NORTHLIGHT FOUNDATION SIGNS SUSTAINABLE INVESTING RETIREMENT PLEDGE FOR FACULTY AND EMPLOYEE PLANS
NorthLight Foundation Joins Growing List of Colleges, Universities, Foundations, and Other Nonprofit Institutions Committing to Evaluate Sustainable Retirement Plan Options with Renewed Focus on Climate and Social Justice
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – November 17, 2022 – NorthLight Foundation has become a new signatory of the Intentional Endowments Network’s (IEN) Sustainable Retirements Plan Pledge. IEN’s Sustainable Retirement Plan pledge, supported by Second Nature and The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), establishes that university and nonprofit “employees deserve a range of sustainable investing retirement fund options that consider environmental, social, and governance factors, consistent with the goals of reducing risk, protecting capital, and enhancing financial returns.”
By signing this Pledge, NorthLight Foundation has set the intention to review its current retirement plan fund offerings and assess the sustainable investing options currently available. NorthLight Foundation will also work with plan administrators to determine if there are suitable sustainable investing options for plans that take into account the best interest of the Foundation’s beneficiaries and their retirement goals.
“We are thrilled to be the first private family foundation to sign the Intentional Endowments Network’s Sustainable Retirement Plan,” said Kate Sinding Daly, Executive Director of Northlight Foundation. “As a foundation that has aligned its endowment with its mission, we knew that the next step was to find sustainable, values-aligned options for retirement investments. We had begun looking for suitable 401(k) plans, and when we heard of this pledge we signed almost immediately.”
Now open for additional signers, the IEN Sustainable Retirement pledge was first adopted by Arizona State University, The ASU Foundation, Chatham University, and Lewis & Clark College. Those who sign onto the pledge by the end of 2022 will be recognized as Founding Signatories.
“It’s with great pleasure that IEN and our partners welcome NorthLight Foundation as a signatory of the Sustainable Retirements Pledge,” said Georges Dyer, executive director of IEN. “Institutional retirement plans represent trillions in investments, and we at IEN are committed to ensuring that they offer participants options that align with the transition to a sustainable future, so retirees are not caught ‘holding the bag’ of risky investments that are not positioned for the transition to a more equitable, clean energy and low-carbon economy.”
The Sustainable Retirements Pledge was first announced at IEN’s Institutional Investor Roundtable during Climate Week with over 100 endowment trustees, CIOs, investment staff, asset managers, investment consultants, outsourced CIOs, retirement planning experts, sustainability leaders, faculty, and nonprofit partners.
Demand for sustainable investing is increasing. There are nearly $1 trillion in assets held in 403(b) employee retirement plans. ESG assets are predicted to grow to $53 trillion by 2025, which would comprise one-third of all global assets under management. The interest in sustainable investing is also reflected in demands on investment managers, and a stronger connection between investment returns and sustainable outcomes is being established. Including sustainable investment options in 403(b) retirement plans can mitigate investment risk and yield greater economic resilience.
MEDIA CONTACT: Georges Dyer, Co-founder & Executive Director, Intentional Endowments Network, [email protected]
ABOUT IEN
The Intentional Endowments Network (IEN) is a peer learning network of colleges, universities, and other mission-driven institutional investors working together to achieve their risk and return objectives through investment actions that create a thriving, sustainable economy. IEN has more than 200 network members including endowments, asset managers, investment consultants, nonprofit partners, and individuals.