Imagine a future where advisors and asset managers’ compensation would depend on their ability to create non-financial impacts on the world with their clients’ assets.

Advisors have probably come across futurists who say, eventually, almost every investment will be made with a social or environmental impact in mind as well as a financial return. Most advisors have also heard predictions that performance-based fees will soon become the norm in investment management.

At “The Future of Things,” a Monday panel discussion at Financial Advisor’s 8th Annual Inside Alternatives conference in Denver, panelists linked the two concepts. In 40 years, advisors and asset managers will be paid not just on financial reutrns, but on the ESG impacts they make, according to Abhilash Mudaliar, research director for the Global Impact Investing Network.

“There are several drivers behind this vision: changing social norms—people are more connected with the consumption and investment choices that they make,” said Mudaliar. “These changing norms are being driven by millennials and women, but they’re being felt more broadly.”

Mudaliar also argued that impact investing leads to better businesses, as sustainable practices create more efficiencies, and social responsibility and sound corporate governance reduce labor and litigation risks.

Institutional investors are also driving demand for ESG opportunities, especially in private funds, said Mudaliar, as they seek managers who can fulfill responsible investing mandates.

“The question now becomes, what needs to happen to realize this vision of the future where it’s the new normal to integrate environmental and social considerations into investment decisions?” said Mudaliar, who believes that better impact measurements; better definitions and segmentations of ESG, socially-responsible and impact investing; and more publicly available strategies and products will lead to the normalization of ESG strategies.

Rising interest in creating ESG impacts, along with technological disruption, will greatly alter the investment universe, said panelist Will Strong, chief financial officer for Virtus Real Estate Capital.

“Some of the technologies, like batteries, solar power, electronic and automated vehicles, interconnectivity, they all will have extraordinarily big impacts on real estate,” said Strong. “Gas stations, office buildings, parking, residential space—you may not need a garage or a car anymore. We’re thinking about all these things, looking forward and undertstanding where the changes are going to be.”

Malls, for example, are likely to continue to fail as more consumers are choosing to shop online, said Strong.

Virtus takes a proactive approach to potential disruption, said Strong. Because the firm invests only in cycle-resilient properties, its strategies tend to tilt towards real estate that is used to meet social needs or fits major demographic trends, like the expansion of university enrollments or the retirement of the baby boomer generation.

“We ended up as ESG investors automatically without really programming it,” said Strong. “We do end up really paying attention to the ESG element in our real estate. ESG doesn’t just sit on the shelf. We live it every day.”

Nevertheless, Virtus fist considers investment performance when building a portfolio, said Strong, because investors are still prioritizing returns. If a portfolio doesn’t perform well, most investors will still want to get rid of allocations that are responsible for the poor showing, regardless of whether they create a social or environmental impact.

Mudaliar disagreed, arguing that a significant segment of investors claims to have goals other than maximizing their financial returns.

“The research, starting from years ago, shows that impact investing strategies can produce attractive returns, but not all investors seek to generate comparable returns,” said Mudaliar. “Every day we ask the question ‘What sort of returns do you seek?’ and roughly 60 percent of investors say they want risk-adjusted market returns. That means many would accept actual returns that are below market returns. Not everyone pursues competitive returns.”

Investors might be interested in difficult business opportunities that do not have great potential for growth, or may want to develop markets where one doesn’t yet exist, noted Mudaliar. Others might want to act as a bridge between investment and philanthropy and be satisfied with muted returns if their money was also supporting a favorite cause.

The biggest game changer will be more accurate and transparent measurements of impact and the individual investor’s ability to hold their investment managers to preset targets for impact outcomes and metrics, said Mudaliar.

“We’re already starting to see innovative funds set up like that, with compensation determined by returns and the ability to meet impact targets,” said Mudaliar.