Better alignment of its capital with its Christian mission is the long-term goal and guiding vision of an ongoing social-impact investment policy by the American Cathedral in Paris Foundation, according to Edward Bates and William Holmberg—two members of the Foundation’s investment committee and part of the leadership group of the impact initiative.
“Over the past seven years, the investment committee, along with the vestry, held discussions on how to respect the endowment’s financial responsibilities while, at the same time, investing thoughtfully in ways that reflect the Cathedral’s values. Part one of this multi-year project was to focus on the investment strategies within our public market asset classes,” said William Holmberg. “Part two is: how do we deploy our capital in ways that generate measurable and meaningful outcomes through private market impact investments?”
The foundation started shifting some of its investments in 2019 into publicly traded funds that are ESG focused, that is, funds that integrate Environmental, Social and Governance criteria that align with Episcopalian values. “While this approach has served the institution well, it was only one element in the process of realizing a longer-term vision,” Edward Bates said.
The second step, which began in January 2026, is to invest up to 10 percent of the endowment into carefully selected private credit and equity funds based in emerging and frontier markets that “put the capital directly into communities and regions where it can do the most good. It’s a way of having more impact – real impact – without doing philanthropy,” Holmberg emphasized.
Private market investments that apply ‘impact’ characteristics allow the Foundation to be more intentional in its investments. “These types of investments aim to both generate and measure contributions to outcome: formal jobs created, lives saved, ecosystems restored, local innovations funded, and clean energy systems deployed,” Holmberg explained.
Ultimately, the committee chose four impact funds: private equity serving primarily health care and financial technology companies in Africa, private credit operating primarily in southeast Asia, flexible credit in Latin America, and microfinance across global emerging and frontier markets. “Each of these four investment managers uses specific impact reporting frameworks that give us confidence our funds will have positive outcomes in contexts that need private market capital now more than ever to build stronger, more resilient communities,” Holmberg said.
The initial investment needed to be meaningful, the committee explained, which required making choices. “We wanted to maximize our capital budget while looking for geographical diversification and diversification in equity and debt investment,” Bates said. “Our intent is not just earning a return or a coupon but also to pursue and measure ‘additionality,’ which is the notion that without this capital, a given outcome may not be fully realized,” Holmberg added.
“Once this program is in place, we want to share our process and journey with other parishes. We would like to provide a roadmap to support others in implementing their own strategies of social impact investments, to have this become a sense of identity of the Convocation,” Bates said. To that end, the investment committee is partnering with the Episcopal Church Foundation to draft a series of case studies to support individual churches on this same journey.
To learn more, write to endowment@americancathedral.org
