Developments and commentary in and around the ESG investment space.

Bank of America
Bank of America is adding “sustainable investment strategies” to a donor-advised fund that it manages, melding new approaches to overseeing money with philanthropic objectives.
The entity is called the Bank of America Charitable Gift Fund.

Seven new sustainable investment portfolios have been added to BoA’s offering, with objectives ranging from capital preservation to aggressive growth, or a balanced approach to generating income and returns.  

Manager selection and the portfolio construction process are guided by the chief investment office or Bank of America’s wealth and investment management businesses – Merrill and Bank of America Private Bank.

“The Bank of America Charitable Gift Fund is where philanthropy, impact investing and wealth management intersect,” Donald J Greene, National Philanthropic Relationship Executive, Bank of America Private Bank, said. “By contributing charitable gifts to a fund with the dual potential to advance philanthropic goals and compound financial returns, donors can layer their grant-making with a commitment to sustainability for an overall multiplier effect.”

Across the industry, grant making from donor-advised funds to qualified charities nearly doubled in the five-year period between 2013 and 2018, according to the National Philanthropic Trust in its 2019 DAF Report. During this same period, contributions increased by 86 per cent, with the greatest increase coming from individual donor-advised accounts.