Imfino News

WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 30, 2019) – The US SIF Foundation today released Moving Forward with Sustainable Investing: A Roadmap for Asset Owners to provide best practices and practical steps for retirement plans, corporations, educational institutions, philanthropic foundations, family offices, nonprofit organizations and other asset owners.

The guide is the third and final in a series of roadmaps issued by the US SIF Foundation. The roadmaps are a core deliverable from US SIF's strategic plan goal of identifying and disseminating information about best practices within the sustainable investing field. The US SIF Foundation previously issued roadmaps for financial advisors and money managers.

"While institutional asset owners vary widely in organizational purpose and structure, they are uniquely positioned to shift the investment industry toward sustainability,” said Lisa Woll, CEO of the US SIF Foundation.

“By considering ESG factors in portfolio selection and shareholder engagement, asset owners can help ensure that their investments support—not contradict—their values or mission. Sustainable investing strategies can also help institutions and their asset managers minimize risk and improve returns over the long term. "

The Asset Owner Roadmap was created with input from investment consultants and asset owners. It covers the basics of sustainable investing and includes 10 steps asset owners can take to develop and enhance investing strategies that take environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) indicators into account. The Roadmap also provides sample investment policy statements, proxy voting guidelines, resources on investor engagement and impact measurement and case studies of three institutional asset owners.

The case studies feature philanthropic foundation Wallace Global Fund, single-family office Blue Haven Initiative, and the California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS), with links to resources and materials from each organization. The Wallace Global Fund case study looks at the foundation's multi-year transition to a fully comprehensive mission investing portfolio. The Blue Haven Initiative case study highlights specific ESG considerations the family office uses to evaluate its investments in each asset class. The CalSTRS case study features the investment policy and management plan that serves as the foundation for CalSTRS's comprehensive ESG investment approach to more than $200 billion in assets under management.

The Asset Owner Roadmap is now available on US SIF's website. To view or download a copy, visit here.

About US SIF

US SIF: The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment is the leading voice advancing sustainable, responsible and impact investing across all asset classes. Its mission is to rapidly shift investment practices toward sustainability, focusing on long-term investment and the generation of positive social and environmental impacts. US SIF members include investment management and advisory firms, mutual fund companies, asset owners, research firms, financial planners and advisors, broker-dealers, community investing organizations and nonprofit associations. The 9th US SIF Annual Conference will take place June 10-12, in Minneapolis.  

US SIF is supported in its work by the US SIF Foundation, a 501(C)(3) organization that undertakes educational and research activities to advance the mission of US SIF, including offering training for advisors and other financial professionals on the Fundamentals of Sustainable and Impact Investment. Learn more at ussif.org.