RockCreek Canada: 2024 Investment Reflection
In January 2024, Waterloo Region Community Foundation (WRCF) partnered with RockCreek Canada as their Outsourced Chief Investment Officer (OCIO) to manage WRCF’s investment portfolio. RockCreek supports nonprofit clients by delivering strong risk-adjusted returns and providing extensive experience in socially responsible investing.
As WRCF’s OCIO, RockCreek oversees the foundation’s portfolio management, ensuring that generated income supports both current and future grantmaking initiatives. Working in close collaboration with WRCF’s Investment Committee and Finance team, RockCreek has developed a long-term investment strategy that aligns with WRCF’s mission and priorities. They leverage a diverse range of investment opportunities to target strong performance while adhering to the guidelines in WRCF’s Investment Policy Statement (IPS).
Over the past year, RockCreek collaborated with WRCF to define clear investment objectives and goals. This process involved updating the foundation’s IPS and implementing a strategic asset allocation based on several key factors including: return and risk objectives, liquidity needs, annual distributions, and impact priorities. This partnership aims to optimize WRCF’s investment approach, ensuring efficient management of assets and alignment with the foundation’s overall mission.
At the end of 2024, WRCF established a mission-aligned investment strategy which RockCreek will implement across the portfolio. A key component of this strategy was adopting a framework centered on three priorities: Equitable Communities, Connected Communities, and Sustainable Communities.
These priorities will allow investment both locally in Waterloo Region – and globally. To achieve mission alignment, WRCF is adopting a multi-faceted approach including: (i) negative and positive screening for alcohol, tobacco, firearms, and fossil fuels (ii) intentional public market investments (iii) thematic private market strategies and companies, and (iv) catalytic program-related investments.
WRCF has already made progress in implementing this strategy and has invested:
$12 million in intentional public market strategies
$2 million in thematic private strategies focused on bridging the digital divide
Over $8 million in catalytic program-related investments
One notable investment provides high-speed fiber optic broadband access to urban, rural, and Indigenous communities across North America. This aligns with WRCF’s key focus areas and has led to the development of state-of-the-art digital infrastructure in Ontario and the Canadian Arctic, enhancing social mobility and promoting economic growth. The projects, which include a Tier III data center and ~400 miles of fiber optic systems, are expected to create new jobs, attract businesses, stimulate innovation, and improve education and health care for the local community.
Despite global uncertainties, investment opportunities with positive community impact remain robust across various sectors and themes. Investors and markets are increasingly recognizing the transformative potential of AI in areas such as healthtech, edtech, energy efficiency, and social mobility. RockCreek has identified growing opportunities in these sectors as well as in affordable housing, digital connectivity, financial access, and inclusion. These sectors are expected to yield strong, long-term returns and will be explored as part of WRCF’s investment portfolio.
In 2025, a key focus for WRCF’s investment portfolio will be expanding private markets exposure to enhance diversification and mitigate downside risk across market cycles. In an uncertain and volatile market environment, maintaining flexibility and a long-term perspective will be essential for sustained success.
As a result of all of this work, WRCF’s investment portfolio is well-positioned for 2025, supported by updates to its long-term investment strategy and a newly aligned mission framework.
