Alex Armour

The FIRST Fund, an evergreen impact investment initiative launched in 2023 by the Illinois State Treasurer, is dedicated to strengthening the state's infrastructure and real estate. Its strategic direction is guided by five core objectives: enhancing local impact, diversifying state investments, promoting sustainable development, ensuring diversity and inclusion, and upholding worker-centric practices. The fund employs a phased investment approach, focusing on reinvesting capital into Illinois-based projects to support areas such as affordable housing, broadband access, renewable energy, and local job creation.

The Investment Policy Statement for The Illinois Funds outlines the primary objective of ensuring the safety of principal while managing liquidity and seeking the highest investment return using authorized instruments. The policy emphasizes prudent and sustainable stewardship in investment decision-making, integrating financially material sustainability factors such as corporate governance, environmental aspects, social capital, human capital, and business model innovation. The document details investment objectives, ethical considerations, authorized investments, restrictions, and diversification guidelines.

The Office of the Illinois State Treasurer's Annual Sustainable Investment Report for Fiscal Year 2025 (July 2024 - June 2025) details its commitment to sustainable investing as part of its fiduciary duty to maximize financial returns. The report highlights the integration of material sustainability factors into investment decisions through corporate engagement, proxy voting, public policy advocacy, and the evaluation of internal and external investment managers. Key focus areas include corporate governance, human capital management, environmental stewardship, and the prioritization of diverse investment firms to ensure resilient and inclusive financial outcomes.

This Investment Policy Statement outlines the framework for the FIRST Fund of the Office of the Illinois State Treasurer. Its primary objectives are to generate investment returns, support quality infrastructure development projects in Illinois, and foster a diverse and inclusive investment community. The policy details investment objectives, parameters, roles, responsibilities, and performance evaluation processes, emphasizing prudent management, diversification, cost-efficiency, and the integration of sustainability and diversity factors into investment decisions to achieve long-term financial and impact goals within Illinois.

This strategic outlook from BlackRock analyzes the economic benefits of investing in women. It identifies increased female labor force participation and closing the gender wage gap as key drivers for global economic growth, particularly in emerging markets, and as a means to offset demographic challenges in developed countries. The document advocates for investments in education and childcare, along with policy reforms, to remove barriers to women's economic engagement and unleash higher GDP growth.