Investor's Guide to Goals-based Investing and Philanthropy

What am I actually trying to achieve? A question that comes before every strategy, structure or investment decision, and yet one that is often overlooked.

This guide is the result of a collaboration between the Center for Sustainable Finance and Private Wealth (CSP), University of St.Gallen (CCSP-HSG), Stanford PACS, MIT Sloan Sustainability Initiative, and Impact Frontiers. Together, we examine why getting clear on your goals is the starting point for everything else and how a lack of clarity often means value left on the table.

Drawing on applied research, real-world insight stories, and decades of experience working with wealth holders, family offices and philanthropists, this guide provides a practical four-part action cycle: 1) identify your goals, 2) plan your approach, 3) implement your plan, 4) learn and evolve. This cycle can be applied at any stage, whether at the beginning of the journey or while refining an existing strategy.

Clarifying your goals is the starting point. However, goals evolve as you engage with the world and implement your plan. The cycle in this guide is built to be revisited as you learn from your decisions, test your assumptions and refine what you are actually trying to achieve.