The Tipping Point Fund on Impact Investing Awards $450,000 to Three Organizations Working to Advance Public Policies Related to the Asset Manager Fiduciary Duty

Grant recipients are Americans for Financial Reform, The Shareholder Commons, and UN Principles for Responsible Investment

The Tipping Point Fund on Impact Investing (TPF), a donor collaborative committed to supporting public goods that are critical to the continued growth and fidelity of the impact investing market, today announced that it will award approximately $450,000 in grants to three organizations working to advance public policies related to the fiduciary duties of asset managers.

This round of Public Policy grants was specifically focused on funding projects that address how federal laws governing the fiduciary duties of asset managers can be clarified or strengthened to enable greater impact transparency and accountability in the capital markets. Asset manager fiduciary duty (AMFD) refers to the responsibilities that fund managers, investment advisers and other consultants have to their clients. It is a topic of growing interest within the impact investing industry and among policymakers, as evidenced by recent SEC proposals related to Fund Names and ESG Disclosures.

“Investors increasingly want to account for and manage the impact of their portfolios,” said Fran Seegull, Executive Director of the TPF and President of the U.S. Impact Investing Alliance. “But the vast majority of investors rely on asset managers to execute their strategies. Clarifying and strengthening the fiduciary duties of asset managers around portfolio construction, shareholder engagement, and impact disclosure is a vital step towards growing the impact investing market with integrity.”

In the United States and around the world, impact investors, regulators, and other stakeholders have been reexamining concepts of fiduciary duty and the related issue of what factors should be considered material to investor decision making. Concepts ranging from dynamic materiality to systemic risk to double materiality have been put forward to help markets more effectively account for positive and negative impact. This round of TPF’s funding was undertaken against this landscape of work to shift understanding of fiduciary duty, and materiality, across financial markets and aims to support organizations doing new and catalytic work in this area.

“Each grant recipient brings a valuable perspective to the issue of reforming AMFD and how to build towards more expansive definitions of materiality,” said Jessie Duncan, Program Officer at the TPF. “We hope that the projects and initiatives supported by these grants will result in tangible changes to fiduciary duty interpretations over time.”

The grant recipients include:

  • Americans for Financial Reform – Americans for Financial Reform (AFR) is a coalition with a mission of 'fighting to eliminate inequity and systemic racism in the financial system, in service of a just and sustainable economy.” With funding from the TPF, AFR will engage the SEC and Congress on regulatory changes and legislation that would reform AMFD to include consideration of impact factors in investment and stewardship decisions

  • The Shareholder Commons – The Shareholder Commons (TSC) is a nonprofit advocate for shareholders, working toward a business environment that prioritizes environmental and social systems over individual company profits. With funding from the TPF, TSC will engage with SEC regulatory proposals and relevant shareholder resolutions to expand AMFD to include consideration of systemic risk factors.

  • UN Principles for Responsible Investment – The United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) is a network of investors and financial institutions committed to incorporating ESG issues into investment practices. With funding from the TPF and by engaging their global network of signatories, the PRI will work on developing and promoting policy recommendations to advance the consideration of “real world” impact in fiduciary duties.

About the Tipping Point Fund on Impact Investing

The Tipping Point Fund on Impact Investing (TPF) is a donor collaborative vehicle developed with the mission of creating and supporting public goods that are critical to the continued growth and fidelity of the impact investing market. The TPF was launched in December 2019 with the support of philanthropic capital, which has been used to develop the infrastructure that is needed to mobilize more private capital for impact. TPF’s funding has built on existing field building efforts by prioritizing the areas that are chronically underfunded, are best suited for collective action and require additional support beyond that provided by individual grantmakers. Learn more at www.tpfii.org.

About the U.S. Impact Investing Alliance

The U.S. Impact Investing Alliance (Alliance) is dedicated to building the impact investing ecosystem by bridging market gaps and addressing shared challenges. The Alliance’s long-term vision is to place measurable social and environmental impact alongside financial return and risk at the center of every investment decision. Learn more at www.impinvalliance.org.