Interviews with impact investors have been conducted to gain a clearer understanding of how socially sustainable investments are made taking into account the identity and gender views of impact investors. The gender lens applied to the study aimed to investigate how gender has been taken into account during company audits and before investment decisions by the impact investors. Furthermore, social identity theory has formed the basis for the deductive study that has been carried out. It has been used to study the impact investors' self-image and how they acted in their professional role in order to gain a deeper understanding of the origin of the impact investors' actions in relation to their identity. These actions have been thematised and examined in terms of criteria, actions, challenges and measures. The recurring factor that most influenced both the company assessment and investment decisions was the dual goals of impact investors, financial return and impact. The clearest contribution the study made was that there is a clearer link between impact investors' self-image and their profession compared to other professionals. How this affects impact investors' actions could not be discerned. Furthermore, the study also found that gender is not taken into account during company audits and investment decisions to the extent that previous research has shown. Risk understanding, potentially increased returns and social sustainability are possible outcomes that gender lens investments contribute to. The study's findings suggest that impact investors were aware of this, yet few of the study's respondents were willing to consider gender when making investment decisions. / Intervjuer med impact-investerare har genomförts för att skapa en tydligare förståelse för hur socialt hållbara investeringar sker med hänsyn till impact-investerarnas identitet och syn på genus. Den genuslins som applicerats på studien avsåg att undersöka hur genus har beaktats under företagsbesiktningar och inför investeringsbeslut av impact-investerarna. Vidare har social identitetsteori legat till grund för den deduktiva studie som gjorts. Den har nyttjats för att studera impact-investerarnas självbild och hur de agerade i sin yrkesroll för att få en djupare förståelse för härkomsten av impact-investerarens aktioner i relation till sin identitet. Dessa aktioner har tematiserats och undersökts utifrån kriterier, handlingar, effekter och åtgärder. Den återkommande faktorn som påverkade både företagsbesiktningen och investeringsbesluten i störst utsträckning var de dubbla målen impact-investerare arbetar mot, finansiell avkastning och impact. Det tydligaste bidraget studien medförde var att det fanns en tydlig koppling mellan impact- investerarnas självbild och förhållandet till deras yrkesgrupp och kultur. Hur det påverkar impact-investerarnas aktioner kunde inte urskiljas. Fortsättningsvis fann studien även att genus inte tas i beaktning under företagsbesiktningar och inför investeringsbeslut i den utsträckning som tidigare forskning visat. Riskförståelse, potentiellt ökad avkastning samt social hållbarhet är möjliga utfall som genuslinsinvesteringar bidrar till. Studiens resultat tyder på att impact-investerarna var medvetna om detta. Trots det var få av studiens respondenter villiga att beakta genus inför investeringsbeslut.

Gender lens investing (GLI) considers gender-based factors across the investment process to advance gender equality and better inform investment decisions. It recognizes that gender-based discrimination persists in many areas of society, including access to economic opportunities. The aim of this study is to understand GLI as a phenomenon using the feminist standpoint theory. The research question guiding this study is: how does the management team of a venture capital fund interpret and implement gender-lens investing? The study conducted an in-depth case study on Company X, a venture capital fund that invests with a gender lens. The results were supported by interviews with the management team and company documents and were categorised according to the interpretations of GLI and key lessons to fulfil the aim. We conclude considerable efforts are underway to achieve the end goal of gender equality, however, in view of the shortcomings discussed, there is still room for improvement. The results and discussion can be used to better understand the phenomenon of GLI and lessons in the development of gender-responsive investment strategies.

Gender has developed as an important ‘public and political’ category throughout the Twentieth Century in BC and Canada as the basis of feminist demands on society and governments. In 2007, gender has become ‘privatized’ and increasingly erased from government institutions. The de-politicization of gender in Canada is an example of a shifting social consciousness and political discourse that avoids a critical perspective on the social context and places an increasing emphasis on the individual. A new critical discourse must grapple with these challenges, emerge at some distance from government and coincide with a political activism that has resonance in women’s lives.

Gender has developed as an important ‘public and political’ category throughout the Twentieth Century in BC and Canada as the basis of feminist demands on society and governments. In 2007, gender has become ‘privatized’ and increasingly erased from government institutions. The de-politicization of gender in Canada is an example of a shifting social consciousness and political discourse that avoids a critical perspective on the social context and places an increasing emphasis on the individual. A new critical discourse must grapple with these challenges, emerge at some distance from government and coincide with a political activism that has resonance in women’s lives.