What is Sustainable Investing?*
Sustainable investing for endowments broadly means investing to meet the financial needs of the institution that is served by the endowment through companies and other assets that create a thriving, sustainable economy in which the institution's mission continues to be advanced. The Intentionally Designed Endowments Primer and the articles that follow provide more detailed descriptions, case studies and guidelines for sustainable investing.
- Primer: Intentionally Designed Endowments
- Investing With Purpose l by Anthony Cortese, Co-Founder and Principal, Intentional Endowments Network, NACUBO's Business Officer Magazine, March 2018
- "The Intentionally Designed Endowment" | by Anthony Cortese, David Dinerman, and Georges Dyer, AGB's Trusteeship Magazine, Sept/Oct, 2017
*A word about our terminology...
We use the term "sustainable investing" broadly to mean aligning investment practices with institutional mission and values and/or explicitly integrating environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks and opportunities in the investment process, regardless of the strategies used to do so. These strategies may include but are not limited to responsible investing (RI), socially responsible investing (SRI), impact investing, mission-aligned investing, shareholder engagement, positive or negative investment screening, and community investing.
Making Sense of the Terms
Learn More
IEN Resources
Primer: Intentionally Designed Endowments (2018)
Briefing Paper: The Business Case for ESG (2016)
Article: The Intentionally Designed Endowment (AGB's Trusteeship Magazine, 2017)
White Paper: Investing in Clean Energy: Campuses and Endowments (2016)
Additional Frameworks and Roadmaps
Definitions for Responsible Investment Approaches | CFA Institute, Global Sustainable Investment Alliance, Principles for Responsible Investment, November 2023
MSCI Sustainability Research Portal | Access a wide rage of curated relevant academy research on sustainable finance
Moving Forward with Sustainable Investing: A Roadmap for Asset Owners | US SIF Foundation, April 2019
Investing in our Future: How Charities Can Lead the Way in Responsible Investment | ShareAction and Charities Responsible Investment Network, April 2019
Resilient and Sustainable Portfolios: A Framework for Responsible Investment | World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), 2019
Turning Point: Corporate Progress on the Ceres Roadmap for Sustainability l Ceres, February 2018
The 21st Century Investor: Ceres Blueprint for Sustainable Investing | Ceres, 2013
Surveys in the Space
Impact Investing Survey Results Summary: Investor Views on Public/Private Approach | KBI Global Investors, May 2019
The ESG Global Survey 2019: Asset owners and managers determine their ESG integration strategies | BNP Paribas, April 2019
2018 Report on Sustainable and Responsible Investing Trends in the United States | US SIF, 2018
New Report Says Institutional Investors Are Making Room for Sustainable Investments l PR Newswire and Bright Harbor Advisors, 2018
Other Resources
Endowment Investing 101 | Savvy Investor, September 2019
Sustainability Reporting Frameworks: A Guide For CIOs | Council of Institutional Investors Research and Education Fund, September 2019
Pathways to Sustainable Investing | CREO and Cambridge Associates, 2019
Sustainable Campus Index 2019 | AASHE, 2019
Global Sustainable Investment Review 2018 | Global Sustainable Investment Alliance, 2018
ESG Integration in the Americas: Markets, Practices, and Data l CFA Institute & PRI, 2018
The ESG Integration Paradox l Michael Cappucci, Harvard Management Company, August 2018
The Role of Investors in Supporting Better Corporate ESG Performance | Ceres, April 2018
Companies Must Take The Higher Road Toward A Sustainable Future | Ceres, February 2018
Responding to Megatrends: Investment Institutions Trend Index 2017 | PRI, December 2017
The Transformation of Growth: How Sustainable Capitalism Can Drive a New Economic Order l Generation Foundation, June 2017
The Value of Corporate Purpose: A Guide for CEOs and Entrepreneurs| KKS Advisors & The Generation Foundation, May 2017
Network Insights: Impact Measurement in the Healthcare Sector l GIIN, March, 2017
The Pope’s Encyclical and the Response from Catholic Institutions l Prime Buchholz, January, 2017
Introduction to ESG Investment l Japanese Ministry of the Environment Working Group on Incorporating Issues Regarding Sustainability into Investment, January 2017
Navigating the Sustainable Investment Landscape l World Resources Institute, December 2016
Building Highways to SDG Investing l Dutch Financial Sector, December, 2016
State of the Industry Analysis: TIIPing Points 2016 l The Investment Integration Project (TIIP), November 2016
Investors, Corporates, and ESG: Bridging the Gap l Pricewaterhouse Coopers' Governance Insights Center, 2016
ESG Investing: A Simple Approach l James Chong and G. Michael Phillips - California State University Northridge, The Journal of Wealth Management, 2016
Placed-Based Investing for Resilient Rural Development: The Emerging Eco-System for Impact Investing within Southern Rural Value Chains l Croatan Institute, August 2016
Investing For a Sustainable Future l MIT Sloan Management Review, May 2016
ESG Grows Up: An Executive Summary of the Privcap Video Series "ESG in Private Equity Comes of Age" l Privcap, 2016
The Impact of Sustainable and Responsible Investment | US SIF, June 2016
"Building a Foundation for the 21st Century" | Heron Foundation, January 2016
Addressing ESG Factors Under ERISA l Principles for Responsible Investment, 2016
Completing the Analysis: ESG Integration | NEPC Impact Investing Committee, November 2015
Large Managers Increasingly Using ESG Factors in Investment Processes - Report l Pensions & Investments, October 2015
A Revolution in Equity Investing: A Deeper Dive into Nonfinancial Data l UBS, July 2015
Invested in Change: Faith-Consistent Investing in a Climate-Challenged World (pdf) | ICCR, April, 2015
ImpactBase Snapshot An analysis of 300+ Impact Investing Funds | ImpactBase, March 2015
Turning a Profit While Doing Good: Aligning Sustainability with Corporate Performance l By Georges Serafeim, Brookings Institute, December 2014
2014 Global Sustainable Investment Review | Global Sustainable Investment Alliance, 2014
Unleashing the Potential of US Foundation Endowments: Using Responsible Investment to Strengthen Endowment Oversight and Enhance Impact | US SIF, 2014
Opportunities for Powerful, Effective Investing - Interview with Stephen Viederman l The Journal of Environmental Investing, 2014
The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Investment Recommendations: Analysts’ Perceptions and Shifting Institutional Logics | Strategic Management Journal, March 2013
From SRI to ESG: The Changing World of Responsible Investing | Commonfund Institute, September 2013
Building the Capacity of Investment Actors to Use Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Information | Principles for Responsible Investment, March 2013
Inflection points: Philanthropy's Bermuda Triangle l Inflection Point Capital Management, April 2011
Socially Responsible Investing Videos | The Church Pension Fund