The PRIME Task force has made singifcant progress in 2005.

Activities included an official meeting in Paris in April and Stuttgart in October as well as a panel session at the European Foundation Center (EFC)Annual General Assembly in June and the Triple Bottom Line Investment conference in November.

The PRIME Task force was able to establish a key partnership with Eurosif which has produced a tool-kit for pension funds.  The Forum will work in conjunction with Eurosif to research, write and publish the PRIME Tool-kit for endowed foundations.

PRIME will now proceed as follows:

Design a Tool-Kit for foundation heads, trustees and asset managers to ensure that the assets endowed to Foundations will be invested responsibly in line with the Foundations’ ethical and long-term sustainability objectives. The tool-kit will provide a practical tool for foundations to utilize their endowments to effect positive change. The objective is to ensure that endowments are managed in accordance with the Foundations overall objective while respecting the fund managers’ professional and fiduciary responsibilities (A recent study by UNEP FI suggests that part of the fiduciary responsibility may, in-fact, require that Social, Environmental and Governance Factors are included).

The Tool-Kit will allow implementation at differing levels of commitment of Foundations. It will reflect the specific priorities of the Foundations' objectives at any one time. The Tool-Kit will enable foundations heads to understand their options and communicate them to their trustees to design mandates for fund managers to implement in a practical manner without endangering the long-term financial performance of the endowed capital

Steps taken:

• BFSD members, endowed non-member Foundations and other key stakeholders have discussed and agreed on the main principles guiding responsible endowment management.
• Experts from the financial world are actively participating with the BFSD in developing and promoting the PRIME.
• In conjunction with the EFC, the Forum has sent a survey to endowed European foundations to gain an overview of their understanding of the issue. Some of the initial findings are available at the BFSD website.
• The Forum is working in conjunction with Eurosif (which has already designed a tool-kit for pension funds).

Next Steps:

• Completion and launch of the tool-kit by 2nd half of 2006 
• Raise awareness of the tool-kit and encourage foundations to adopt some of its recommendations 
• Design and open a fund based on PRIME recommendations and engage interested foundations 
• Repeat survey in North America and design tool-kit based on needs/requirements of resident foundation community (foreseen beginning 2007)

If you would like to learn more or get involved please contact: Bellagio Forum for Sustainable Development Samuel Shiroff T: +49 541 9633 490