Principles for Responsible Investment

While Episcopal entities individually employ ethical investing approaches, CIG is working to develop a strong collective Episcopal identity as a proponent of advancing ethical investing and addressing climate change. CIG seeks to raise the profile of the Episcopal Church’s response to these important issues.

Church Investment Group is committed to the Principles For Responsible Investment (PRI). CIG’s commitments to responsible investing include support for the Paris Climate Agreement, the Task Force for Climate-Related Financial Disclosure (TCFD) and CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project). In addition to our membership in the PRI, CIG works in collaboration with other investors at the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) and the Intentional Endowment Network (IEN).

The Principles for Responsible Investment commitments:

“As institutional investors, we have a duty to act in the best long-term interests of our beneficiaries. In this fiduciary role, we believe that environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) issues can affect the performance of investment portfolios (to varying degrees across companies, sectors, regions, asset classes and through time).

We also recognise that applying these Principles may better align investors with broader objectives of society. Therefore, where consistent with our fiduciary responsibilities, we commit to the following:

• Principle 1: We will incorporate ESG issues into investment analysis and decision-making processes.
• Principle 2: We will be active owners and incorporate ESG issues into our ownership policies and practices.
• Principle 3: We will seek appropriate disclosure on ESG issues by the entities in which we invest.
• Principle 4: We will promote acceptance and implementation of the Principles within the investment industry.
• Principle 5: We will work together to enhance our effectiveness in implementing the Principles.
• Principle 6: We will each report on our activities and progress towards implementing the Principles.

The Principles for Responsible Investment were developed by an international group of institutional investors reflecting the increasing relevance of environmental, social and corporate governance issues to investment practices. The process was convened by the United Nations Secretary-General.

In signing the Principles, we as investors publicly commit to adopt and implement them, where consistent with our fiduciary responsibilities. We also commit to evaluate the effectiveness and improve the content of the Principles over time. We believe this will improve our ability to meet commitments to beneficiaries as well as better align our investment activities with the broader interests of society.