Responsible Investing | Insights Blog
Following the release of the Council on Foundations–Commonfund Study of Investment of Endowments for Private and Community Foundations (the “Study”), Commonfund Institute hosted a three-part Coffee...
Responsible Investing | Articles
In March 2023, President Biden acted to secure the U.S. Department of Labor Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) Rule as foundational investment policy that permits fiduciaries of private...
Responsible Investing | Articles
The following has been adapted from a presentation delivered at Commonfund Forum 2023. The presenters were Rachel Stavola Clivaz, Associate Director, and Anthony Peretore, Managing Director,...
Responsible Investing | Insights Blog
According to the Financial Times “Investing within an ESG framework is now the fastest-growing segment of the asset management industry.” In line with this growth is the increasing number of...
Responsible Investing | Articles
Reflections from the Council on Foundations' webinar The 2020 Council on Foundations-Commonfund Study of Investment of Endowments for Private and Community Foundations (CCSF) is the field’s most...
Responsible Investing | Articles
Climate change is a source of concern around the world—from environmental scientists to government policymakers to ordinary citizens. In a more figurative sense, the climate for responsible investing...
Responsible Investing | Articles
Intergenerational equity was defined by economist James Tobin in 1974. He wrote, “The trustees of endowed institutions are the guardians of the future against the claims of the present. Their task in...
Responsible Investing | Articles
In recent years, responsible investing has received mounting levels of attention from all quarters of the investment management field, from institutional investors large and small to global asset...
Responsible Investing | Articles
The benefits of diversity are widely recognized in the work place and among educational institutions and other nonprofits. Yet, the concept of investment management firms that are minority owned and...
Responsible Investing | Articles
The subject of ESG, or investing in accord with environmental, social and governance principles, arose in several sessions at Commonfund Forum 2018. One session, in particular, was devoted to the...
Responsible Investing | Articles
Introduction In recent years, growing attention has been paid to the use by endowed institutions of so-called responsible investing practices. The three main practices — environmental, social and...
Responsible Investing | Articles
How long is the long term? A year ago, private and community foundations appeared to many observers to have recovered from the losses suffered in the 2008–09 global financial crisis. Double-digit...
Responsible Investing | Insights Blog
Most institutional investor discussions and actions regarding global warming have been at two ends of the spectrum: either divest from fossil fuels entirely or remain fully invested. A better...
Responsible Investing | Insights Blog
Discussions about whether responsible investing strategies help or hurt investment performance are complicated by the fact that, there are several broad categories of responsible investing practice...
Responsible Investing | Articles
Advances in alternative energy technologies promise to reduce the world’s dependence on fossil fuels. Largely, however, they remain just that—a promise. So, where are the opportunities to invest in...
Responsible Investing | Articles
Impact investing is showing growth around the world. According to the most recent J.P. Morgan/Global Impact Investing Network Impact Investor Survey, the number of institutional investors engaging in...
Responsible Investing | Insights Blog
Generally speaking, Environmental Social and Governance, or ESG for short, is used to describe a group of characteristics that can have a material impact on the long-term success of a company and,...
Responsible Investing | Articles
Environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors are a topic for active discussion in board rooms. Here’s an update on Commonfund’s thoughts and actions and how ESG may relate to you. In general,...
Responsible Investing | Articles
Investing according to environmental, social and governance principles is maturing into a distinct discipline. Robust research results dispute the conventional wisdom about performance trade-offs. If...
Challenging Headlines Abound for “Cleantech 2.0” – As Opportunities Persist