Social Entrepreneurship
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16.11.2017 | Entrepreneurship
What are the investment practices and trends among successful entrepreneurs? Over 2,700 leading entrepreneurs from around the world responded for the fourth edition of the Global Entrepreneur Report. The main takeaway is that investments with a positive impact on society now dominate the agenda.
Their profile? Women make up 40% while another 40% are under 36. On average, each entrepreneur provides employment to 166 people and generates an average primary company revenue of $25.1 million.
Behind this typical snapshot, we distinguish five further entrepreneur profiles on the basis of age, gender or wealth, each of which employs slightly different investment strategies.
According to the report, the positive impact generated by their business has become a defining criterion of professional success for 39% of respondents—compared to 10% just two years ago. This is a sea change that holds true around the world.
For an entrepreneur, positive impact can be achieved through their professional activity, their investments or personal actions. Beyond the strict limits of the professional sphere, a business with a positive impact therefore aims to make the world a better place both from a social and environmental standpoint.
Over the past 12 months, the concept of positive impact has become a priority for the majority of Elite Entrepreneurs: 55% state they have invested part of their wealth to achieving socially-responsible outcomes. They are also convinced that commitments take on a greater scale when they translate into economic activity: 80% believe that entrepreneurship is the most effective way to generate a positive local or global impact.
Social impact priorities are interpreted differently depending on one’s country of origin. In China, the primary aim is to safeguard the environment (53%), while in Europe it is to contribute to clean energies; in the USA and the Middle East, job creation ranks top of the impact agenda (36% and 40% respectively).
Elite Entrepreneurs say they want to intensify their investments in projects with a social impact (29%). “Millennipreneurs” are the ones heading the charge: 64% are already actively involved in social impact investment, notably towards job creation.
Co-CEO BNP Paribas Wealth Management Sofia Merlo gives evidence of this major shift: “the rapid change of mindset is impacting the ways Elite Entrepreneurs invest their wealth. Responsible investments have recently reached a volume of more than $10 billion; this is a tenfold growth in 6 years. This trend clearly illustrates our customers’ growing appetite for these types of strategies.”
the rapid change of mindset is impacting the ways Elite Entrepreneurs invest their wealth.
Whatever their origins or history, these Elite Entrepreneurs recognize that their success as entrepreneurs and investors heavily relies on adopting a socially responsible state of mind.