The Bellagio Forum for Sustainable Development (BFSD) and the European Social Investment Forum (Eurosif) announce the publication of PRIME: the Primer for the Responsible Investment Management of Endowments. This Toolkit is aimed at helping foundations manage their endowments in a socially responsible way.
Most foundations have a charter aimed at improving the state of the world in which we live. The single most important resource to achieve this goal is through financial donations, or the income generated from endowments. High returns on the endowed capital invested are therefore a key to success – but also avoidance of financial debacles, and limiting of financial risks.
Recently, the reputation risk of endowments being associated with speculative or unethical business practices, or investments that are in contrast with a Foundation’s objective, has increasingly been an agenda item of Foundation Boards. And, some boards have asked if the investment policy for its endowed capital is indeed aligned with the Foundation’s objectives.
The PRIME Toolkit, produced by Bellagio Forum and Eurosif in cooperation with the European Foundation Centre, and with the participation of Ecologic, aims at helping foundation officers, directors and trustees better understand and integrate Responsible Investment practices (often called Socially Responsible Investment or SRI) into mandates they give to asset managers entrusted with the management of their endowments. It aims to supply readers with a resource to assist them as these factors become increasingly relevant to good asset management and the expectations of the public and relevant stakeholders.
Downloads
- Full text of the Press Release: PRIME: Helping Foundations Use “the Other 95%” [pdf, 41 KB, English]
- PRIME Toolkit [pdf, 1.2 MB, English]
Ecologic contributed to the Toolkit within the project: Responsible Investment Management of Endowments (PRIME)