Money is like a puppy. It seems like fun and games but demands a surprising amount of care and attention. We either return it, which we can rarely bring ourselves to do, or we front up.
Individuals, families and organisations — including trusts and foundations — with access to wealth have a choice. The choice was pithily outlined by Berry Liberman in the opening session of Small Giants’ two-day Journey to Impact course: the way we invest our money is either responsible, or it’s irresponsible.
There’s no single, right way to invest responsibly. Journey to Impact invites participants to discover their own approach.
First, we need to escape the whirlpool of influences that lead us to believe and behave as though the point of money is simply to make more money. We need to engage our inner four-year-old and ask, “but why?”
The Reichstein Foundation wants to make more money to distribute more grants. But why? To achieve a fairer balance of wealth and power. But why? To contribute to an equal, just and sustainable society. This mission can define the contours of our investment strategy, not just our grant-making.
Values, as always, are another useful guide. Organisations are more likely to have them clearly articulated, but they exist in individuals and families too. For the Reichstein Foundation we are committed to transparency, collaboration, courage and (conveniently for current purposes) responsibility.
Of course, financial objectives remain relevant and responsible investment can accommodate a range of risks appetites along with liquidity, growth and return requirements. These factors are not to be skipped over, but nor do they provide the full picture.
The Journey to Impact is not a specific, pre-determined journey, but a choose-your-own adventure where we can hope and plan to meet at a few common ports (a liveable planet seems like a good one, respect for human rights another). Having attended Journey to Impact last September and heeded the call to bring individual and institutional passions and expertise to the table, here are a few reflections on the Reichstein Foundation’s direction:
First, meaningful impact requires systemic change. Systemic change tackles the root causes of problems, not just the symptoms. The Reichstein Foundation has been beating the systemic change drum within philanthropy for decades and we’re now turning our mind to opportunities to support systemic change through our investments. Our inner four-year-olds can help here too. A few “but whys” can often lead us to the issue that actually needs to be addressed.
Second, systemic change doesn’t come easy. In most cases it involves shifting power, challenging institutions, building movements. Again, we’ve been acting on this conviction for years by funding some of Australia’s leading advocacy organisations and using our own voice and platform to support social and environmental reform. We can bring this practice to our investing by speaking to fund managers about their stock selection and voting record, joining collective shareholder actions on the issues that we support, or supplementing investment capital with philanthropic support for advocacy and campaigns.
Finally, there’s no point going it alone. Collaboration has been at the heart of the Reichstein Foundation’s grant-making since Jill Reichstein became Chair back in 1987. Since that time we’ve supported a range of collaborative funding networks and organisations, including Philanthropy Australia, Australians Investing in Women, the Australian Environmental Grantmakers Network and Mannifera. Australian philanthropy would be incalculably weaker without collaboration and so too our investing.
We’re currently enacting our commitment to collaboration in the recently launched Endowments for Impact Challenge, a collective public tendering process designed to identify and promote the investment advisors who are best able to assist with the design and delivery of responsible and mission driven investment.
This is just one journey to impact. No doubt it will morph and change over the years, like all good journeys. Hope we cross paths out there!
The Journey to Impact program is a global initiative. Take a look at our upcoming programs:
