TIIP develops comprehensive system-level stewardship guide to help investors redirect financial strategies to address income inequality

NEW YORK, Jan. 11, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The Investment Integration Project (TIIP), an applied research and consulting services firm that provides thought leadership, research support, and implementation guidance for integrating system-level investing, today released Systemic Stewardship: Investing to Address Income Inequality. The guide provides:

• An overview of what system-level investing is and why it matters;
• What income inequality is, and why investors should care about it;
• How investors can integrate systemic considerations into the investment process to address income inequality.

At its core, Systemic Stewardship, which was funded by the Generation Foundation, helps investors modify conventional investment tools and utilize advanced techniques to address income inequality through action on labor and workers' rights, CEO compensation, and taxes. It provides a step-by-step process for system-level stewardship so that a variety of market participants, including pension fund managers, investment advisors, consultants and asset managers, can proceed with confidence that their investment decisions will effectively address income inequality.

"This is a cutting edge, first-of-its-kind guide for investors in two capacities. First, this guide moves the needle on fundamentally addressing the issue of income inequality and improving long-term investment returns for investors," said William Burckart, President of TIIP. "It also guides investors step-by-step on how to move from conventional investing to system-level investing – explaining crucial differences along the way."

So, what is system-level investing? As established by TIIP, it helps investors recognize the scope and scale of their impact and influence on environmental, social, and financial systems. System-level investing guides investors in intentionally managing this impact toward the goals of minimizing long-term systemic risks, capitalizing on related opportunities for long-term value creation, and building resilient systems that support investments across all asset classes.

While Systemic Stewardship focuses on income inequality, the stewardship process laid out gives investors the tools necessary to confront other system-level challenges, such as climate change and public health crises. By doing so, investors take the step of mitigating systemic risks and creating systemic social and environmental benefits. In short, it helps investors across all asset classes build more equitable, sustainable, and resilient social, environmental and financial systems, ones that produce long-term returns while simultaneously creating a more prosperous society.

"Asset owners and managers are increasingly being asked to consider the impact of their investment decisions on critical systemic issues," said Alison Paton from the Generation Foundation. "However, there is a long way to go before social issues, like income inequality, are addressed to the same extent as climate change, which is why we are delighted to support the work of TIIP to help investors navigate these systemic social issues."

Systemic Stewardship represents the keystone of TIIP's work on income inequality. Why and How Investors Can Respond to Income Inequality, released with United Nations-backed Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) in 2018, established three areas that are key leverage points relevant to income inequality and material to long-term investors: employee relations and the structure of labor markets; corporate tax policies and practices; levels of CEO compensation. Confronting Income Inequality, published in 2021, laid out practical guidance for how investors can address income inequality through action on labor relations, workers' rights, and financial and political equity – a specific lever illustrated in the 2018 report.

It is also part of TIIP's expanding resources for investors. The firm's current "Build the Market" initiative focuses on encouraging wide-spread adoption of system-level investing across investor segments and facilitating broader industry reform, away from a near-exclusive focus on the short-term and toward incorporation of systemic considerations. As part of this program, TIIP is surveying financial industry stakeholders to assess industry experience with, and readiness to adopt, new approaches to managing systemic social and environmental risks.

About TIIP
TIIP, The Investment Integration Project, is an applied research and consulting firm whose mission is to help investors understand how healthy environmental, social, and financial systems can benefit their portfolios. TIIP provides consulting services, thought leadership, and a turnkey solution that support investors' pursuit of system-level investing, an advanced sustainable investing approach that focuses on managing systemic risks and investing in solutions to systemic problems. For more information, visit https://www.tiiproject.com

Media Contact

Morrison Shafroth, Momentum, +1 720-470-3653, [email protected]

SOURCE TIIP