Impact investing is a powerful catalyst in spurring collaboration and purposeful partnerships. In today’s interconnected world, the complexity and scale of global challenges—from climate change to social inequality—demand solutions that go beyond the capacity of any single organization or individual. In response, many institutions are turning to collaborative models that pool resources, expertise, and networks. Collaboration enables investors to tackle issues more effectively than they could alone, maximizing their collective impact to drive meaningful, lasting change.

These partnerships can take various forms, from coinvestment vehicles and multi-stakeholder funds to cross-sector alliances that blend public, private, and philanthropic capital. At the heart of these collaborations is a shared vision. For more than forty years, Cambridge Associates has supported the shared visions of endowments, foundations, governments, private clients, and family offices that invest with their values. Through this work, we have witnessed the transformative power of targeted donations to the broader-scale flywheel effect investment outperformance can have across stakeholders.

For instance, when investing on behalf of our university endowment clients, the returns generated do more than grow the institution’s wealth—they help fund scholarships, research, and community programs. This directly supports educational access and opportunity, transforming lives and strengthening society.

Our partnership with Saint Ignatius College Prep, a coed Jesuit Catholic school in Chicago, exemplifies this approach. As its lead investment advisor since 2021, we partnered closely with the Endowment Committee to increase its exposure to top-rated diverse managers, particularly in private investments. The portfolio was able to generate competitive returns that out performed its benchmark, allowing Saint Ignatius to expand educational access to students who might not otherwise be able to afford it.

Similarly, governments can harness partnerships across the private and social sectors to elevate living standards and drive sustainable growth. As the investment partner to the Papua New Guinea Sustainable Development Program, we restructured its existing portfolio to achieve a balanced allocation spanning equities, hedge funds, private investments, infrastructure, real estate, and fixed income.The returns from these investments have been transformative. Since 2019 alone, more than $250 million has been directed toward health care, schools, solar energy, agribusiness, and more, with plans for continued expansion to benefit local communities.

Collaboration enables investors to tackle issues more effectively than they could alone. 

Philanthropy is another area where purposeful partnerships can thrive. Foundations and philanthropic families often collaborate with investment advisors, other donors, or social enterprises to amplify their reach and effectiveness, addressing complex social issues in a more coordinated and sustainable way.

Consider The Wilson 5 Foundation, the family foundation of Lululemon Athletica Founder Chip Wilson and his family. Seeking to make a meaningful global impact, the family wanted to focus on land conservation in its home province of British Columbia. As the foundation’s appointed outsourced investment office, Cambridge Associates supported this goal by building a portfolio focused on growth to maximize giving and liquidity to fund its philanthropic donations. In 2022, the family was able to commit $100 million from its family foundation to the BC Parks Foundation to advance Canada’s land conservation efforts, making it the largest private donation in Canadian conservation history to date.

These purposeful partnerships are just a few examples that demonstrate the ultimate realization of what collaboration can achieve. When individuals and organizations come together around a shared vision, they unlock new possibilities for innovation, resilience, and impact.

At Cambridge Associates, we have seen firsthand how these collaborations can transform lives, benefit communities, and advance ambitious philanthropic missions. By fostering such partnerships, we empower our clients to drive change at scale—enabling their investments to not only achieve financial success but also contribute to a more sustainable, equitable, and hopeful future for all.