New frontiers in funding, philanthropy and investment | 14 and 15 July 2022, London + online | JRF

"An invitation to 'save the date' for a two-day conference - New frontiers in funding, philanthropy and investment. We are excited to announce this important event that is taking place on 14 and 15 July at Kings Place in London, and will be livestreamed so that as many people as possible can join us. The conference will bring together innovators across the philanthropic and investment worlds, to learn from one another and make new connections. We want to explore approaches in investment and philanthropy that are actively challenging practices that prop up aspects of current systems that are not serving people and planet well. And we want to highlight financing and funding practices that have the potential to invest in - and even speed up - a transition towards a regenerative, fairer future....

It’s been brilliant to see the willingness of JRF to step into this space - both in the questions that they are asking and how this is translating into their own practices and approach. Sophia, Emerging Futures Director and Denise, Head of Social Investment share below the questions that JRF are exploring, and through this conference, would like to explore further with others. First, in the face of all the existential threats, how can Foundations like JRF ensure our endowments are being used to invest in the deep work as well as the urgent work: the work that seeks to build alternative, fairer futures, as well as doing everything we can in the present day to ameliorate the worst effects of these seismic changes. That has implications for what we fund. We want to resource work that addresses the ‘hidden wiring’ - those factors that are so deeply embedded they have become invisible, and yet continue to drive inequality, for example our legal systems around land ownership, or shareholder primacy. It also has implications for how we fund work. The conference will explore both these dimensions, bringing together leading thinkers, doers and makers to share their emerging practices.

Second, what does it mean to be a truly responsible investor? Most Foundations only spend 2-4% of their endowment, with the remainder being invested in order to generate a financial return to then spend on programmes of work and grant-making. Here at JRF, we’ve had a long-standing commitment to select fund managers that integrate Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)issues into their investment analysis and decision-making processes, but is that enough? What social and environmental injustices are philanthropic organisations perpetuating when we continue to put so many of our assets into global financial markets? Are fund managers effectively engaging with companies on environmental and social issues, and do they take human rights concerns seriously when investing our capital?

Third, how might we work together to use our influence as investors to reduce ‘impact washing’ and drive positive environmental and social transitions through engagement with fund managers, corporations, regulators and policymakers? We’ve begun to play a more activist role as an investor, for example working with ShareAction to tackle low wages in the retail sector.

Finally, what might it mean to build new forms of finance in order to put a greater portion of philanthropic endowments directly into the real economy? At JRF we already put 5% of our endowment into social investment activities, either through backing social investment funds (such as Fair by Design) or direct investment (such as London CLT). And we recently published this blog and paper setting out our plans for an emerging futures fund. One of the things we want to experiment with through our new fund is how to design an approach to resourcing work that spans philanthropic giving and impact-led investment. Other Foundations such as GSST and Esmee Fairbairn are already leading the way here, and increasingly the Social Investment community are offering a mix of grant-based and investment-based finance. How might we bring together different kinds of capital to speed up the transition to a more just and equitable future? What other models and financial instruments might we want to experiment with?..."