{"id":42658,"date":"2025-01-31T18:16:45","date_gmt":"2025-01-31T23:16:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/test.greenmoney.com\/2025\/?p=42658"},"modified":"2025-02-10T22:21:39","modified_gmt":"2025-02-11T03:21:39","slug":"entry-points-for-equity-risk-criteria-and-partnership-in-indigenous-aligned-portfolios","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.greenmoney.com\/2025\/entry-points-for-equity-risk-criteria-and-partnership-in-indigenous-aligned-portfolios\/","title":{"rendered":"Entry Points for Equity: Risk Criteria and Partnership in Indigenous-aligned Portfolios"},"content":{"rendered":"
> Back to February 2025 Issue<\/a><\/div>\n
Above: <\/span>Kevin O’Neal-Smith (center), Impact Strategist for Adasina Social Capital, presents at the 2024 First Nations Major Projects Coalition conference \u2013 Our Collective Advantage: Indigenous Consent. Photo courtesy of First Nations Major Projects Coalition<\/h5>\n

\"KevinThe push and pull of corporate and social priorities puts socially responsible investment in constant flux. This requires the strategic and intentional integration of social justice and right-based perspectives in environmental, social and governance (ESG) metrics and approaches.<\/span><\/p>\n

Through collaboration and partnership with shareholders and all stakeholders in our financial system, opportunities abound to embed issues and voices that are often excluded \u2013 including Indigenous Peoples, women, people of color, those living below the poverty line, regenerative agriculture practices, etc. \u2013 as a central component of overall strategy and portfolio design. Investors can embed these insights into real-world investment decision-making, working directly with grassroots movements, social justice organizations and value-aligned investors to gain insights into material business risks not yet understood by the market.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is the approach taken by Adasina Social Capital for 5 years. Together with communities most impacted by racial, gender, economic and climate inequities, Adasina designs impact solutions for investors and financial advisors through our social justice values. We serve as a bridge between social movements and financial markets, and work to ensure our investment and screening approaches are more inclusive and accessible.<\/span><\/p>\n

We understand that an investor\u2019s impact can go well beyond their investment portfolio and contribute to broader investor mobilization. By articulating and integrating risk factors that have been long ignored by mainstream investment industries, we can use our role to prioritize intersectional approaches to racial, gender, economic and climate justice. We can also show that understanding the convergence of these issues allow investors to achieve financially sustainable portfolios and create an avenue for real systems change.<\/span><\/p>\n

One clear example of this work has been Adasina\u2019s efforts to protect Indigenous Peoples in portfolio design. Indigenous Peoples\u2019 rights span not only racial, gender, economic and climate justice considerations, but also environmental, social and governance criteria, providing a key measure of material business risk.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Through collaboration with community partners, we identified key areas of risk related to Indigenous Peoples\u2019 rights and activated due diligence through Adasina\u2019s portfolio. These risks include demonstrated patterns of violating Indigenous Peoples\u2019 rights, instances of cultural appropriation and discretion of sacred spaces, among others.<\/span><\/p>\n

Using this criteria, we developed an exclusion list of publicly traded companies, which is now available for all investors to use, then embedded these perspectives into real-world investment decisions. By incorporating a comprehensive framework around Indigenous Peoples\u2019 rights into portfolios, investors can effectively mitigate risk from destructive development projects and initiatives that negatively impact Indigenous communities and harm people and planet.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

While defining risk and exclusion criteria are critical first steps, there are other ways investors can develop more comprehensive frameworks. There is a pressing need to conduct more research and develop more tools that transmit the materiality of Indigenous Peoples\u2019 rights and other intersectional issues to companies and clients. This is especially important to address major gaps where the financial industry does not yet fully understand potential or ongoing harm.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n