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The Gates Foundation's Contradictory Investments

The Los Angeles Times reports "that hundreds of Gates Foundation investments – totaling at least $8.7 billion, or 41% of its assets, not including U.S. and foreign government securities – have been in companies that countered the foundation's charitable goals or socially concerned philosophy." For example, in Nigeria, where the foundation provides immunizations against polio and measles, children's health is threatened by "fumes and soot ... over a nearby oil plant" owned by the Italian petroleum company Eni, which is one of the foundation's investments. Foundations make investments to sustain their ability to do good work, but they don't necessarily relate the investments they make to their mission. They also invest purely for profit, avoiding the potential opportunity to improve a company's operations. [Link]

Many philanthropic organizations are beginning to address the contradiction between their mission and their investments, according to the Times.

....According to recent surveys, many foundations, including some of the nation's largest, have adopted at least basic policies to invest in ways that support their missions.

Major foundations that make social justice, corporate governance and environmental stewardship key considerations in their investment strategies include the Ford Foundation, worth $11.6 billion, the nation's second-largest private philanthropy; the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; the Rockefeller Foundation; and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.

Moreover, nearly one-third of foundations participate directly in shareholder initiatives, voting their proxies to influence corporate behavior. A few have become shareholder activists. In recent years, for instance, the Nathan Cummings Foundation, with an endowment of $481 million, has sponsored proxies to force corporations to address environmental sustainability and political transparency.

jon posted this at 11:19 AM
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