Toronto Foundation Investment Performance in 2023
For the first time since Toronto Foundation embarked on a responsible investing journey, we’ve partnered on providing an investment impact report. Last year we invested $758M on behalf of the Foundation, of which $97M was invested responsibly. Overall the investments generated a 9.9% return, with an even higher rate for the assets invested responsibly.
2023: Global Trends at Play
Before you review the investment impact report, it’s helpful to be grounded in the global trends that influenced the portfolio.
In 2023 public markets rebounded and we saw remarkable growth in the amount of sustainable funds’ assets under management globally to $3.1T by June (representing close to 8% of total assets under management). The fact is that those funds also outperformed traditional funds by 3% in the first half of the year—a continuation of a long-term trend.
Private markets faced ongoing macroeconomic challenges, including inflation, rising interest rates and tightened bank lending in 2023. These factors led to a continued downtrend in fundraising, giving limited partners more selective power. Despite this, impact-focused strategies thrived, raising nearly $23B in the first eight months of the year. Although new fund counts dropped by 20%, sustainability-related deals grew by 22%.
These numbers underscore sustainable funds' resilience for investors with long-term goals and the ability to wait out market fluctuations.
