The Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF) has made progress toward its goal of allocating at least 20 percent of its endowment to impact investments, a report released by Agility, its Outsourced Chief Investment Office, finds.

The report, Mission-Aligned Investing: How We Assess Our Progress (36 pages, PDF), details impact and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing—key elements of the fund’s efforts to align its endowment with its mission—as well as RBF’s 2021 transition to a multi-pronged approach to impact and ESG metrics. It includes considering both qualitative and quantitative data, using the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) IRIS+ catalog of generally accepted impact performance metrics to measure success, adopting the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a method for categorizing ESG and impact goals, and actively engaging with industry coalitions and efforts to further standardize ESG and impact metrics. According to the report, as of August 2021, RBF’s commitments to impact funds totaled $233.7 million and represented 14.8 percent, near the target of 20 percent set by the fund.

As per RBF’s mission-aligned investment strategy, all its investments must meet market-rate return and risk attributes, as “the pursuit of market-rate mission-aligned investments at the RBF is meant to support the idea that what is good for people and planet can also be good for the bottom line,” wrote Geraldine Watson, executive vice president, finance and operations, in a blog post.

According to the report, there is greater recognition of the intersections of climate, health, inclusive growth, and social justice in investment portfolios and investment organizations, including firms engaged in ESG and impact, but there is more work to be done to highlight the intersections via metrics.

“We have benefited from the learning of fellow philanthropic asset owners, mission-aligned investing networks, and supportive asset managers and we understand the value of shared lessons to support and advance the broader field of mission-aligned investing,” wrote Watson. “The RBF has worked to be as transparent as possible about our mission-aligned investing strategies, decisions, motivations, and definitions, as well as our results, to provide practical information for other investors.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/Xavier Arnau)