Religious institutions, the "most demanding" investors with the destination of their funds, according to iCapital

MADRID, 15 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Religious institutions often accumulate several million euros of assets, and become the "most demanding" investors in relation to the impact of their funds.

"The investments made must be consistent with the charisma and beliefs of the institution. Not everything goes. That is why we see how religious institutions are the most demanding investors in terms of the destination of their funds, being relevant in impact funds , in the sustainable and socially responsible ones and those that carry out filters to avoid investments in companies whose activity is not aligned with Christian morality", Pablo Martínez-Arrarás, founding partner of iCapital, explained to Europa Press.

Martínez-Arrarás pointed out that the assets of this type of institution have an end in themselves: to be able to serve the Church's mission of evangelization and assistance in a sustainable and continuous manner, so that the investment strategy "must consider that the patrimony has to attend continuously and in the long term to very defined needs".

In addition, the assets of the Church do not belong to a specific individual who can make decisions about them at will, so "they must have a model of government, of decision-making, that is consistent with this reality, involving different people and government bodies, with clearly defined guidelines and limitations".

The level of patrimony of these religious institutions varies according to their vital moment. "A great institution with 300 years of history and dedicated to education is not the same as an institution of the 20th century, focused on missions in the third world or a cloistered convent group, in which 45 nuns barely survive by selling pasta and jams", explained the founding partner of iCapital.

An important part of the heritage is real estate, although to a large extent it requires "great economic efforts for its maintenance" and is "far from generating profitability" in many cases, such as places of worship for small towns, among others.

Currently, other firms such as Portocolom or Altum are also dedicated to advising religious institutions. Martínez-Arrarás pointed out that these organizations "need to professionalize the management of this complex heritage".

The head of investment and impact at Portocolom AV, Ana Guzmán, explained in a previous interview with Europa Press that the firm took a strategic turn to make 100% of its assets have "dyes" of sustainability and at least 10% of customers would be invested in impact, a change in line with the demands of its customers.

Guzmán anticipated that the social aspect of ESG investing would start to gain traction this year, one of the biggest concerns of religious institutions, at the same time that impact investing will increase nationally.

"Yes, I believe that very nice things are being done in Spain, although the market needs to mature," he commented.

The firm has also participated in the preparation of the 'Faith Impact Project' report, which analyzes how investors of different religions approach impact investment through the SDGs and what are the investment themes, as well as the most relevant exclusions .

Among its conclusions, it highlights the concern about the "systematic" violation of human rights, the fight for inequality, the duty of each individual and the entire community to ensure that the suffering of their fellow men is alleviated and that basic needs are met. of all or the degradation of the environment, among others.