How does TILT work?

TILT portfolios are integrated expressions of our clients’ purpose. They don’t conform to a replicable standard (a benchmark), and are not constructed with “off the shelf” products. Rather, they reflect a partnership between the clients, the communities, and the enterprises themselves.

How does TILT approach investing?

TILT is committed to aligning our clients' goals with the goals of the community where they seek to make positive change. The overlapping interests between the community and the investor define the investable opportunity: the enterprises that operate in the community that are consuming and producing civic, environmental, financial, and human capital.

TILT’s investment process begins with discovering and defining the investable universe: what enterprises can absorb our clients' financial capital so that they might generate positive returns across multiple capitals?

What Defines A Community?

• An idea (investment theme) that requires collective effort: e.g., sequestering atmospheric carbon through improved agricultural practices or finding a cure for Alzheimer disease - narrow or broad

• A place that holds significance for someone: e.g., the ecological health of the Gulf of Maine or biodiversity in the Amazon - narrow or broad

• A group of people that live together in a social structure: e.g., citizens of Fresno County, children afflicted by stunting in South Asia, marginalized people living in rural Appalachia or Newark New Jersey - narrow or broad

How does TILT define capital?

Based on theory and scholarship developed over the last fifty years, we are developing a multi-capital investment practice that seeks to generate returns that align with the specific and unique goals of both our clients and the communities they care about. The multi-capital framework allows us to achieve high levels of customization while maintaining analytical rigor to evaluate investment opportunities, construct/manage portfolios, and report investment results.

We focus on civic, environmental, financial, and human capital. We can adjust the emphasis of each capital to align with each client’s specific financial and non-financial goals. Each capital includes a variety of potential indicators or criteria. We analyze detailed data sets that improve our understanding and forecasting capacity. We apply this data to perform attribution on both the enterprise investments and overall portfolio returns.

• Financial Capital: enterprises create and consume financial wealth. Communities suffer when there is a paucity of financial wealth; TILT clients seek to protect and grow their financial wealth. Examples of measure include: wages paid, tax payments, access to banking services

• Human Capital: enterprises produce goods and services that impact people. Workers, suppliers and neighbors define a community’s stock of human capital; TILT clients seek to improve human capital. Examples of measure include: health measures, education levels and overall well-being metrics

• Civic Capital: enterprises play an important role in creating and consuming civic capital. Healthy communities require increasing levels of civic capital; TILT clients seek to increase civic capital. Examples of measure include: voter participation and confidence in public administration

• Environmental Capital: enterprises consume environmental capital, some more and some less. Communities require environmental capital to survive and flourish; TILT clients seek to regenerate the environmental capital that has been consumed. Examples of measure include: carbon intensity, biodiversity, access to clean water and open space