Creative Investment Research

What Creative Investment Research does

Creative Investment Research is a Washington, DC-based, founder-led independent advisory firm founded in 1989 by William Michael Cunningham. The firm builds proprietary tools, models, and frameworks that enable institutional investors to measure and maximize both social and financial returns. Its central intellectual property is the Fully Adjusted Return Methodology, created in 1989–1990, which captures financial and social return data across minority-owned institutions, other industries, and entire economies. The firm also originated product innovations including the first targeted mortgage-backed security composed of loans from minority-owned financial institutions (with G.E. Capital as aggregator), the first wide-scale anti-predatory lending remediation security (2003), and the Diversity Investing methodology (2006), and offers Social Return Analysis, Social Return Strategy, Social Return Tools, and Social Audit Services.

The business operates as a B2B professional services firm targeting pension funds, institutional investors, federal/state/local government agencies, high net worth investors, and trade associations. Go-to-market is sales-led and driven by thought leadership, with the founder's congressional testimony, amicus briefs, published research, books on Amazon, and courses on Udemy serving as primary distribution and credibility assets. Revenue is generated through project-based consulting engagements, advisory retainers, book royalties, and one-time online course fees; no pricing tiers, ARR, or revenue figures are publicly disclosed. The firm operates from a single Washington, DC headquarters with a 1–10 employee footprint and no external funding, app, API, or platform surface.

Name

Creative Investment Research

Legal name

Creative Investment Research

Website

https://creativeinvest.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1989

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Creative Investment Research is a Washington, DC-based, founder-led advisory firm founded in 1989 that builds proprietary social-return analytics and ESG/impact investing tools for pension funds, institutional investors, and government agencies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Impact Investing Advisory

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

ESG & Sustainability Research (FSACAGAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

ESG/Sustainable Investment Advisory (FSAEAAAJ), Sustainable/Thematic Investing (Climate, Clean Tech, Water, Biodiversity) (FSAAALAB)

Keywords

• Impact investing research
• ESG advisory services
• Social return analysis
• Socially responsible investing
• Diversity investing

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Impact Investing Advisory Services: Consulting and advisory services to pension funds, institutional investors, and government agencies for impact investing strategy, social return analysis, and ESG integration.
2. Book Sales and Publishing: Revenue from published books including 'Thriving As a Minority-Owned Business in Corporate America' and 'The JOBS Act: Crowdfunding Guide to Small Businesses and Startups'.
3. Educational Courses: Online courses on Udemy including Opportunity Zones Explained, Crowdfunding, and Stock/Bond/Mutual Fund Investing.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Creative Investment Research is an independent investment research and advisory firm that provides ESG and impact investing consulting, social return analysis, and social return strategy services to pension funds, institutional investors, and government agencies. The firm applies its proprietary Fully Adjusted Return Methodology to quantify both financial and social returns, and designs innovative investment vehicles such as targeted mortgage-backed securities, anti-predatory lending products, and diversity-screened portfolios.

Product overview

Creative Investment Research offers a comprehensive suite of impact investing products and services centered on their proprietary Fully Adjusted Return Methodology. The core offerings include Social Return Analysis (multi-disciplinary ESG research and investment analysis), Social Return Strategy (strategic consulting for impact investment), and Social Return Tools (product development for investment vehicles). Key investment products include the Targeted Mortgage-Backed Security (first CRA securitization for minority financial institutions), Diversity Investing methodology, and Anti-Predatory Lending Investment Vehicle. The firm also provides Social Audit Services for comprehensive enterprise assessment. Since 1989, the company has pioneered impact measurement frameworks and created entirely original investment tools and vehicles.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Social Return Analysis

Quantifiable outcome

• Successfully predicted systemic economic and market failure using proprietary Fully Adjusted Return Methodology (December 22, 2003)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• G.E. CapitalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated with G.E. Capital as aggregator of loans originated by minority-owned financial institutions for the first targeted mortgage-backed security. G.E. Capital arranged the pooling of loans from minority lenders for the investment structure.
• Financial Institutions from Multiple Countries (SPI-Finance)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated on SPI-Finance project bringing together financial institutions from Australia, Germany, Netherlands, South Africa, Switzerland, and the UK to develop key performance indicators for the financial industry with focus on social performance.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• MSCI ESG Research: MSCI's ESG research arm provides institutional investors with ESG ratings, research, and analytics. Highly comparable to Creative Investment Research's impact measurement and ESG advisory services, but operates at vastly greater scale with proprietary data, ratings, and a global institutional client base.
• Sustainalytics: Sustainalytics provides ESG research, ratings, and analytics to institutional investors and asset managers. Direct comparable to Creative Investment Research's ESG research and impact advisory work, but with a much larger research team, broader product suite, and recent acquisition by Morningstar signals industry consolidation.
• ISS ESG: Institutional Shareholder Services' ESG business provides sustainability ratings, climate solutions, and governance research to institutional investors. Comparable as a research-driven ESG advisory provider serving pension funds and asset managers — Creative Investment Research's core customer segments.
• S&P Global ESG: S&P Global's ESG division provides corporate sustainability ratings, ESG data, and analytics used by institutional investors. Overlaps with Creative Investment Research's ESG research and social return analysis services but at a vastly different scale, with much broader data coverage.

Direct peers

• Just Capital: Just Capital ranks corporations on stakeholder performance and supports impact investing with research and data. Directly comparable to Creative Investment Research's stakeholder-focused investment research and social return measurement services, with overlap in measuring corporate behavior beyond pure financial returns.
• Calvert Impact Capital: Calvert Impact Capital is a nonprofit impact investing firm focused on community development and measurable social outcomes. Directly comparable to Creative Investment Research's impact investing advisory and social return measurement focus, with similar emphasis on community investment and minority financial institutions.
• Community Capital Management: Community Capital Management is an impact investing fixed-income manager focused on CRA, community development, and minority lending. Directly comparable to Creative Investment Research's work on minority-focused securitizations and community development finance, with overlap in serving the CRA-eligible investment market.

Emerging players

• HIP Investor: HIP Investor provides impact ratings, analytics, and advisory services for sustainable and impact investing. Closely comparable to Creative Investment Research's niche focus on impact measurement and ESG investing advisory, with similar scale as a smaller specialist firm.
• Arabesque: Arabesque provides ESG data, analytics, and advisory services for sustainable finance. Comparable as a research-driven ESG/sustainable investing firm; similar scale tier to Creative Investment Research as a smaller specialist focused on impact measurement and sustainable investment strategies.
• Parallelle Finance: Parallelle Finance provides impact investing advisory, ESG integration, and impact measurement services to wealth managers and institutions. Comparable to Creative Investment Research's advisory model serving institutional investors, but with a more wealth-management-focused go-to-market approach.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/creativeinv
• Xx.com/CreativeInv

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Creative Investment Research