#53: Pensions for Purpose Partners with System Change Investing

Pensions for Purpose has formed a Knowledge Partnership with System Change Investing (SCI). SCI will advise the organization and its members on effectively addressing system change and integrating it into responsible investing and sustainability strategies.

Pensions for Purpose

Pensions for Purpose helps pensions and the broader financial community to accelerate the flow of capital towards impact investments, creating positive outcomes for people and planet. The organization has over 1500 members, including many of the largest pension funds and asset managers in the world (e.g. PGGM, BlackRock, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Fidelity International, BNP Paribas, and Federated Hermes).

In 2024, Charlotte O'Leary, CEO of Pensions for Purpose, said that system change would become a main focus of the organization. Climate change and other major challenges pose growing risks to investors, especially mid to long-term focused ones such as pension funds. The pension community is increasingly focused on these systemic risks.

There is growing awareness that current responsible investing strategies have helped, but not resolved major challenges. A main reason for this is the focus on changing companies instead of the systems that largely control their behavior. The incentive structures of current economic and political systems make it impossible for companies to stop harming the environment and society.

These systems are the root causes of major challenges. Improving them (i.e. system change) is the most important (and therefore most financially relevant) sustainability issue.

The corporate and financial sectors have great power to drive system change. They largely are controlled by investing. The SCI approach uses investing to incentivize these sectors to engage in system change.

System Change Investing

Frank Dixon, Co-Founder of SCI, developed the SCI approach based on extensive responsible investing experience. The approach involves rating companies on system change performance and shifting investments to system change leaders. SCI provides many benefits, including reduced investment risk and enhanced returns, impact, reputation and assets under management.

SCI also provides the Global Gystem Change whole system, nature-based framework for guiding system change. Additional services include corporate system change research, training, system change marketing, helping to launch system change-based funds, and improving the financial and sustainability performance of existing funds.

SCI provides a new paradigm approach to responsible investing. Expanding the focus to include system change and root causes is essential for resolving major challenges and protecting investors, business and society.

For more information about SCI, visit our website SystemChangeInvesting.com or listen to this recent SCI podcast.