impacts Levels in $ or €

> Identify potential risks and opportunities and industries to be assessed further in the PI® Strategy Matrix

> Detailed Impacts-Level Forecast for individual assets:

> Update the forecasted Impacts-Levels of selected portfolio companies based on existing plans, targets, and trends and understand how much selected portfolio companies are ‘on track’ compared to science-based targets (i.e. the PI’s Science-based Targets Path®), by updating the Impacts-Level (%) for the current and the Net Present Target® (NPT®) for the projected Impacts Levels in % and the Impacts-Level ($/€) for the current and the Net Present Impact® (NPI®) for the projected Impacts-Levels in $ or €

> Identify or validate risks and opportunities and determine investment and engagement strategies in the PI® Strategy Matrix

> Perform Impacts-Level Benchmarks to compare investees’ performance across sectors and against peers (to identify investment opportunities and engagement strategies)

In case your existing portfolio was already assessed:

> Implement engagement strategies with investees based on their Impacts-Levels, using the Strategy Stress test (external)/Due Diligence

> Set integrated sustainability targets for the portfolio, i.e., a target NPT® informed by the NPTs of the individual portfolio companies

> Continuously update fund strategies using impacts, risk, opportunity and ambition to align with evolving sustainability standards while maintaining financial performance

> Implement integrated decision-making processes at the asset level by informing investment decisions and rebalancing the asset’s product/service portfolio based on both sustainability Impacts-Levels and financial KPIs in the PI® Strategy Matrix

> Monitoring: Track progress by comparing the expected Impacts-Levels to the achieved performance across your entire portfolio in the PI® Strategy Matrix while keeping track of the activities and actions initiated by you (in case you want to monitor and report your investor impacts)

Intention: Report on sustainability outcomes to investors
Challenge: Meeting diverse investor expectations for sustainability/ESG reporting
Solutions:
> Utilize PI’s sustainability-context-based KPIs for standardized reporting across the portfolio by leveraging Impacts-Levels for clear communication of the current sustainability Impacts-Level of your portfolio

> Use NPT® and NPI® to demonstrate forward-looking sustainability strategies and alignment with science-based targets, meeting diverse investor reporting needs

Intention: Continuously improve ESG impacts and strategy of individual investees
Challenge: Balancing investees’ financial performance with ESG-driven priorities
Solution:
> Engage with portfolio companies using your insights into Impacts-Levels and gaps to a strategic sustainability management that fits

Intention: Consider sustainability/ESG factors in exit strategies for individual assets or an overall fund
Challenge: Deciding the right time for a divestment. Quantifying the change in Impacts during the holding period and if desired the investor’s share of it as well as the forecasted Impacts (NPI®)
Solutions:
> Inform divestment decisions and portfolio rebalancing based on Impacts and financial KPIs in the PI® Strategy Matrix

> Conducting final Strategy Stress test (external)/Due Diligence to assess improvements during the holding period by calculating the change in Impacts

> Using NPI® in exit valuations, demonstrating tangible current and forecasted Impacts to potential buyers and leveraging the Integrated Value & & assessment and valuation approach to justify premium pricing based on quantified Impacts

PI Impact Accounting Framework, Impact Accounting Standard PI Value & Risk Framework, PI Strategy Framework PI Rahmenwerk zur Wirkungsbilanzierung, PI Wert & Risiko Rahmenwerk, PI Strategie Rahmenwerk

Impact solutions

Contact us to discover how to measure, forecast, and improve your Impacts

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Impact Materiality

Impact Materiality made measurable

Impact Materiality assessments are the basis of any sustainability strategy and governance. We combine quantitative approaches with feasible stakeholder input to assess the positive and negative impacts of your organization and your investments on society and the environment.

Our fact-based double materiality matrix shows how we can apply our science-based thresholds onto any impact materiality scale, giving you clear objective results on your impact material topics (C and A) as well as a fact-based process to determine your financial material topics (A and B). PI Impact Accounting Framework, Impact Accounting Standard PI Value & Risk Framework, PI Strategy Framework PI Rahmenwerk zur Wirkungsbilanzierung, PI Wert & Risiko Rahmenwerk, PI Strategie Rahmenwerk
The example shows how our fact-based impact materiality assessment can turn perception upside-down, saving you money, avoiding over- or under-estimating risks and opportunities. PI Impact Accounting Framework, Impact Accounting Standard PI Value & Risk Framework, PI Strategy Framework PI Rahmenwerk zur Wirkungsbilanzierung, PI Wert & Risiko Rahmenwerk, PI Strategie Rahmenwerk

Our methodology includes:

  • Scoring on a scale that you choose, where we map our science-based thresholds for climate, water, nature, and social topics to your chosen cut-off
  • Integration of stakeholder perception and expert input
  • Tailored approach that best fits the maturity of your impact materiality processes
  • Alignment with CSRD’s double and a useful input for IFRS’s single materiality requirements

This ensures that your impact materiality assessment is not just compliant (if relevant), but meaningful. It helps you prioritize actions, allocate resources, and communicate with confidence.

Under CSRD, not only missing out material impacts, but also the reporting on non-material topics is non-compliant. We help you get it right – what to focus on – and go beyond.