What is Impact Investing?

In April, Thrivent Charitable rolled out new investment offerings for our donors, which include the new Thrivent Charitable Impact Fund™ (Impact Fund). This fund’s investment strategy focuses on high-performing enterprises that help heal, support or advance our neighbors and our world. It uses impact investing as one of its guiding principles.

So, what is impact investing? It has different names, but it means investment decisions are guided by values to make a positive impact in communities, while a fund grows.

This option was made available to our donors to continue the legacy of our former WomenInvest Fund and our Mission Fund, and because we know it’s something investors desire. According to a recent study, 84% of U.S. investors are interested in sustainable and impact investing¹.

• Climate: Investing in new technologies for mitigation and adoption to a low carbon economy.
• Healthcare: Investing to enhance health outcomes via breakthrough innovations and by ensuring equitable access to services for all.
• Equity and inclusion: Investing to promote fair systems and equal opportunities, particularly with overlooked groups. This theme continues the spirit of gender equality and women’s empowerment from our WomenInvest Fund in our Impact Fund.
• Community: Investing to build up small businesses and local economies which serve as the foundation of thriving communities.
• Sustainable agriculture: Investing to support farmers and agricultural innovations advancing soil health, regenerative systems and food security.

This fund's objectives are to support greater resiliency and quality of life for all by generating net positive social/environment impact through its investments and outperform the "market" (defined as simple 80/20 stock/bond portfolio).

Here are a couple case studies of investments included in the fund:

Education: Reach Capital

Reach Capital was founded in 2015 by a team with significant experience investing in education technology companies. This venture capital manager is from our former Core Growth Portfolio.

Reach believes education is vital to improving economic mobility and access to opportunities, in turn creating positive impact and inspiring lasting change in communities. The firm focuses on investing in early-stage edtech companies across the lifetime learning spectrum from early education to higher education and the future of work.

The fund has provided impressive performance with returns ranking in the top quartile across its peer universe.

Community: CIM Enterprise Loan Fund

CIM Enterprise Loan Fund was founded in 2012. This public credit investment is from our former Core Growth and Mission Growth Portfolios.

CIM Enterprise provides funding to empower small businesses and consumers, who are often underserved by traditional lenders. They take an intentional financial inclusion and community approach with the understanding that small-business lending is critical for job creation and economic expansion, ultimately bringing hope to local communities.

The objective of the investment is to deliver positive societal impact and attractive risk-adjusted returns. The fund has delivered annualized +7.1% net return versus a +3.0% return for the benchmark with very low levels of risk since its inception.

Climate: Ecosystem Integrity Fund

Ecosystem Integrity Fund was founded in 2011.

Ecosystem Integrity Fund is a cleantech venture capital firm targeting sustainable solutions addressing key threats to “ecosystem integrity”. They invest in early-stage companies focused on renewable energy, energy efficiency, food and agriculture, transportation, green chemistry, waste reduction, and climate resilience.

As of 2023, they have installed 2,062 MW of solar power, avoided 619M metric tons CO2 emissions, and reduced waste by 5.4 million pounds.

Contact your financial advisor or Thrivent Charitable to discuss investing in the Thrivent Charitable Impact Fund and visit our website at thriventcharitable.com/impact-fund to learn more.