Responsible investing

    We want Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly to be a great place to live for everyone – a place where people work together to address disadvantage and build strong, resilient communities. We inspire philanthropy and giving to meet local needs, building equitable and strong communities. We seek to build our endowment and ensure that fund holders’ donations entrusted to us generate a growing income that can be distributed as grants.

    In doing so we select specialist charity or similar funds managed by professional fund managers. We expect the managers to use ‘responsible’ criteria when selecting stocks and engaging with the management of companies that they invest in, ensuring that they uphold suitable standards on behalf of all their investors. In selecting and reviewing investment managers, we ensure adherence to these criteria as being non-negotiable. In particular we require that they adhere to Net Zero 2050 climate change policies at all times. But in this context, we believe that the long-term interests of CCF, its fund holders, and its beneficiaries are best served by engaging in the widest possible number of investment opportunities. As a rule, we take the view that constructive engagement is more likely to produce change than disinvestment. We have no set ‘ethical’ approach but we require our managers to demonstrate the effective use of E (Environmental) S (social) G (Governance) principles in investment selection.

    Other funds are available which pursue more rigid ethical investment policies such as the exclusion of companies that are fossil fuel extractors. Should a fund holder wish to use such a vehicle, we would be happy to invest their donations in a way that meets their own definition of responsible investing.