The National Geographic Society has shifted $50 million of its $1.2 billion endowment to impact investments, further heightening the profile of the asset class among institutions and the broader public.
Impact investments are made in profit-seeking businesses that address social issues such as the environment, education and gender equality. Cambridge Associates will manage the capital National Geographic has targeted for impact investments.
“At National Geographic, we are committed to changing the world through science, exploration, education and storytelling. We recognized the opportunity to double down on our ability to make an impact—contributing to a better society not just through the grants we make, but by making investments that deliver both financial and societal returns,” says Gary Knell, president and chief executive of the National Geographic Society.
David Druley, chairman and chief executive of Cambridge Associates, says, “Nonprofit institutions are increasingly seeking ways to develop and implement an impact investing program that aligns their philanthropic and investment goals. The way in which the National Geographic Society is leveraging its growing endowment to further its mission sets a true example for how institutional investors can create even deeper societal impact on a global scale through endowment investing.”
National Geographic’s impact investing program announcement comes on the heels of a Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) report that says measuring business performance through an environmental, social and corporate governance lens increases the value of financial portfolios.
The GIIN says there are five primary drivers of value derived from impact measurement: revenue growth; operational effectiveness and efficiency; investment decisions; marketing and reputation building; and strategic alignment and risk mitigation.
“Social and environmental performance data are commonly applied to drive business value in prescreening and due diligence, by improving investment management, and by informing portfolio allocation decisions,” the report says.
The National Geographic Society was founded in 1888 as a non-profit corporation. It has famously published a magazined and other media that showcase exploration, scientific research, storytelling and education. Two years ago, 21st Century Fox paid $725 million for a majority stake in National Geographic Partners, the society’s media company. Fox already had majority holding of National Geographic television channels.
The move was touted as bringing greater financial stability to the National Geographic Society, giving it more freedom to operate as a not for profit and the ability to conduct further exploration and fund solutions for the greater good.