New Paper From Rockefeller Brothers Fund and Perella Weinberg Partners Finds Investors Can Pursue Impact Without Sacrificing Returns
A new paper released by Perella Weinberg Partners (PWP) finds that investors can pursue both financial returns and social or environmental impact simultaneously. Since 2014, PWP Agility has served as the Outsourced Chief Investment Office (OCIO) for the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, which features heavily in the new publication, It’s More Than Just Talk. This partnership has helped shape PWP’s belief that returns and impact are not mutually exclusive.
It's More Than Just Talk examines the myths surrounding mission aligned investing that PWP is working to demystify. In debunking the misconception that mission-aligned investing lowers expected returns, the paper emphasizes that there is no one-size-fits-all strategy for investors. Foundations, universities, and other institutional investors must develop a shared understanding of mission alignment and clear goals for their investments, then choose from a spectrum of approaches to meet them. These can include applying an exclusionary screen (Divestment), choosing fund managers that integrate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria into the security selection process, and investments focused on specific environmental or social impact.
The paper details how the Rockefeller Brothers Fund employs all three strategies in its mission-aligned investment efforts. In 2014, the Fund committed to divest its endowment from fossil fuels and set a target to allocate 10 percent of its portfolio to impact investments, which it has since increased to 20 percent. In addition, the Fund has committed more than $227 million of its $1.16 billion endowment to ESG investments.