Investing in our mission – A five-year case study of fossil fuel divestment at the Rockefeller Brothers Fund
Since committing to fully align its investments with its mission in 2014, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund has cut fossil fuel exposure to less than one percent of its portfolio. Financial performance over more than five years has outstripped the market benchmark.
In his introduction to the case study, RBF President Stephen B. Heintz recalls that:
“The announcement, planned for the day after more than 600,000 people would take to the streets for the People’s Climate March, would be big news. The family philanthropy rooted in John D. Rockefeller’s oil fortune was going to divest from fossil fuels. Still, when the day came on September 22, 2014, the extent to which our decision captured headlines—and the public imagination—genuinely surprised us. Major papers and prominent news programs in the United States and around the world embraced the story. The Rockefellers were getting out of oil.”