The Dominican Sisters of Adrian, MI are a congregation of more than 500 women religious and 200 Associates that minister in 22 states and three countries. They trace their roots to St. Dominic in the 13th Century and continue the Dominican tradition of preaching through prayer, study, common life, and ministry. In all of their ministries, they strive to live out one Vision: to seek truth, make peace, reverence life.

The Catholic Community Foundation of Minnesota (CCF) was founded in 1992 to be a separate, perpetual, Catholic steward of charitable resources. Our mission is to support financially the spiritual, educational, and social needs of our Catholic community. Since our founding, we’ve grown to be the largest Catholic community foundation in the nation, managing $408 million in assets (as of December 31, 2019). And we’re the sixth-largest public grantmaker in the state of Minnesota, granting nearly $17 million annually to the needs of our community.

Catholics are always right to look to scripture and Church teaching for inspiration. However, this guidance has often not been an active influence for Catholic Institutions when they decide how to manage and allocate their investments. In this article, we look beyond the perennial discussion around whether impact investments are “market-rate” to explore what inspiration we might draw from our faith in the search for substance and spirit-led action in Impact Investment.

Mercy Investment Services, the investment management program of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas and its ministries, recognizes the moral imperative to work for a just and sustainable world, and embraces socially responsible investing as a means of promoting systemic change to respond to the critical needs of the time.

Established in 2003, the Catherine Donnelly Foundation (CDF) is the financial legacy of a remarkable group of women religious, The Sisters of Service. The Foundation, based in Toronto, Canada, is a living testament to the Sisters’ tradition of response to the greatest needs in communities across Canada.  It builds upon the spirit of service and dedication that inspired Catherine Donnelly, the Foundress of the community, and affirms the inherent dignity of every person and the sacredness of creation. CDF seeks to extend the radical commitment to social change and to empowering the marginalized that characterized the Sisters’ every action.

CDF does not see itself as a passive philanthropic actor in the process of social change. It seeks active collaboration and engagement with those groups and institutions it chooses to support. Its strategy is one of partnership, which sees it prepared to make a contribution beyond financial resources to the work of social change groups and organizations. It actively seeks to promote linkages and synergies across and within the groups with which it collaborates.

The same bold spirit of active engagement and collaboration that guides our granting process gradually came to inform our investment strategy

Background

The General Treasurer of the Society of Jesus (SOJ) is involved in the management of a Fund that benefits the various missions of the Jesuit order.  As a Fund of an entity within the Catholic Church, socially responsible criteria should be a factor in the fund’s administration. In determining a strategy, the Fund has elected to pursue a positive impact strategy, as opposed to negative screening or advocacy programs.  The Fund itself has an investment structure in which it holds portions of actively managed funds as opposed to separately managed accounts. As such, the Fund cannot dictate terms to fund managers.

Impact Investing Policy

Initially, the Impact Investing goals of the Fund were more informal and reflective of where the impact investing industry was at that time. However, as the industry matured and the investment options grew in terms of breadth and depth, the Fund formalized an allocation to positive Impact Investing through their investment policy statement. As such, the Fund aspires to dedicate 10% of the fund’s assets to Impact Funds which seek to invest in entities which aid the disadvantaged / underserved (poor) or contribute to the improvement of the environment.

Bon Secours Health System

Bon Secours Health System (“Bon Secours”) is a not-for-profit Catholic health system sponsored by Bon Secours Ministries and founded by the Sisters of Bon Secours. With operations in Maryland, Virginia, South Carolina, Kentucky, Florida and New York, Bon Secours owns, manages, or joint ventures 19 hospitals and 28 post-acute care facilities or agencies including skilled nursing facilities, home care and hospice services, and assisted living facilities. The Mission of Bon Secours is to bring compassion to health care and to be Good Help to Those in Need, especially those who are poor and dying.

Socially Responsible Investing

A reflection of the charism of Bon Secours is the health system’s Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) policy.  Through the SRI policy the Health System recognizes and accepts its moral and ethical obligation to steward its investable assets in a manner consistent with its mission, vision, values and core strategies.  Bon Secours understands this stewardship responsibility within the context of the social teachings of the Catholic Church and its commitment to advocate for systemic changes to improve the health and well-being of individuals and communities...

The School Sisters of Notre Dame Central Pacific Province live and minister in 21 states, the U.S. territory of Guam, and the countries of Austria, Italy, Japan and Nepal. We are part of an international congregation established by Blessed Theresa of Jesus Gerhardinger in 1833. Our mission impels us to proclaim the good news of God’s love to the world to bring all to oneness with God.  We work to transform the world through education with the belief that education extends beyond classrooms and enables all to reach the fullness of their potential as people created by God. Social justice and advocacy issues are central to SSND values. Caring for the Earth, accompanying those who are poor and marginalized, stopping human trafficking and promoting justice are key issues for us.

Our involvement in socially responsible investing began more than three decades ago and continues to expand with the inclusion of impact investments.  Over the years this involvement developed as we:    

1. Directed our investment managers to screen investments and promote positive corporate practices

2. Engaged in social justice shareholder activism through corporate shareholder resolutions and dialog

3. Invested in organizations designed for the purpose of upholding our values, for example, participating in solar projects and investing in impact investments intended to promote positive environmental outcomes along with market returns...

Introduction

We are the European Province of the Congregation of Christian Brothers, a worldwide Catholic religious community, founded by Blessed Edmund Rice. The Christian Brothers assist with the care, education and evangelization of people throughout the world. Within this mission, we seek to reflect our values through the stewardship of our investments, which has led to our belief in and commitment to Impact Investing.

Since the late 1980s, we have engaged the services of an independent investment advisory firm, L&P Investment Services (now part of US investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald). This firm specialises in providing investment advice to charities, and have assisted us greatly in locating both ethically screened and Positive Impact investments.

Our Basis for Action - “Our Way Into the Future”

Arising from years of reflection, the result of our 2008 and 2014 Congregational Chapters was the endorsement of “Our Way into the Future”, a new expression of our Mission to be “adopted as a blueprint” for responding to “the cry of our times” and to a “reflection from the Congregation Leadership Team on a new way of being a Brother for the world today”

Ascension is a faith-based healthcare organization dedicated to transformation through innovation across the continuum of care. As the largest non-profit health system in the U.S. and the world’s largest Catholic health system, Ascension is committed to delivering compassionate, personalized care to all, with special attention to persons living in poverty and those most vulnerable. Our Mission, Vision, and Values guide everything we do at our 2,500 sites of care in 24 states and the District of Columbia.

In fiscal year 2016, Ascension provided $1.8 billion in care of persons living in poverty and other community benefit programs. Our investment portfolio is vital to providing this level of support to those in need. Equally important is our commitment to uphold our Catholic Values and Mission as we seek investment returns. To this end, we have allocated a portion of our investment portfolio to impact investments that we believe will align with our Catholic heritage.