Rockefeller Brothers Fund Joins the White House in Impact Investment Efforts

WASHINGTON, D.C. and NEW YORK, N.Y. – At a White House roundtable on impact investing on June 25, 2014, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF) announced its intent to dedicate 10 percent of its $840 million endowment to targeted impact investments, as one of more than 20 new private sector commitments to drive more than $1.5 billion into impact investments that intentionally generate financial return as well as measurable social or environmental impact.

“We are proud to be moving deliberately to align our endowment investment strategies with our mission and program goals in a portion of our portfolio,” said Stephen Heintz, president of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. “This is the time to seize key opportunities in order to meet our biggest global challenges. With the support of our trustees, investment committee, and outsourced chief investment officer (OCIO), we have also initiated the process to assess how to integrate programmatic considerations in the Fund’s total portfolio management, where and when possible. ”

During the White House roundtable, the U.S. Advisory Board to the United Kingdom’s G7 Social Impact Investing Taskforce released a report calling on the President and Congress to advance impact investing as a strategy to tackle some of our toughest challenges, by taking action to create incentives and remove barriers keeping businesses from doing good. The change has the potential to spur real progress on many issues, including building local food systems that will create jobs and strengthen communities, bringing technology-enabled personal learning to students across the United States, and delivering renewable energy to accelerate economic growth and eradicate extreme poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. The report by the Advisory Board—whose membership includes some of the most prominent names in business, nonprofit, and philanthropy—summarizes more than nine months of investigation and research.

The Obama administration recognizes that the private sector can play a significant role in tackling the world’s most complex challenges. President Obama himself has described this as an “all hands on deck” moment that requires new partnerships and increased innovation to move our country forward. 

The Rockefeller Brothers Fund was pleased to participate in promoting the findings of the report at the roundtable, which also served as an opportunity for the federal government to issue a series of important policy announcements related to impact investing.

Criteria for the RBF's investments will initially prioritize support for clean energy, in an effort to identify businesses positioned to become a part of the worldwide shift to improve energy efficiency, decrease dependence on fossil fuels, and mitigate the effects of climate change. Investments supporting the balance of the Fund’s programmatic priorities of democratic practice, peacebuilding, and those areas designated as RBF pivotal places, will also be incorporated with this proactive commitment.

The Fund has been working to better align its endowed assets with its mission since 2010, when the board of trustees approved a commitment of up to 10 percent of the endowment toward “sustainable-oriented investments.” In conjunction with the recent engagement of Perella Weinberg Partners as its new OCIO, the RBF has worked to refine and formally implement an expanded commitment to this objective. The Fund now has an explicit 10-percent target of investments that are required to have a specific and measurable impact mandate that is aligned with its mission. While the initial pool of funds dedicated to this goal ranged from $35 to $70 million, the Fund’s 2014 commitment is now set at approximately $84 million, generating new funding for impact investing.

The targeted funds are expected to be committed over the next three to five years to mandates that have a defined and measurable impact in any category that aligns with the mission of the Fund and its programmatic interests. A range of both public and private investments in equity, debt, real estate, and absolute return strategies will be evaluated to meet the impact allocation objective. Guided by the Fund’s long-term investment objective to continue in perpetuity with “generational neutrality,” these investment strategies must not only have a measurable impact mandate, but also market rate risk and return characteristics, preserving the real value of the endowment.

About the Rockefeller Brothers Fund

Founded in 1940, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund advances social change that contributes to a more just, sustainable, and peaceful world. The Fund's grantmaking is organized in three thematic programs that support work in the United States and at the global level: Democratic Practice, Sustainable Development, and Peacebuilding; and in three pivotal place programs that address these themes in specific contexts: New York City, Southern China, and the Western Balkans.

Related Links

Read the White House blog post, "Executive Actions to Accelerate Impact Investing to Create Jobs and Strengthen Communities"

Download the Background on the White House Roundtable on Impact Investing: Executive Actions to Accelerate Impact Investing to Tackle National and Global Challenges [PDF]

View the report, Private Capital, Public Good: How Smart Federal Policy Can Galvanize Impact Investing—and Why It’s Urgent (June 2014), by the U.S. National Advisory Board on Impact Investing

Contact

Katarina Yee, Communications Associate