Firms that connect their purpose to their key stakeholder responsibilities are better able to deliver long-term value.

 

The role of companies in society is evolving as they face growing expectations that extend beyond delivering short-term shareholder returns. To thrive in the long term, companies must engage meaningfully with their key stakeholders—including employees, suppliers, communities, shareholders, and governments—whose needs must be factored into business decisions.

 

While many organizations acknowledge the importance of a multi-stakeholder approach, they often struggle to implement one. This inconsistency has led to skepticism regarding the credibility of firms that claim to prioritize a broader set of responsibilities. Although each company will have unique stakeholders and priorities, those that systematically connect their purpose to stakeholder responsibilities are better positioned to generate sustainable, long-term success.

Case Studys

Case Study

The Role of Aon in Risk Management and the Climate Transition

February 26, 2025

Aon exists to shape decisions for the better—to protect and enrich the lives of people around the world. We provide our clients with advice and...

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Case Study

When We Connect Women Entrepreneurs to Capital, The Whole World Wins

February 28, 2024

Women entrepreneurs face unique barriers to success, from challenges in obtaining funding to inadequate access to basic financial services and tools, but a world that...

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Dow logo

Case Study

Dow’s Approach to Building a Sustainable Circular Economy

February 28, 2024

By working at the intersections of science and sustainability, culture and accountability, Dow is partnering with others to encourage new thinking, advance issues that matter...

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Case Study

Accelerating long-term, inclusive economic growth and a sustainable future for our planet

February 28, 2024

True resilience – the ability to absorb shocks and thrive as disruptions continue – is critical to long-term success. We have heavily invested in our...

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Case Study

Sustainable Farming at Van Lanschot Kempen – A Long-Term Solution to a Near-Term Problem

February 28, 2024

The entire food system is responsible for a third of emissions according to studies presented by the Global Alliance for the Future of Food this...

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Case Study

Cultivating Sustainable Growth for the Long Term: Empowering Small & Mid-Sized Companies in the Onex Portfolio

February 28, 2024

While larger corporations often boast dedicated sustainability teams, small to mid-size companies typically lack such resources.

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Case Study

Addressing affordable housing shortages through public-private partnership and sustainable and responsible investment

February 28, 2024

The preservation of affordable housing is paramount to protecting underserved populations and maintaining the supply of below-market rental units in high-growth areas.

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Case Study

Eliminating Deforestation and Reducing Emissions to Deliver Value

February 28, 2024

Bunge’s unique expertise and scale within the industry has allowed us to take risks and make an impact, resulting in meaningful real-world results for both...

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Case Study

Capital as a Force for Good: The Unique, Long-term Advantages of Liberty Mutual Investments

February 28, 2024

LMI occupies a unique position in the financial industry, leveraging its status as the investment arm of a mutual company and differentiated culture to prioritize...

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Case Study

Investing for the long term by enabling a whole economy transition

February 28, 2024

CPP Investments has committed our portfolio and operations to be net zero of greenhouse gas emissions across all scopes by 2050. A company’s ability to...

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Case Study

Shaping Long-Term Focus: Practical Strategies for Aligning Time Horizons

February 28, 2024

The best decisions that we make for our stakeholders – including our employees, clients, shareholders, communities, and suppliers – are those that prioritize their long-term...

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Case Study

Resilient Human Capital

February 28, 2024

At Aon, we exist to shape decisions for the better – to protect and enrich the lives of people around the world. As our world...

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Case Study

Bringing Communities Together for the Long Term at GIC

May 29, 2023

In support of its long-term mandate, GIC maintains a diversified portfolio, balancing different risk and return profiles of its core asset classes to be resilient...

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Case Study

bp’s New Purpose Reimagining Energy for People and the Planet

May 22, 2023

Investors want to reward companies that demonstrate their ability to generate value and deliver real-world contributions to tackling climate change. That requires robust, well-rounded transition...

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Case Study

Investing with a 15-year steering period changes team culture

March 1, 2023

In practice, the discipline of long-term investing creates a wide range of distinctive characteristics for the Washington State Investment Board (WSIB).

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Case Study

Embracing ESG and DE&I as core strategies of success

March 1, 2023

With ESG risks increasing and value creation opportunities multiplying, we continue to look for ESG solutions across our firm’s activities and portfolio companies.

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Russel Reynolds Associates logo

Case Study

Russell Reynolds Associates

March 1, 2023

We know that who leads an organization matters, influencing everything from the enterprise’s financial success to the experience of its employees, its customers and suppliers,...

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Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan logo

Case Study

In-house expertise drives influence to act as responsible custodians and investors

March 1, 2023

At Ontario Teachers’, long-term thinking is more than a business philosophy. It is critical to our ability to pay pensions to 331,000 current and retired...

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Case Study

Multiplying best practices within operations and across communities and clients

March 1, 2023

We are focused on building the next generation Nasdaq as a leading technology, analytics and infrastructure provider to capital markets.

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Case Study

Building long-term approaches into every aspect of our work

March 1, 2023

Consistent with this aspiration, McKinsey has historically taken a long-term approach to investing in our own people and capabilities, and to contributing to society more...

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Case Study

Infusing financial inclusion into who we are at Mastercard

March 1, 2023

With more than 2.9 billion cards, 80 million merchants and 20 thousand banks around the world the reach of the Mastercard network is expansive and...

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EY logo

Case Study

EY NextWave strategy focuses on delivering long-term value to all stakeholders

March 1, 2023

In a world that’s changing faster than ever, the EY purpose – Building a better working world – has been a guide, providing the context...

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Edelman logo

Case Study

ESG Global Reporting Center of Excellence will help build stakeholders’ trust

March 1, 2023

At Edelman, we have a long-standing sustainability advisory capability, working with clients on how to define and position their purpose and ESG goals, and therefore...

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Case Study

Transforming food systems for healthier people, planet & livelihoods

March 1, 2023

In 2021, we stepped up our efforts by making explicit our ambition to transform the sustainability of global food systems as we continue delivering on...

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Case Study

Private company ESG Data Convergence Project

March 1, 2023

In a rapidly changing world, Carlyle believes that impact is a lens for finding efficiencies and capitalizing on new growth, as we see the market...

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Case Study

Integrating sustainability into every business function – from supply chains to employee comp – propels ESG leadership scores

March 1, 2023

In the past two years, company-wide improvements enabled Bunge to take advantage of improved market conditions and generate record earnings, positioning ourselves for long-term success....

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BlackRock

Case Study

Taking a Long-Term View

March 1, 2023

For more than a decade, Larry Fink, CEO and Chairman of BlackRock, has written an annual letter to the CEOs of companies BlackRock invests in...

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Case Study

Building a sustainable locally-sourced campus while regenerating Glasgow

March 1, 2023

Barclays set out to build something transformative, bringing the community together, helping entrepreneurs flourish, and supporting local enterprise.

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Case Study

The Establishment of Sustainable Development Investments Asset Owner Platform (SDI AOP)

March 1, 2023

APG Asset Management, together with, AustralianSuper, British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI) and PGGM in 2020, jointly established the Sustainable Development Investments Asset Owner Platform...

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Reports

Report

Recap: FCLT Summit 2025

March 6, 2025

At FCLT Summit 2025, business and investment leaders developed practical solutions for creating long-term value amid unprecedented structural shifts in global capital markets.

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Report

The People Factor: How Investing in Employees Pays Off

March 21, 2023

A new report, in collaboration with CPP Insights Institute and the ESG Initiative at the Wharton School, explores the role of labour practices in corporate...

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Report

Walking the Talk: Valuing a Multi-Stakeholder Strategy

January 17, 2022

What does it take to earn a return from implementing a multi-stakeholder strategy and offer a rebuttal to skeptics? To answer this question, we turned...

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Report

Ripples of Responsibility: How Long-term Investors Navigate Uncertainty with Purpose

June 21, 2021

Expectations of long-term investors have expanded well beyond usual notions of their core purpose to include their impact on markets, society, and the environment. The...

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Articles

Article

The Long-term Payoff of Employee Ownership

June 28, 2024

Despite short-term costs, employee ownership has the potential to create long-term value by improving firm performance and increasing buy-in.

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Article

What’s in a name? Sustainability simply means securing the future

April 22, 2024

Today, private sector executives from across the globe find themselves using the same word to mean different things. “Sustainability” has become shorthand for mitigating and...

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Article

Companies that Invest in Multiple Stakeholders Have Longer Investment Horizons

April 28, 2023

To better understand the outcomes of a stakeholder-oriented approach, we conducted an empirical analysis comparing the characteristics and performance of companies pursuing such strategies to...

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Article

How investor responsibilities can preserve social license to operate in infrastructure

December 14, 2022

CPP Investments provides examples of why a focus on long-term outcomes and a multi-stakeholder approach to investing is a prerequisite to invest in the infrastructure...

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Article

Investing Capital in Communities Drives Long-Term Value for All Stakeholders

July 28, 2022

Communities are an important stakeholder for many companies and play a key role in their operations. FCLTGlobal recently hosted a discussion to gain a...

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Article

How Good Governance Can Mend a Disconnected Global Economy

January 19, 2022

Political uncertainty needn’t capsize an organization’s long-term strategy. Rather, through good governance and investing in stakeholder engagement, businesses can cut through the noise of what’s...

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Article

Recap: FCLTGlobal CEO Roundtables on Multi-Stakeholder Capitalism in Practice

January 18, 2022

On 11 and 18 January, FCLTGlobal brought together global CEOs representing investors and companies to discuss multi-stakeholder capitalism and how stakeholder strategies are being integrated...

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Article

The New Landscape of Human Capital Metrics

September 23, 2021

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Article

A Multi-stakeholder Approach to Long-termism

July 7, 2021

Many businesses have operated from a shareholder primacy playbook when cultivating long-term financial strategies. However, recent events are inspiring a shift across the investment value...

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Article

State Street Aligns Responsible Investing with Securities Lending

May 27, 2021

Expectations placed on investors are ever-changing, can emerge from any of the institution’s many constituents, and extend beyond matters of law, regulation, or contracts.

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Article

ICPM and FCLTGlobal Consider Emerging Investor Responsibilities

December 4, 2020

Around the world, investors are facing an array of potential responsibilities. These potential responsibilities extend beyond an investor’s fiduciary duty or stewardship requirements and are...

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Article

A Hierarchy of Stakeholder Needs

April 21, 2020

Amid unforeseen circumstances, how do companies prioritize their stakeholders?

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Article

3 Key Themes from the 2020 World Economic Forum Annual Meeting

January 28, 2020

A focus on stakeholders takes top billing, with a shift toward real action on climate and metrics

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Article

FCLTGlobal Consults on UK Stewardship Code Updates

April 3, 2019

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Podcasts

Podcast

Going Long Podcast: C.S. Venkatakrishnan on Reviving the UK’s Equity Culture

October 8, 2024

"The transition to a sustainable economy is not a switch, it's a dial—and that dial takes time to move."

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Podcast

Going Long Podcast: Ashby Monk on the Next Generation of Institutional Investing

August 7, 2024

"Part of my mission in life [...] is to make the millions of students out there aware that there are these amazing organizations where you...

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Podcast

Going Long Podcast: EY’s Carmine Di Sibio on Building a Better Working World

June 24, 2024

"We are in the top of the first inning with AI. It's beginning to revolutionize business efficiency and operations, and the possibilities for future innovations...

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Podcast

Going Long Podcast: IFM’s David Neal on Harnessing the Potential of Pension Capital

December 27, 2023

"It is a fascinating system, and in some ways it's an incredibly simple one. But what's grown from it is one of the most sophisticated,...

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Podcast

Going Long Podcast: John Connaughton, Bain Capital

October 3, 2022

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Podcast

Going Long Podcast: Ronald Wuijster, APG Asset Management

April 5, 2021

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Natin Nohria photo

Podcast

Going Long Podcast: Nitin Nohria, Harvard Business School

February 22, 2021

Nitin Nohria joins the podcast to discuss why the HBS approach is becoming the norm in the form of stakeholder capitalism (18:00) and greater awareness...

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Podcast

Going Long Podcast: Leo Strine, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz

November 16, 2020

Chief Justice Leo Strine joins the Going Long podcast to discuss his views on stakeholder capitalism, varying global stances on ESG, the changing role of...

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In the News

In the News

Investing in American Equity

August 18, 2020

FCLTGlobal CEO Sarah Williamson identifies key features needed in a 21st-century retirement in the U.S. in a new op-ed.

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Toolkits

Toolkit

Walking the Talk: Multi-Stakeholder Capitalism in Practice

March 14, 2022

Long-term companies take several key steps to operationalize their multi-stakeholder responsibilities. These steps must be taken in order and repeated regularly to be effective, and...

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Videos

Video

Investing in Healthcare Innovations: A Case Study of Multi-stakeholder Capitalism in Practice

February 10, 2022

On February 10, 2022, FCLTGlobal brought together leaders in the healthcare and healthcare investment community to discuss long-horizon innovation in light of the COVID-19 pandemic....

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Video

Stakeholder Capitalism: Creating Common Standards for Corporate Governance

January 22, 2020

The shift towards stakeholder capitalism calls for a new vision of good environmental, social and corporate governance. What difficult decisions must chief executives take to...

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Video

Sarah Williamson on Stakeholder Management

January 22, 2020

From WEF 2020 in Davos, Sarah Williamson stresses the need to focus on all stakeholders, not just shareholders.

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Video

Biden Institute Speaker Series: How Taking the Long View Works for Business and the Middle Class

August 17, 2017

This panel discussion was the first official event of the Biden Institute, which was established to pair the former vice president’s long-time work in domestic...

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