Investors sought for sovereign wealth fund
The investment manager for the Kahnawake Sovereign Wealth Fund (KSWF), Branden Morris, was in Montreal this week for a conference hosted by the Responsible Investment Association (RIA). He used the time as an opportunity to network with investment portfolio managers and get the word out about the new fund.
Morris also got the chance to speak on a panel at the conference Monday, which touched on how reconciliation and Indigenous rights can be better integrated into investment decisions.
“We have capital left in the fund to invest in various ventures. Here everybody is in the investment space,” Morris told The Eastern Door. “They have large infrastructure projects, there are portfolio managers, so it’s just a good opportunity to let them know that we exist.”
The fund was founded last year and will see $32 million invested into various stocks and bonds as well as project-based investments, such as private-public partnerships or equity investments. Where those investments will be made is expected to be announced soon, with the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK) still yet to reveal the two portfolio managers hired to manage the fund. The $32 million in it came from the sale of the MCK’s shares in the tech company Continent 8 in 2016.
Mélinda Bastien, head of the responsible investment team at the consulting company Normandin Beaudry, hosted the panel. She asked questions about how each invitee personally defines responsible investing when it comes to working with First Nations, what practices they follow when working with them, and how they define what constitutes free, prior, and informed consent.
Asked to define responsible investing, Morris said “it goes much deeper” than a simple definition on paper. Spiritual beliefs also guide their decisions, he said.
“It’s about who we are as people,” Morris said, adding each time there’s an investment committee or economic development meeting, it always opens with the Ohèn:ton Karihwatéhkwen.
“We give thanks to everything: the water, the trees, the fish, anything you could think of all the way down to the little insects,” he explained to the room. “These themes are top of mind when we are making investments.”
Community support is also important, Morris said, saying they “full stop” avoid any investment opportunity that comes across their desk they know will be unpopular.
A look toward future generations also guides him, Morris said. Capital and income generated from the wealth fund won’t be touched for at least the next 10 years, or maybe even longer, he told attendees.
“We are going to watch that compound for 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 years,” he said. “However long it takes before the Mohawks of Kahnawake become completely financially independent and become a financial powerhouse.”
miriam@easterndoor.com
Miriam Lafontaine, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Eastern Door
