Last month we wrapped the Listening Tour for the System-Level Investing Knowledge Lab: a public-good platform designed to curate, create, and convene in support of the theory and practice of system-level investing.
Through in-person and virtual roundtables, one-on-one conversations, and an online input survey, we engaged more than 280 stakeholders from over 200 organizations to inform our next steps.
The response was strongly encouraging. Participants affirmed that system-level investing is gaining traction, but also emphasized that the field can benefit from more shared infrastructure to support credible, practical adoption. In addition to identifying priority workstreams (outlined below), the big things we heard were:
- Convening and co-creation are themselves core value propositions.
- The field needs curation of existing resources as well as new content.
- Rigor and integrity, particularly as system-level investing becomes more widely known, are essential for credible long-term adoption.
- Collaboration is essential.
Knowledge Lab Next Steps
Based on the Listening Tour, we have identified three interrelated foundational workstreams for the next phase of the Knowledge Lab:
- Distinguishing portfolio-level and entity-level impacts: Developing clearer ways to explain the difference between system-level effects on company-level financial performance and portfolio-level effects.
- Summary of possible system-level investing actions: Mapping the range of credible actions practitioners can take and helping investors identify and access resources for whichever actions may be most appropriate in different circumstances.
- Making the case for system-level investing: Creating communications resources, talking points, FAQs, visual assets, and evidence-based materials to help practitioners bring others along.
These workstreams will be developed through the rest of 2026, kicking off our next set of roundtables on September 2nd and September 3rd.
Future workstreams are expected to build from these foundations, including resources on asset manager engagement best practices, stewardship templates, company engagement guidance, and public policy engagement, among others.
Read the Full Summary
The Knowledge Lab will continue to serve as a collaborative platform for learning, experimentation, and practical advancement — and we are grateful to everyone who has helped shape this work so far. More detailed insights from the Listening Tour, included additional explanations of our priority workstreams, planned next steps, and a complete list of possible workstreams is available in the summary.
