In alignment with our mission, Swift Foundation’s investment criteria focus on supporting socially and environmentally responsible endeavors. We aspire to model this philosophy of asset management. For example, it is not just about agricultural productivity, but also soil health, social justice and land rights. Nor is it simply about making more low interest rate loans, but also about focusing on minority ownership, worker ownership, community ownership, profit sharing and other models of community benefit. Alongside our highly mission-aligned investing, we also give priority to best practices across the portfolio. We strive to be strategic in aligning our investing with our grantmaking by discussing with a recipient (be they, grantee-partner, business or organization) whether a grant, loan or investment is the most appropriate instrument to meet their needs..

As a foundation with a small staff, we believe that we can employ many strategies to address significant financial inequities in our current system and support visionary investment work with investment support from Manchester Capital. This includes our engagement with and practice in:

• Making deposits in social and environmentally oriented Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs);
• Relying on mutual fund managers to screen for social, environmental and governance factors in our public equities;
• Working with fund manager specialists to vote our proxies, and;
• Engaging in shareholder activism around key environmental, social and governance issues.

We think smart investing means being conscious of social, environmental and governance factors. Thus, the Impact Investment Committee reviews each mission-aligned proposal before making an investment and reviews the overall portfolio at biannual board meetings.

We believe it is our obligation as shareholders to file resolutions and vote for or against proxies in accordance with our mission. While our priority is investing in change, we also believe shareholder campaigns are another useful way to further our mission.

Swift Foundation does not invest in any company receiving 10 percent or more in gross revenues from the development, manufacture, sale or distribution of any of the following items:

• Coal or nuclear power (including the mining, storing or transportation of such fuels)
• Genetically modified organisms (seeds, fish or animals)
• Synthetic agrochemicals
• Old-growth timber
• Antipersonnel weapons, armaments, ammunition or weapons-related systems
• Nuclear weapons contract awards from the U.S. Department of Defense or comparable agency or department of any foreign government

Companies that do not fall into any of the above categories may still be ineligible for investments or eligible for immediate liquidation if their business practices prove to be a gross violation of the social principles (such as human rights violations; the violation of free, prior and informed consent of Indigenous Peoples; discriminatory or abusive labor practices, including the exploitation of child labor; flagrant or egregious damage to the environment; and unethical business practices).

Emerging markets commingled equity pools are exempt from the above restrictions if specifically authorized and if the aggregate exposure of companies otherwise prohibited does not exceed 10 percent of the value of the fund.