Investing for Social Justice: consultants appointed

As a social justice funder holding assets of around £280 million, we have an ongoing programme of work that seeks to align our investments with our social justice mission. Our latest step in this Investing for Social Justice programme is the appointment of Emilie Goodall, Bonnie Chiu and The Investment Integration Project as investment consultants. Over the coming months, they will be working with our staff and board to explore investment options that align with our strategy and Power, Culture and Inclusion approach while ensuring the long-term sustainability of our funds. This work will inform future decisions by our board and Investment Committee.

The context for this work is that since we began our Investing for Social Justice programme in December 2023, we have observed growing debate and divergence in approaches to the Environmental, Social, and Governance framework and a rapidly shifting corporate and regulatory landscape. Traditional models of values-based investing can be limited in driving meaningful change in the financial system. In response to this, we want to explore how our approach to investing might better meet these challenges.

The consultants we’ve appointed, following an open selection process, bring strong track records and values-driven approaches to investment. They are:

• Emilie Goodall (lead), who supports boards and investment committees to translate complex investment concepts into decision-ready choices.
• Bonnie Chiu, Managing Director at The Social Investment Consultancy; and
• William Burckart and Monique Aiken at The Investment Integration Project.

Together, they bring an external perspective to help us test options and assumptions in this changing context, helping us to move our ambitions and aspirations forward. We look forward to sharing updates on the next steps of this work.