ESG Newsletter

Established in 1949, the Nathan Cummings Foundation is a faith-based institution rooted in the Jewish tradition of social justice with an endowment of US$ 500 million. The organization focuses on finding solutions to the climate crisis and growing inequality by providing grants to organizations in the US, Israel and others, as well as investing its endowment assets.

The Nathan Cummings Foundation has been a longstanding advocate of Responsible Investing. Not only is the organization a founding signatory to the UN PRI, it also provides grants to initiatives seeking to further Responsible Investing and Corporate Social Responsibility such as Ceres, the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, and As You Sow. The Nathan Cummings Foundation believes that leveraging capital markets to invest and use their influence as shareholders will help further their mission. Consequently, in March 2018, the Foundation committed to align the entirety of their endowment to Mission-Related Investments, a type of Impact Investing.

Changing Corporate Behaviour through Corporate Activism

Public Equity Portfolio Footprint – March 2019

University of Toronto Asset Management "UTAM" is responsible for managing the Pension, Endowment and short-term financial assets of the University of Toronto. As of December 31st 2018, UTAM had CA$ 10 billion of assets under management.

Responsible Investing Report: A Closer Look - 2018

Brunel Pension Partnership (Brunel) is one of eight national Local Government Pension Scheme Pools bringing together 10 public sector pension funds including the Environment Agency Pension Fund. It manages £30 billion of assets on behalf of nearly 700,000 LGPS members.

RPMI Railpen (Railpen) is responsible for managing and investing the Railways Pension Scheme, which includes 350,000 members from over 150 companies operating within the privatized railway industry in the United Kingdom. As at December 31st, 2017, the Scheme had over US$ 35 billion of assets under management.

Established in 1994, the Victorian Funds Management Corporation (VFMC) is a Sovereign Wealth Fund responsible for managing the long-term investments of Victorian State Government entities. The fund invests in a diverse range of assets in Australian and international markets, using internal and external investment managers. As of June 30th, 2018, VFMC had over US$ 43 billion of funds under management.

Founded in 2014, the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) is a Sovereign Wealth Fund managed by the National Treasury Management Agency. As a long-term investor in Ireland, the fund has a duty to actively contribute to the sustainability of the Irish economy for future generations by providing capital to scale companies. As of December 31st, 2018, the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund had € 8.8 billion of assets under management.

Founded in 1908, Wespath is a non-profit agency serving the United Methodist Church. It supervises and administers retirement plans, investment funds and health and welfare benefit plans for active and retired clergy and lay employees of the Church. As a faith-based organization, Wespath seeks to promote the values of the United Methodist Church as expressed in the Social Principle by integrating environmental, social and governance factors in the selection of investments across asset classes and into the selection of external managers. The organization had over $ 21.9 billion of assets under management as of December 31st, 2018.

John Wilson McConnell, a Canadian businessman and philanthropist, founded the McConnell Foundation in 1937. The Montreal-based organization seeks to address social, cultural and environmental challenges through the use of impact investing and philanthropic grants. As of December 31st 2017, the Foundation had CA $650 million of assets under management. 

Founded in 1994, OPTrust manages the OPSEU Pension Plan, one of the largest defined benefit plans in Canada. The plan is jointly sponsored by the Province of Ontario and Ontario's Public Service Employees Union. As of December 31st, 2018, the Fund had close to CA$ 20 billion of assets under management.