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The McKnight Foundation was established in 1953 by William L. McKnight, ex-CEO of 3M. Today, the family foundation seeks to enhance the quality of life for present and future generations in the Minnesota area and beyond. In 2013, the McKnight foundation decided to invest in impact strategies and mission related investments, in addition to its grant-making program. As of Q4 2018, the foundation was investing a third of its $2.3 billion endowment in strategies aligned with its values.
The McKnight foundation's impact investing strategy requires alignment with three of the grant-making program's goals: transition to a low carbon economy, reducing agricultural pollution in the Mississippi River, and contributing to a thriving and sustainable Minnesota. Their investment portfolio is composed of a High-Impact Investments portfolio which includes program-related investments, direct private debt and equity deals, and an aligned investment portfolio which is invested in public equities and bonds.
The Ford Foundation was established in 1936 by Edsel Ford, son of the founder of the Ford Motor Company. Since its formation, the organization has been seeking to reduce poverty and injustice, strengthen democratic values, promote international cooperation, and advance human achievement through Grant-making, Program-Related Investments and Mission-Related Investments. Today, the Ford Foundation manages a $12 billion endowment.
To further contribute to its mission, the Ford Foundation has been seeking to promote Impact Investing through their grant-making program. For example, the Ford Foundation helps the U.S. Impact Investing Alliance raise awareness of impact investing in the United States and foster deployment of impact capital. Furthermore, in 2017, the Ford Foundation announced it is committing $ 1 Billion of its endowment to Mission-Related Investments by 2027. This process will be gradual, carving out funds from its current investment portfolio. The Foundation established a Mission-Related Investment Committee to assist the Board of Trustees in this process.
Pensionfund Metalektro (PME) is the pension fund of the Metal and Electrical Engineering Industry (Metalektro) in the Netherlands. PME works on behalf of 1,300 companies and around 166,000 pensioners. As of December 31st, 2018, PME had over USD 52 billion of assets under management.
As a founding signatory to the UN's Principles for Responsible Investing, PME believes that ESG factors impact the value of their investments. The Pension Fund's approach to Responsible Investment is principles-based and respects international norms such as the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, the International Labor Organization Standards, and the Oslo Treaty on Cluster Munitions. PME is currently seeking to decrease the annual carbon footprint of their equity portfolio by 25% by 2020 compared to 2015 levels. Finally, the Pension Fund is aiming to align 10% of their portfolio to the UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2021.
The Rockefeller Foundation was founded in 1913 by John D. Rockefeller. Its mission is to promote humanity's well-being by building collaborative relationships to solve global challenges related to health, food, power, and economic mobility. As of December 31, 2016, the Rockefeller Foundation managed an endowment of US$ 4 billion.
The Rockefeller Foundation has been a pioneer in Impact Investing, a term that was coined at the foundation's Bellagio Center in 2007. Their program-related investment portfolio was launched in the 1990s, investing in the first micro-finance debt funds. They have been leveraging their grant-making to build the field of impact investing field – developing networks, measurements and standards like the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN), B-Lab and GIIRS. In 2019, the Foundation announced the creation of a new entity: Rockefeller Foundation Impact Investment Management to mobilize like-minded investors to scale up finance vehicles the UN Sustainable Development Goals funding gap.
The F.B. Heron Foundation was founded in 1992 by an anonymous benefactor to support people and communities help themselves out of poverty. Since 1996, Heron has been developing a mission-related investment strategy to leverage their resources in order to increase their impact on low-income communities. By 2012, all of the Heron's assets were invested in Mission-related investments and grant-making. As at December 31, 2017, Heron had $ 308 million of assets under management.
The investment and grants portfolio are managed by the same investment committee. All of their activities rest on four strategic pillars: Community Systems, Net Contribution, Properly Capitalizing Enterprises, and Conscious Portfolio Construction. Investments must touch at least one of the aforementioned strategic pillars. Additionally, each for-profit investment measures, evaluates, and monitors the aggregate effect of an organization on human, financial, civic and natural capital. This methodology was utilized to create the U.S. Community Investing Index (Bloomberg Ticker: CMTYIDX), an index of publicly traded companies contributing positively to the communities in which they operate.
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation was established in 1930 by the founder of Kellogg's, the food manufacturing company. The financial endowment was to be used to promote the health, happiness and well-being of children. The Foundation's systems approach led them to widen their focus to support families and communities to create conditions in which vulnerable children can achieve success as individuals, and as contributors to society. As of August 31, 2018, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation had USD 8.6 billion of assets under management.
In 2007, the Foundation committed to dedicate $100 million of their endowment to Mission Driven Investments – a type of impact investment seeking to advance the Foundation's mission while generating both social and financial returns. To maximize their impact, the philanthropy has collaborated with KKS Advisors to develop an investment framework to analyze how portfolio companies are creating broader systemic change. This framework rests on 4 pillars:
Formed in 1984, Cbus is the Super Fund for the building, construction and allied industries in Australia. As at March 31st 2019, Cbus provided superannuation and income stream accounts to more than 797,000 members, managing over AUD 49.8 billion.
Cbus believes the active consideration of Environmental, Social and Governance issues can improve long term risk adjusted returns. As such, all internally and externally managed portfolios integrate ESG risks and opportunities into the investment process. Additionally, Cbus does not invest in companies involved in manufacturing controversial weapons and tobacco products. The organization's responsible investment approach focuses on issues such as Climate Change, Cognitive Diversity, Health & Safety, Labor & Human Rights, and Product Supply Chains at portfolio companies. Furthermore, as an active owner, Cbus influences its holdings through proxy voting and engagement.
Responsible Investment Principles
AMF Pensionsförsäkring is a life insurance company owned by the Swedish Trade Union Confederation and the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise. It manages the occupational pension for over 4 million individuals. As of March 31st 2019, AMF had USD 67 billion of assets under management.
AMF seeks to fully integrate sustainability issues into their asset management activities, including effectively managing carbon-related risks to ensure alignment with the Paris Agreement, voting their proxies, and engaging with portfolio companies. To be included into AMF's portfolios, companies must comply with the UN Global Compact, the OECD Guidelines and cannot be involved in the manufacture and distribution of controversial weapons or coal exploration. Today, the firm is working towards the implementation of an ESG framework for its properties and alternative investments.
The National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) was set up to facilitate automatic enrolment for workers in the UK as part of the government's workplace pension reform in 2008. As of March 31st 2018, NEST managed £ 2.7 billion in behalf of 6.4 million members, making it the largest defined contribution master trust in the UK.
The consideration of ESG risk factors in the investment management process is part of NEST's core beliefs, as it can improve risk adjusted returns, support long-term wealth creation and help managing reputational risks. The responsible investment strategy focuses on addressing climate change, improving banking conduct and culture, understanding workforce and human capital, and promoting audit best practices. To achieve these goals, ESG issues are integrated in risk management and active ownership. Further, NEST engages with regulators and standard setters such as the TCFD, the Workforce Disclosure Initiative, and the Parliamentary Environmental Audit Committee among others. Going forward, NEST is seeking to divest its tobacco holdings from all of its portfolios in the next two years.
Founded in 1987, HESTA is the Australian industry superannuation fund for health care professionals. The fund has over 850,000 members and had AU$ 46 billion of assets under management as of June 30th, 2018.
Investing responsibly and recognizing that supporting a healthy economy, environment and society is in their members' best interest is one of the fund's core investment beliefs. HESTA's responsible investment framework is guided by the UN PRI requirements and the UN Global Compact principles on Human Rights, Labor, Environment, and Corruption. As a universal investor, the Super Fund regards Climate Change as source of risk and opportunities for the fund's portfolio. To deliver the best risk-adjusted returns, HESTA has developed a Climate Change policy favoring Engagement with portfolio companies and policy makers over divestment and exclusion (except for Thermal Coal and related assets). Going forward, HESTA is seeking to increase its impact by aligning its assets to the UN SDGs. Naturally, as the Superannuation fund for health and community service workers, the fund has chosen to align its portfolio with SDG 3: Good Health and Wellbeing, SDG 5: Gender Equality, and five others.
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