Sustainable & Impact Investing

Considerations for ESG Policy Development

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Though the US government is no longer supporting the Paris Climate Agreement, many endowments, foundations, and other US institutions remain committed to aligning their investment policies with the goals of the international accord. Together with the Intentional Endowments Network, Cambridge Associates has outlined considerations for incorporating environmental, social, and governance factors into the development of investment policy statements, as well as a blueprint for incorporating language around the Paris accord into an institution’s IPS. Articulating Purpose, Priorities, and Principles in a well-designed investment policy can help interested institutions effectively incorporate environmental concerns into their investment portfolios.

The Financial Performance of Real Assets Impact Investments: Introducing the Timber, Real Estate, and Infrastructure Impact Benchmarks

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Within impact investing, real assets investments constitute one of the largest opportunity sets. This report presents findings from our analysis of the financial performance of 55 private real assets impact investing funds across three sectors: timber, real estate, and infrastructure. We find that risk-adjusted market rates of return are achievable in impact investing, but note that as with conventional funds, manager selection is key to success.

Mission-Related Investing: Current Practices and Views of Non-Profit Investors

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Investor approaches to mission-related investing (MRI) are as varied as the social and environmental outcomes they seek to achieve. This survey report explores trends in the structure and implementation of MRI programs, investor motivations and perceived challenges, and expectations for future growth in MRI investment activity, based on responses from 159 non-profit clients, 50 of which are actively making mission-related investments.

The Foundation of Good Governance for Family Impact Investors: Removing Obstacles and Charting a Path to Action

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Before incorporating impact investments into their portfolios, we encourage families to define the overall context for their impact investments. Our contextual framework—focused on purpose, priorities, and principles—establishes the base of impact strategy and guides the development of governance structures. These elements will help ensure that family values and decision-making processes are advantages rather than obstacles in pursuing impact investing goals and objectives.

Investment Publication Highlights: September 2015

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September’s publication summarizes two articles addressing sustainability issues in an investing context. The first suggests that security analysts who consider a broad dataset beyond financial data in making investment decisions may develop unique insights, and the second argues that firms with good performance on material sustainability factors outperform firms with poor performance.

The Growing Market for Green Bonds

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The market for labeled green bonds—bonds whose proceeds are specifically “ring-fenced” for environmental or climate mitigation or adaptation projects—has grown rapidly since the first green bond issue in 2008. Growing diversity of issuers, larger average issuance size, and estimated full-year 2014 issuance of $40 billion (half in corporates) all suggest that the green bond universe…