10 Jun Questions to ask before developing a valued institutional investment strategy
Many institutional investors are rightly concerned with ensuring their investment strategy aligns with their institution’s values. Before deciding on your institution’s investment strategy, ask yourself the following questions:
- What values are important to your institution?
- Which causes does your institution support? What causes does your organization deprioritize ?
- What financial legacy would your institution be proud to leave?
- What is your institution’s appetite for risk?
- Do you value close alignment between your institution and the investments it supports?
You can then consider what options are available to put your money to work without funding things like the climate crisis, the proliferation of weapons, or the degradation of the environment.
One option is divesting, which means getting rid of financial assets issued by companies or industries that your institution doesn’t support. Major banks and institutions all over the world (the Catholic Church, Norges Bank, New York City) are divesting or planning to divest from fossil fuels among other industries, both for values-based reasons and to avoid the risk of stranded assets as the world transitions to a low-carbon economy. Organizations also commonly divest from tobacco and arms dealers.
If your institution wants to make a bigger impact, you can consider investing only in companies that make a positive difference within your institutional investment strategy . This can mean:
- Investing in companies that have significant corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs
- Concentrating on companies with be st in class environmental, social and governance (ESG) ratings
- Selecting companies that align with your values and make a positive difference
If you are interested in learning more about institutional investment strategies, get in touch.