Our funds and investment approach

Our commitment to addressing Power, Culture and Inclusion requires us to ask more searching questions about how we align our investment practice with our vision, mission, values and strategy.

LEF was established in 2012 with the proceeds of the sale of The College of Law, a charity and private higher education institution, to the private equity firm Montagu. Private equity funds are difficult to trace and we cannot confidently say that these were ethically sourced. Like other philanthropic institutions we are grappling with how to move forward with greater transparency, accountability, and alignment with our values. 

We currently hold investment assets of around £270 million. We recognise that our resources stem from our position within the financial system and, as a social justice foundation, this awareness has shaped our investment approach. In our early years, we followed a conventional strategy focused on maximising returns. Over time, however, it became clear that this approach was not aligned with our mission and the values of our grant partners.

In April 2021, we appointed new investment managers who have a commitment to ethical business principles. Through our work with them, we have learned that this is not the end of our responsibility but the beginning of a new approach seeking to align our investment strategy with our mission.

Our board approved this Investing for Social Justice programme in December 2023, with the end goal that all our resources, not just our grants, work towards achieving our social justice purpose. 

Currently we are focused on two main areas: 

• Strategic investment and engagement 
  We recognise that our investments are a potentially powerful lever to change corporate behaviour. We want to drive higher ethical standards in the companies we invest in through robust company assessments, engagement and voting, as well as divesting in companies with consistently poor practice.
   
• Regulation and policy 
  We want to work in partnership with other organisations to help shape an environment that promotes stronger social standards in the corporate world. So far, we have pursued this through investor networks working to improve employment rights and tackle modern slavery in supply chains. 

This work is ambitious, challenging and evolving as we strive to refine our approach and maintain our returns so that we can continue to support our grant partners long into the future.