Dear Dave, A friend recently mentioned something called impact investing to me. What exactly is this? How do impact investment funds perform, and what do you think about them? Carson Dear Carson, Impact investing generally aims to benefit society, while providing a profit for the investor, by investing in companies, funds, and organizations that are aligned with causes, certain values, or issues. Think of it as a middle ground between traditional investing and charitable giving, where you can match your investing with your own particular beliefs. It really isn’t all that different from investing in traditional mutual funds, except for the goal of the funds. Since their inception, impact investments have averaged returns of a little less than 6 percent. That’s well below the average return of the S&P 500. Impact investing can do some good, but the truth is, it’s hard to measure exactly how much good it’s doing. If you’re going …