Our
intention
The Foundation’s capital is a resource that should benefit all of society. To that end, we:
- integrate environmental, social and governance factors (ESG), in accordance with our values in order to invest our capital sustainably and responsibly.
- commit 10% of capital for mission-based investments (MBI)
- generate sufficient financial return to preserve our capacity to provide our partners with long-term support—because the social change to which we aspire can take generations to become apparent.
Integrating ESG factors
ESG criteria require that investments go further in taking into account environmental (E), social (S) and governance (G) factors in addition to those traditionally analyzed.
Evaluate, using an internal analysis framework, the degree of engagement in responsible investment of each of our external managers. Encourage them to adopt best practices and provide active support.
Invest in assets that support the transition to a low-carbon economy.
Establish, on the one hand, a shareholder engagement strategy in collaboration with the SHARE organization (whose primary objective is to encourage portfolio companies to adopt and maintain best ESG practices) and, on the other, a strategy to exercise our proxy voting rights through GIR (Groupe Investissement Responsable).
The Chagnon Foundation is a member of the Responsible Investment Association and the Canadian Coalition for Good Governance, that encourage asset holders to adopt better governance practices.
Asset classes / Target allocation
Exclusions
- Tobacco and cannabis sectors
- Non-renewable energies (completely excluded from direct investments in our public equity portfolios since 2022)
Mission-based investments
Another way to achieve our mission, by generating:
- Social return: MBIs strengthen our partners’ capacity for action, are linked to our mission and have concrete repercussions (such as affordable housing).
- Financial return: Our objective is to preserve the real value of capital.
Mission-based investments allow us to offer capital and more flexible financing conditions to our partners to support projects with significant outcomes.
Objectives
- Commit 10% of our capital to advancing our mission in alternative ways.
- Support collective, structuring projects in a way that complements our philanthropic contributions.
- Play a role in the social finance sector by stimulating experimentation and innovation.
- Research, develop and deploy, in cooperation with others, financial tools that reflect our philanthropic objectives.
- Help to attract capital from conventional sources toward social finance.
Five key sectors
Although they may evolve in conjunction with our experience and lessons learned, we focus on the following investment sectors:
Food systems
Affordable housing
Socio-ecological transition
Collective real estate
Employment integration
Allocation of assets by sector
Examples of mission-based investments
