World Habitat invests in funds with high standards of corporate social and environmental governance

After a comprehensive review of World Habitat’s investment portfolio during 2021, World Habitat’s funds have been reinvested in line with its new ethical investment policy that aims to ensure its investments are made consistently with the mission and values of the charity.

World Habitat’s investments provide the funds for the organisation’s charitable activities. Trustees have reinvested the charity’s funds in Cazenove Responsible Multi-Asset Fund and the Sarasin Climate Active Endowments Fund.

As part of this process, World Habitat commissioned investment consultants to review proposed funds to make sure they met with our ethical policy, and would provide sufficient income to fund our charitable work.

World Habitat’s ethical investment policy aims to ensure that our investments do not fund arms sales to military regimes, unethical lending practices, human rights violations, environmental degradation and activities that are incompatible with the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit the increase in global average temperature to 2°C and pursue efforts to limit the increase to 1.5°C.

David Ireland, Chief Executive of World Habitat, said: “The greatest threats to the people our charity seeks to help are exacerbated by unethical business practices. Whether that is conflict wrought by military regimes facilitated by unscrupulous arm sales, irresponsible pollution damaging ecosystems and driving climate breakdown. It would be wrong for us to invest our funds in companies responsible for these unprincipled practices. We have chosen funds that are committed to investing in businesses with high standards of corporate social and environmental governance that align with our own organisational values and aims. These funds provide a fair return that will enable the organisation to continue to carry out its charitable activities.”

Melanie Roberts, Partner, Charities at Sarasin, said: “We are delighted that World Habitat has become an investor in the Sarasin Climate Active Endowments Fund, a multi-asset fund designed for charity investors seeking to promote change, in alignment with the goals of the Paris Climate Accord. Since its launch in February 2018, the fund has allowed charities to play a collaborative role in driving transformation in the industry. World Habitat plays a critical part in offering sustainable housing to those most in need; by investing in the fund, it joins many other charities who are prioritising climate change and helping to shape the investment landscape by engaging with investee companies and supporting Sarasin’s ongoing policy work with government and regulators.”

World Habitat has also made a commitment to be a net-zero charity as soon as possible and, at the latest, by 2030.