Skip to main content
MENU
Subscribe
  • Subscribe
  • Account
  • LOGIN
  • Topics
    • Alternatives
    • Consultants
    • Coronavirus
    • Courts
    • Defined Contribution
    • ESG
    • ETFs
    • Hedge Funds
    • Industry Voices
    • Investing
    • Money Management
    • Opinion
    • Partner Content
    • Pension Funds
    • Private Equity
    • Real Estate
    • Russia-Ukraine War
    • SECURE Act 2.0
    • Special Reports
    • White Papers
  • Rankings & Awards
    • 1,000 Largest Retirement Plans
    • Top-Performing Managers
    • Largest Money Managers
    • DC Money Managers
    • DC Record Keepers
    • Largest Hedge Fund Managers
    • World's Largest Retirement Funds
    • Best Places to Work in Money Management
    • Excellence & Innovation Awards
    • WPS Innovation Awards
    • Eddy Awards
  • ETFs
    • Latest ETF News
    • Fund Screener
    • Education Center
    • Equities
    • Fixed Income
    • Commodities
    • Actively Managed
    • Alternatives
    • ESG Rated
  • ESG
    • Latest ESG News
    • The Institutional Investor’s Guide to ESG Investing
    • ESG Sustainability - Gaining Momentum
    • Climate Change: The Inescapable Opportunity
    • Impact Investing
    • 2022 ESG Investing Conference
    • ESG Rated ETFs
  • Defined Contribution
    • Latest DC News
    • DC Money Manager Rankings
    • DC Record Keeper Rankings
    • Innovations in DC
    • Trends in DC: Focus on Retirement Income
    • 2022 Defined Contribution East Conference
    • 2022 DC Investment Lineup Conference
  • Searches & Hires
    • Latest Searches & Hires News
    • Searches & Hires Database
    • RFPs
  • Performance Data
    • P&I Research Center
    • Earnings Tracker
    • Endowment Returns Tracker
    • Corporate Pension Contribution Tracker
    • Pension Fund Returns Tracker
    • Pension Risk Transfer Database
    • Future of Investments Research Series
    • Charts & Infographics
    • Polls
  • Careers
  • Events
    • View All Conferences
    • View All Webinars
    • 2022 Retirement Income Conference
    • 2022 Managing Pension Risk & Liabilities
    • 2022 WorldPensionSummit
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Foundations
November 12, 2018 12:00 AM

More fund execs look at ESG investing as logical extension of their missions

Hazel Bradford
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    NEPC's Catherine Konicki

    Many foundations are carving out a portion of their portfolios for ESG and impact investing.

    "There continues to be, especially with foundations, interest in doing impact investing. Whether that's finding more managers or investing more in line with the mission of the foundation, it has been a growth area," said Catherine Konicki, partner at NEPC LLC.

    The consultant is seeing interest from "foundations that never thought of it before, and foundations of all sizes."

    Now, when the firm does manager due diligence, "we are always asking them, what are they doing with ESG? A lot more managers are incorporating into their strategies," she said.

    For foundations, "the questions are really evolving into how we think about it as a total organization rather than just the portfolio," said Deborah Spalding, Commonfund deputy chief investment officer and managing director.

    At the investment committee level, "one of the most difficult steps is to define what is impact investing. There's still a range of opinions. What you are starting to see now is a much broader conversation among trustees," said Ms. Spalding.

    Matt Onek, president and CEO of Mission Investors Exchange, a New York-based impact investing network for foundations, said:"Developing the tools to measure impact is now a priority. A lot of people are working on it," said

    ESG investing "without a doubt will continue to be a trend," said Lawrence Kochard, chief investment officer and a managing director at Makena Capital Management LLC. "The good news is that (with) the characteristics that underlie ESG in terms of thinking of a long-term owner, there's a lot of alignment."

    Mission Investors Exchange's 250 members range from the $39.9 billion Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle, to some of the smallest, and "there is no foundation CIO that isn't considering impact investing. All foundations are going to have to consider how to utilize impact investing in their portfolio," said Mr. Onek.

    "More and more of the tech billionaires are interested in impact investing from day one," said Mr. Onek. "It is also generational. As millennials become members of the boards, they are more interested. As there is turnover and the new generation prepares, demand will grow. This is a movement that's here to stay," Mr. Onek said.

    "What's exciting about impact investing is you can use a range of investments and tools. There is huge diversity in types of investments. You could have a cash position, all the way to public equities, to private equity," he said.

    His organization is seeing more positive ESG screening, instead of negative screening for things foundation officials know they don't like or see investment risk from, such as tobacco, guns or private prisons.

    His members "are focused on deep impact in communities and markets they care about it." For U.S. foundations, there is a lot of interest in place-based initiatives, with intentional collaborations in places like Detroit and New Orleans, where foundations partner with other anchor investors and large foundations, he said. Mr. Onek pointed to Benefit Chicago, a collaboration among The Chicago Community Trust, the $5.3 billion John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and Calvert Foundation aimed at mobilizing $100 million in impact investments for the city's non-profits and social enterprises.

    "Foundations continue to look for new opportunities, and many are very active in creating product," such as new funds or partnering with other non-foundation investors. "That's the extra work that foundations are doing," Mr. Onek said.

    Related Articles
    Graphic: Foundations databank
    The largest foundations
    Alternatives spark decade of growth for largest funds
    Alternatives spark decade of growth for largest funds
    ESG investing soars globally, Opimas report says
    Black school endowments push for growth, diversity
    Millennials are becoming next target area for managers' diversity efforts
    Cook Children's Health Care System recruits CIO from Columbia University
    Private school endowments chalk up 7.4% return in fiscal 2018
    San Francisco Foundation creates $50 million impact investing pool
    ESG initiatives by exchanges on the rise, survey says
    Commentary: Has impact investing reached a fork in the road?
    Nasdaq creates ESG reporting guide to help companies and investors
    Recommended for You
    Roz Hewsenian
    Helmsley foundation begins new decade with plenty of dry powder
    Foundations follow 2017 gains with negative returns in 2018
    Foundations follow 2017 gains with negative returns in 2018
    Alternatives spark decade of growth for largest funds
    Alternatives spark decade of growth for largest funds
    An Active Approach to US Mid-Cap Equities for DC Plans
    Sponsored Content: An Active Approach to US Mid-Cap Equities for DC Plans

    Reader Poll

    June 6, 2022
    SEE MORE POLLS >
    Sponsored
    White Papers
    Nearing the finish line: Ideas on end-state investing for corporate DB plans
    The Meaning of "Portfolio Intelligence"
    Credit Indices: Closing the Fixed Income Evolutionary Gap
    Forever in Style: Benchmarking with the Morningstar® Broad Style Indexes℠
    Crossroads: Politics, Inflation, & Bonds
    Is there a mid-cap gap in your DC plan?
    View More
    Sponsored Content
    Partner Content
    The Industrialization of ESG Investment
    For institutional investors, ETFs can make meeting liquidity needs easier
    Gold: the most effective commodity investment
    2021 Investment Outlook | Investing Beyond the Pandemic: A Reset for Portfolios
    Ten ways retirement plan professionals add value to plan sponsors
    Gold: an efficient hedge
    View More
    E-MAIL NEWSLETTERS

    Sign up and get the best of News delivered straight to your email inbox, free of charge. Choose your news – we will deliver.

    Subscribe Today
    June 20, 2022 page one

    Get access to the news, research and analysis of events affecting the retirement and institutional money management businesses from a worldwide network of reporters and editors.

    Subscribe
    Connect With Us
    • RSS
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn

    Our Mission

    To consistently deliver news, research and analysis to the executives who manage the flow of funds in the institutional investment market.

    About Us

    Main Office
    685 Third Avenue
    Tenth Floor
    New York, NY 10017-4036

    Chicago Office
    130 E. Randolph St.
    Suite 3200
    Chicago, IL 60601

    Contact Us

    Careers at Crain

    About Pensions & Investments

     

    Advertising
    • Media Kit
    • P&I Content Solutions
    • P&I Careers | Post a Job
    • Reprints & Permissions
    Resources
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • FAQ
    • P&I Research Center
    • Site map
    • Staff Directory
    Legal
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Request
    Pensions & Investments
    Copyright © 1996-2022. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • Topics
      • Alternatives
      • Consultants
      • Coronavirus
      • Courts
      • Defined Contribution
      • ESG
      • ETFs
      • Hedge Funds
      • Industry Voices
      • Investing
      • Money Management
      • Opinion
      • Partner Content
      • Pension Funds
      • Private Equity
      • Real Estate
      • Russia-Ukraine War
      • SECURE Act 2.0
      • Special Reports
      • White Papers
    • Rankings & Awards
      • 1,000 Largest Retirement Plans
      • Top-Performing Managers
      • Largest Money Managers
      • DC Money Managers
      • DC Record Keepers
      • Largest Hedge Fund Managers
      • World's Largest Retirement Funds
      • Best Places to Work in Money Management
      • Excellence & Innovation Awards
      • WPS Innovation Awards
      • Eddy Awards
    • ETFs
      • Latest ETF News
      • Fund Screener
      • Education Center
      • Equities
      • Fixed Income
      • Commodities
      • Actively Managed
      • Alternatives
      • ESG Rated
    • ESG
      • Latest ESG News
      • The Institutional Investor’s Guide to ESG Investing
      • ESG Sustainability - Gaining Momentum
      • Climate Change: The Inescapable Opportunity
      • Impact Investing
      • 2022 ESG Investing Conference
      • ESG Rated ETFs
    • Defined Contribution
      • Latest DC News
      • DC Money Manager Rankings
      • DC Record Keeper Rankings
      • Innovations in DC
      • Trends in DC: Focus on Retirement Income
      • 2022 Defined Contribution East Conference
      • 2022 DC Investment Lineup Conference
    • Searches & Hires
      • Latest Searches & Hires News
      • Searches & Hires Database
      • RFPs
    • Performance Data
      • P&I Research Center
      • Earnings Tracker
      • Endowment Returns Tracker
      • Corporate Pension Contribution Tracker
      • Pension Fund Returns Tracker
      • Pension Risk Transfer Database
      • Future of Investments Research Series
      • Charts & Infographics
      • Polls
    • Careers
    • Events
      • View All Conferences
      • View All Webinars
      • 2022 Retirement Income Conference
      • 2022 Managing Pension Risk & Liabilities
      • 2022 WorldPensionSummit