Overcoming Barriers to Community Investments: A Primer for Institutional Investors on Best Practices, Methodologies and Resources

There is growing participation of institutional investors including community investments in their financial portfolios.  The risks and rewards associated with community investments are not only legal, but they can be prudent in both an investment and social context. 

Community investments are essential to the health of society, and therefore are critical to the health of the marketplace.  Over the long term, community investments will prove to be both profitable and sustainable.  The short term holds promise too, whether in the use of market rate targeted deposits or in specialized mutual funds with open redemption policies.  There is a wide array of investment opportunities ranging from low yield to high yield, low risk instruments to high risk investments, covering everything from simple deposits to complex variable rate demand notes to equity instruments.

This Primer explores common misconceptions and barriers to community investing.  It also provides specific measures institutional investors may exercise to satisfy institutional mandates as prescribed by governing boards, regulatory agencies, and shareowners. 

Institutional Investor Primer (pdf)

This is a condensed version of the Institutional Investor Primer, highlighting its main points in 6 pages.

Condensed Primer Highlights (pdf)