Last week, two CCM team members were at RCRI’s (Resource Center for Religious Institutes) national conference in Dallas.[1] RCRI is an organization created to serve the needs of Catholic communities of religious women and men. While at the conference and sitting in on several of the educational panel sessions, CIIC was mentioned, and we thought it would be a great organization to spotlight in this weeks’ blog.
If you are not familiar, the Catholic Impact Investing Collaborative, known as “CIIC”, is made up of six U.S. Catholic institutions with combined AUM of $40 billion. The collaborative is asking their respective communities to align their financial goals to their faith beliefs by incorporating more impact investments into their portfolios. The group has released an official pledge to promote impact investing among their partners as they believe that impact investing “furthers the mission and values of Catholic investors”[2].
The Catholic Impact Investing Pledge focuses on environmental, social and governance (ESG) impact with an emphasis on combating climate change and social inequality. It aims to get their signatory members to follow their principles and commitments, that include:
- To move beyond negative screening and seek out opportunities across asset classes that provide financial returns while creating measurable, positive social and environmental outcomes in service of people and planet
- Establish meaningful allocation targets to ensure impact investments are incorporated into our investment portfolios
- Promote awareness of impact investing among our fellow Catholics
- Improve the effectiveness of impact investing[3].
This pledge furthers the religious investors commitment to aligning their lives around their faiths and continues to bring additional assets to the impact investing world. For more information on Catholic impact investing, please feel free to visit CIIC’s website. We are encouraged by the growth in impact investing from the Catholic community and hope to see other faiths follow in their footsteps.
[2]https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5818e5f9197aea1a94c73216/t/5d9a103d64d4b90d46503d02/1570377789951/FINAL_+CIIC+Pledge.pptx.pdf
[3]https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5818e5f9197aea1a94c73216/t/5d9a103d64d4b90d46503d02/1570377789951/FINAL_+CIIC+Pledge.pptx.pdf