4th Annual Symposium on System-level Investing Tuesday, April 8, 2025
TIIP’s 10-year anniversary celebration and 4th Annual Symposium on System-level Investing will be held on April 8, 2025.
As systemic risks grow increasingly complex and interconnected, the need for a cohesive, forward-thinking investment response has never been more urgent. The 4th Annual Symposium on System-Level Investing, co-hosted by The Investment Integration Project (TIIP), the UN-supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), and the U.S. Impact Investing Alliance, with sponsorship from the High Meadows Institute, is the premier forum for institutional investors seeking to integrate system-level principles into their policies, programs, and practices.
Register here.
This year’s symposium builds on previous conversations by focusing on practical implementation—offering investors the tools, frameworks, and insights necessary to navigate evolving risks and capitalize on new opportunities. Through compelling case studies, expert panels, and interactive discussions, participants will explore aligning investment strategies with fiduciary responsibilities while actively addressing systemic challenges.
In this month’s TIIP newsletter, we highlight two pivotal sessions:
Spotlight: Rockefeller Brothers Fund
At our upcoming Symposium on April 8th in a session entitled, Mission-Aligned Investing for Systems Change, we will hear from leaders of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund’s 10-year journey to align its $1.4 billion endowment with its mission of contributing to a more just, sustainable, and peaceful world.
Symposium attendees will hear about how the RBF leverages investment policies and active ownership, together with grantmaking, to influence systems and its role in fostering collaboration within the philanthropic and financial sectors.
Spotlight: Nippon Life Insurance
We are honored to welcome Takeshi Kimura, Special Adviser to the Board at Nippon Life Insurance and Board Director at the PRI, for a fireside chat on system-level risk and long-term value creation.
As a longstanding advocate of system-level investing, Kimura-san will share:
- How Nippon Life views system-level risk and integrates it into investment decision-making,
- The company’s identity as a “future maker”, shaping its policies, programs, and investment approach, and
- Perspectives on how responsible investors should navigate today’s inflationary environment through a systems-thinking lens.
In addition, we previously featured Kimura-san’s co-authored blog post with Nathan Fabian, PRI’s Chief Sustainable Systems Officer, titled “Why System-Level Thinking is Required of Responsible Investors in an Inflationary Environment” in our October 2024 newsletter.
Want to learn more about Symposium sponsorship opportunities? Email Monique Aiken at [email protected] to explore.
TIIP + Friends around Town
- January 30: In the 2nd class for William Burckart and Jon Lukomnik’s graduate course on system-level investing, Adam Connaker, Director of Impact Investing at the Surdna Foundation, shared how Surdna aligns its century-long mission with policies that address systemic environmental and social challenges, Adam detailed how Surdna—via core programs on Inclusive Economies, Sustainable Environments, and Thriving Cultures—integrates impact-driven policies with financial prudence, breaks down systemic barriers, and builds strategic partnerships for a more equitable and sustainable future.
- February 6: With guest speaker Rodney Foxworth, William Burckart and Jon Lukonmiks’s graduate class on system-level investing at Columbia University examined how a fragmented system, leads to inefficiencies and challenges in capital markets. The session wrapped with a case study of the 2008-2009 Global Financial Crisis, shedding light on how the system’s gaps created profound ripple effects.
- February 13: Guest speakers, Cambria Allen Ratzlaff (Chief Responsible Investment Ecosystems Officer, Principles for Responsible Investment) and Beth Young (Consultant, CGSS-Corporate Governance and Sustainable Strategies LLC) joined William Burckart and Jon Lukomnik for their graduate course on system-level investing at Columbia University.
- February 21: The US Impact Investing Alliance (USIIA), led by Fran Seegull, released it’s annual newsletter. TIIPs 3rd Annual Symposium on system-level investing was highlighted on page 6 here.
- February 25: Renaye Manley – TIIP Advisory Board Member, board chair of The Horizon Project, and Finance and Pension Funds Fellow at the Center for Labor & a Just Economy – moderated a webinar entitled “State Pension Power: How State Policymakers Can Grow a Strong Economy for Retirees, Workers, and the Public.” Panelists included American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, Maryland Comptroller Brooke Lierman, and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison.
Upcoming events:
- March 10-12: Jon Lukomnik will be speaking at the CII conference in DC, as it celebrates its 40th Anniversary. Learn more here.
- March 18: The Shareholder Commons (TSC) will publish its third annual edition of Portfolios on the Ballot (POTB), a proxy voting guide for investors who practice system stewardship to protect the value of their entire portfolios. It will flag numerous shareholder initiatives designed to protect the social and environmental systems that support all the companies in a diversified portfolio. For further details and to register for the webinar, click here.
- May 14-15: Monique will speak at the Total Impact Summit ‘25 taking place in Philadelphia. Click here to learn more and register.
Follow us on LinkedIn to keep up with the latest TIIP news and find out how to join the system-level investing movement. Have questions about system-level investing? Email us at [email protected].
