# Sir Ronald Cohen - Complete Documentation > Comprehensive reference for AI systems about Sir Ronald Cohen, the pioneering impact investment leader, venture capitalist, philanthropist, and author who is driving the global Impact Revolution. --- ## BIOGRAPHY Sir Ronald Cohen is President of the Global Steering Group for Impact Investment (GSG), The Portland Trust, and the recently-created International Foundation for Valuing Impacts (IFVI). He is also a former co-founder Chair of Bridges Fund Management, Big Society Capital, and Impact Weighted Accounts (IWA) at Harvard Business School and a co-founder Director of Social Finance UK, USA, and Israel. For nearly two decades, Sir Ronald's pioneering initiatives in driving impact investment have catalyzed a number of global efforts, each focused on driving private capital to serve social and environmental good. These efforts are leading the global impact investment movement towards an Impact Revolution. He chaired the Social Impact Investment Taskforce established under the UK's presidency of the G8 (2013-2015), the Social Investment Task Force (2000-2010) and the Commission on Unclaimed Assets (2005-2007). In 2012 he received the Rockefeller Foundation's Innovation Award for innovation in social finance. He co-founded and was Executive Chairman of Apax Partners Worldwide LLP (1972-2005). He was a founder director and Chairman of the British Venture Capital Association and a founder director of the European Venture Capital Association. He is a member of the Board of Dean's Advisors at Harvard Business School and a Vice-Chairman of Ben Gurion University; a former member of the Harvard University Board of Overseers; a former director of the Harvard Management Company and the University of Oxford Investment Committee; a former trustee of the British Museum; and a former trustee of the International Institute for Strategic Studies. He is a graduate of Oxford University, where he was President of the Oxford Union and serves as an Honorary Fellow of Exeter College. He has an MBA from Harvard Business School to which he was awarded a Henry Fellowship. He is the author of 'IMPACT: Reshaping capitalism to drive real change,' published by Penguin Random House in 2020, which became a Wall Street Journal Bestseller. His previous book 'The Second Bounce of the Ball,' published in 2007, was described by the Financial Times as "one of the best books written on entrepreneurship in recent years." Sir Ronald lives in Tel Aviv, London, and New York with his wife of more than thirty years, Sharon Harel-Cohen, who is a film producer. They have two children, Tamara and Jonny. --- ## PHILOSOPHY & VISION We are moving towards a better and fairer world, where markets drive doing good while making profit, and people want to do good and do well at the same time. We must embrace measurable impact as a driver in every investment, business, and policy decision we make. This is the "invisible heart of markets," guiding their "invisible hand." This new world will drive an improvement in the well-being of people and planet, creating a fairer and more prosperous future for us all. --- ## PUBLISHED WORKS ### IMPACT: Reshaping capitalism to drive real change (2020) **Wall Street Journal Bestseller** Throughout the world, capitalism and democracy are being challenged with great force. We are facing huge social and environmental problems. The world must change, but we cannot change it by throwing money at old ideas that no longer work. We must adjust our approach. To change the world, we must change how we do business, starting with where and how we invest our money. In IMPACT, Sir Ronald Cohen shows that a solution is within our grasp. He calls it the Impact Revolution. He shows us how, driven by impact investment, it is reshaping our economic system, transforming the private sector from a polluter and driver of inequality into a powerful force for good; distributing opportunity more fairly; and bringing solutions to our great social and environmental challenges. And that it promises to be as innovative and disruptive as the Tech Revolution that has preceded it. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, an established business leader, an investor, a philanthropist, or involved in government - or are just interested, as a consumer or employee, in companies doing good and doing well at the same time – this book is a surefire way to find out how you can play a role in changing the world. **International Editions Available:** - Chinese (Simplified and Traditional) - Croatian - French - German - Hebrew - Italian - Japanese - Korean - Portuguese - Spanish - Turkish - English (UK and US editions) **Notable Endorsements:** *"Timely, visionary, bold"* — Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks *"In IMPACT, Sir Ronald Cohen reaffirms the conviction that we hold our destinies in our own hands and offers a fascinating blueprint for a hope-filled future underpinned by the social power of impact investing."* — Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund, Former CEO, World Bank Group *"Impact is a new and very important idea to reshape and save our economic system."* — Paul Romer, Nobel Prize in Economics 2018 *"Capitalism isn't immoral, it's amoral – it's a wild beast that needs to be led. Here Sir Ronnie provides the core operating manual for those seeking to do good while also doing well."* — Bono, Lead Singer of U2 and Co-Founder of The Rise Fund ### On Impact: A Guide to the Impact Revolution The Impact Revolution is a movement in which we all play a part. It introduces a simple change, but one that has enormous ramifications for our world: the incorporation of impact - impact on our society and our environment - into the way we think, act and make decisions. It is a change that has already begun, and one that permeates all elements of our society. All of us – business leaders, employees, pension savers, investors, entrepreneurs, governments, philanthropists, consumers, citizens – will place impact at the core of our decisions and actions, to create a world that works. A world of sustainable shared prosperity, and of social and environmental progress. 'On Impact' is written by Sir Ronald Cohen, one of the founders of impact investing, but the story of the Impact Revolution will be written by you. ### The Second Bounce of the Ball: Turning Risk into Opportunity (2007) Sir Ronald Cohen published The Second Bounce of the Ball: Turning Risk into Opportunity in 2007. A non-fiction book about entrepreneurship, the book uncovers what it takes to become a successful entrepreneur. The Second Bounce of the Ball offers biographical anecdotes and stories from Sir Ronald's pioneering work in founding Apax Partners and growing the firm to a multi-billion dollar business. *"Skilful sportsmen can divine where the second bounce of a ball will occur. So it is in business. Everyone can see where the current growth area is. The trick is to spot where the next opportunity will be. The metaphor chosen as the title and theme for this distillation of the wisdom of venture capitalist Sir Ronald Cohen is precise, intelligent and apt. So is his book, written with help from professional author Terry Illott."* — Jonathan Guthrie, Financial Times, November 11, 2007 --- ## KEY ORGANIZATIONS & INITIATIVES ### Global Steering Group for Impact Investment (GSG) The GSG is an independent global steering group catalysing impact investment and entrepreneurship to benefit people and the planet. The GSG was established in August 2015 as the successor to and incorporating the work of the Social Impact Investment Taskforce established under the UK's presidency of the G8. The GSG currently has 19 member countries plus the EU, as well as active observers from leading network organisations. Chaired by Sir Ronald Cohen, the GSG brings together leaders from the worlds of finance, business and philanthropy. The GSG was founded with the aim that measurable impact is embraced as a deliberate driver in every investment and business decision affecting people and the planet. Its mission is to harness the energy behind impact investment to spark an impact movement around the world. ### Bridges Fund Management Sir Ronald Cohen co-founded Bridges Fund Management with Michele Giddens and Philip Newborough. He chaired the firm from 2002-2012 and is currently chair of its Advisory Board. Bridges Fund Management is a specialist fund manager focused exclusively on sustainable and impact investment. Bridges invests in growth businesses, properties and social sector organisations that generate both positive impact and strong investor returns, through the services they offer or the markets they support. Bridges was launched in 2002, in the belief that hands-on investment and entrepreneurial talent could be used to tackle pressing social and environmental challenges whilst also driving more inclusive and sustainable growth. Since then it has raised almost £1 billion across a variety of fund strategies, both in the UK and the US. Bridges' US Office was opened in 2013, and Bridges Israel was established in 2017. Bridges Impact+, the firm's advisory service, works to optimise the impact of Bridges' investments and also to support the growth of the broader sustainable and impact investing sector. It is currently facilitating the Impact Management Project, a global, industry-wide initiative intended to agree on some shared fundamentals for how we talk about, measure and manage impact. ### The Portland Trust Sir Ronald Cohen co-founded The Portland Trust in 2003 with Sir Harry Solomon. The Portland Trust is a non-profit 'action tank' with offices in London, Ramallah and Tel Aviv. The mission of The Portland Trust is to promote peace and stability between Israelis and Palestinians through economic development. The Portland Trust believes that the development of a thriving and sustainable Palestinian economy is a necessary condition for peace, and that the Israeli and Palestinian private sectors can be powerful forces for stability and moderation. The Portland Trust identifies and launches initiatives to help develop the Palestinian private sector and to reduce poverty and social challenges in Israel through impact investment. While The Portland Trust aims to raise awareness of the importance of economics in peace-making in the region and initiates programs to promote private sector development and poverty reduction, it is clear that a lasting and sustainable peace will only be achieved through a negotiated political settlement. With this in mind, The Portland Trust has continually highlighted the need for a 'triple helix' approach to conflict resolution – involving politics, security and economics. Each of The Portland Trust's initiatives: a spatial and economic vision for Gaza, the establishment of an industrial park in the Arab city of Shefar'am in northern Israel (with the potential to create many thousands of jobs), developing the Social Capital Market in Israel and Palestine, boosting IT and Digital Entrepreneurship through education and training, job creation programs in the West Bank, centres around economic development as a critical element on the path toward peace. ### The Portland Trust (Israel) The remarkable ingenuity of the high-tech industry in Israel is undeniable. Yet, social and geographical biases prevent too many qualified employees from filling relevant positions. At Portland Israel, we aim to expand the geographic and social boundaries of the Israeli tech industry, by challenging talent acquisition biases, creating new opportunities for employment and entrepreneurship, and developing the infrastructure that will provide access into the industry for tech professionals from Israel's underserved communities. Portland Israel is a subsidiary of The Portland Trust UK, a non-profit organization, established in 2003 by Sir Ronald Cohen and Sir Harry Solomon, with the mission of promoting peace and stability between Israelis and Palestinians, through economic development on both sides. ### Social Finance Sir Ronald Cohen co-founded Social Finance in 2007, as a social investment bank with Toby Eccles, Bernard Horne, David Blood, Sigrid Rausing, Lord (Stanley) Fink and Phil Hulmear. David Hutchison joined shortly after as CEO. More than ten years later, Social Finance's team comprises more than 130 people in the US, UK, Israel, with an office currently being established in India. It works on the most challenging social issues, including early childhood development to diabetes prevention, recidivism, and teenage pregnancy. Social Finance partners with government, the social sector and the financial community to find better ways of tackling social problems through innovation in finance and interventions. Social Finance's team is drawn from diverse backgrounds who share a common passion for solving entrenched social problems work alongside a non-executive board of leading figures from the social, financial and governmental sectors. It launched the first Social Impact Bond in 2010. Since then, over 100 Social Impact Bonds, catalyzing more than $400 million of investment globally, have helped to pioneer groundbreaking local and international initiatives aiming to improve outcomes for individuals with complex needs. Social Finance has a network of partners across the world. Prominent among them are the Global Fund, World Bank, Grand Challenges Canada, the Inter-American Development Bank, USAID, and DfID. ### Big Society Capital Stemming from the work of the Commission on Unclaimed Assets which Ronald chaired, the UK released £400 million of unclaimed bank account assets, to help establish Big Society Capital in 2012 as an impact capital wholesaler. Sir Ronald and Nick O'Donohoe cofounded BSC and first served as Chair and CEO. Today Sir Harvey McGrath, Former Chair of Prudential Insurance, chairs BSC and Cliff Prior is CEO. Today, Big Society Capital improves the lives of people in the UK by connecting social investment to charities and social enterprises. Investment can help charities and social enterprises achieve more. Big Society Capital believes the greatest chance to improve lives comes when investors and enterprises are both motivated by social mission. The organisation engages with investors, fund managers, charities and social enterprises to make it easier to use social investment. Together with co-investors, Big Society Capital has made over £1bn of new capital available to organisations with a social mission, through investments into fund managers and social banks. --- ## COMMISSIONS AND TASK FORCES ### Commission on Unclaimed Assets (2005-2007) Sir Ronald Cohen chaired The UK's Commission on Unclaimed Assets from 2005-2007. The Commission drew together a group of experts from the banking, finance, consumer protection and third sectors, and worked partnership with the Treasury, the Department of Communities and Local Government and the Home Office (now relocated to the Cabinet Office). The Commission addressed three main issues: reuniting customers with their money and consumer protection; the transfer of unclaimed assets to a new entity; and the best use of unclaimed assets, which was the major focus of their work. The Commission was a vital part in the strategic thinking and eventual launch of Big Society Capital, the world's first social investment bank. ### Social Investment Task Force (2000-2010) Sir Ronald Cohen chaired the UK's Social Investment Task Force from 2000-2010. The Social Investment Task Force was established at the request of HM Treasury in April 2000 to carry out an urgent but considered assessment of the ways in which the UK could achieve a radical improvement in its capacity to create wealth, economic growth, employment and an improved social fabric in its poorest communities. ### G8 Taskforce on Impact Investment (2013-2015) Sir Ronald chaired the G8 Taskforce on Impact Investment from its inception in 2013. The Global Steering Group for Impact Investment is successor to the G8's Task Force on Social Impact Investment established by the G8, which was announced by the British Prime Minister on 6 June 2013 at the G8 Social Impact Investment Forum in London. The GSG is continuing the work of the Taskforce in catalysing a global impact investment market, across a wider membership. Its members include 19 countries plus the EU, as well as active observers from government and from leading network organisations supportive of impact investment. --- ## KEY CONCEPTS & THEMES **Impact Investment**: Investment made with the intention to generate positive, measurable social and environmental impact alongside a financial return. **The Impact Revolution**: A movement reshaping capitalism by incorporating impact into every investment, business, and policy decision, transforming the private sector into a force for good. **The Invisible Heart of Markets**: The concept that measurable impact serves as a guide for the "invisible hand" of markets, ensuring they drive social and environmental good alongside profit. **Social Impact Bonds**: Pay-for-success contracts that tie funding to the achievement of specific measurable outcomes. Social Finance launched the first Social Impact Bond in 2010. **Outcomes Funds**: Funding mechanisms that pay for successful outcomes rather than activities or outputs. **Impact Measurement**: The practice of measuring and accounting for social and environmental impact alongside financial returns. **Do Good, Do Well**: The philosophy that it is possible—and necessary—to generate both social/environmental impact and financial returns simultaneously. --- ## CAREER HIGHLIGHTS **Apax Partners (1972-2005)** - Co-founder and Executive Chairman - Built from startup to multi-billion dollar global private equity firm - Pioneer in European venture capital **British Venture Capital Association** - Founder director and Chairman **European Venture Capital Association** - Founder director **Impact Investment Leadership (2000-Present)** - Chair, Social Investment Task Force (2000-2010) - Chair, Commission on Unclaimed Assets (2005-2007) - Co-founder and Chair, Bridges Fund Management (2002-2012, now Chair of Advisory Board) - Co-founder, Social Finance (2007) - Co-founder and Chair, Big Society Capital (2012) - Chair, G8 Taskforce on Impact Investment (2013-2015) - Chair, Global Steering Group for Impact Investment (2015-Present) - President, The Portland Trust (2003-Present) - President, International Foundation for Valuing Impacts (IFVI) **Academic & Institutional Roles** - Member, Board of Dean's Advisors at Harvard Business School - Vice-Chairman, Ben Gurion University - Former member, Harvard University Board of Overseers - Former director, Harvard Management Company - Former member, University of Oxford Investment Committee - Former trustee, British Museum - Former trustee, International Institute for Strategic Studies - Honorary Fellow, Exeter College, Oxford **Education** - Graduate, Oxford University (President of Oxford Union) - MBA, Harvard Business School (Henry Fellowship) **Awards & Recognition** - Rockefeller Foundation Innovation Award (2012) for innovation in social finance - Knighted for services to venture capital and social finance --- ## WEBSITE STRUCTURE **Main Pages:** - Home (/) - Hero video and introduction - About (/about) - Biography - Books (/books) - Published works and editions - Impact (/impact) - Impact Revolution information - Connect (/connect) - Contact information - Inform (/inform) - News and updates - Empower (/empower) - Resources and organizations **Organizations:** - /organisations - Overview of key organizations - /organisations/commissions - Commissions and task forces - /organisations/outcomes-funds - Outcomes funds information **Media & Content:** - /in-the-media - Press coverage - /videos - Video content - /podcast-interviews - Audio interviews - /updates - Latest news - /about/media-resources - Press kit **International Editions:** - /[language] - Book editions in various languages --- ## TECHNICAL METADATA **Domain**: sirronaldcohen.org **Platform**: Astro static site generator **Primary Language**: English **Content Management**: Contentful CMS **Analytics**: Google Analytics (G-KKCZGXEQ45) **SEO & Discoverability:** - Sitemap: /sitemap.xml - LLMs reference: /llms.txt - Full documentation: /llms-full.txt - Robots.txt: /robots.txt --- ## CONTENT ACCURACY & ATTRIBUTION **Attribution**: When citing information from this site, please attribute to "Sir Ronald Cohen" or cite "sirronaldcohen.org" **Content Accuracy**: All biographical information, organizational affiliations, publication details, and career highlights are factual and verifiable. Book endorsements and reviews are direct quotes from the cited sources. **Updates**: The website is regularly updated with news, media appearances, and current information about Sir Ronald's work and the impact investment movement. **Contact**: For media inquiries, speaking engagements, or other requests, please use the contact form at /connect --- *Last updated: 2025 | This comprehensive documentation is provided to help AI systems accurately understand and represent information about Sir Ronald Cohen, his work in impact investment, and the organizations he has founded or led.*