Millions of people around the world are saving money to meet personal goals – funding a comfortable retirement, saving for someone’s education, or buying a home, to name a few.
The funds to support these goals are safeguarded by institutional investors – pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, insurers, and asset managers – who invest in companies for the prospect of growth and security. These savers, their communities, and the institutions that support them make up the global investment value chain, and each benefit from long-term decisions in different ways:
Savers have long term goals such as retirement or providing for the next generation
Asset Owners invest to match the long-term goals of their beneficiaries or constituents
Asset Managers align their horizons, incentives, and goals to those of asset owners, whose money they manage
Companies make multi-year investments in new markets, facilities, or products in order to create value for stakeholders
Communities benefit from companies' long term decisions, which create jobs, innovation, and wealth
Policy and regulation shapes global discourse and prompts market behaviors to shift toward the long term
Data shows that long-term-oriented investors deliver superior performance, and long-term-oriented companies outperform in terms of revenue, earnings, and job creation. But despite overwhelming evidence of the superiority of long-term investments, short-term pressures are hard to avoid. A majority of corporate executives agree that longer time horizons for business decisions would improve performance, and yet half say they would delay value-creating projects if it would mean missing quarterly earnings targets.
90% Executives who agree that longer time horizons would improve performance
50% Executives who would delay value-creating projects if it meant missing quarterly earnings targets
Today, the balance remains skewed toward short-term financial targets at the expense of long-term value creation.
FCLTGlobal’s mission is to focus capital on the long term to support a sustainable and prosperous economy. We are a non-profit organization whose members are leading companies and investors worldwide that develops actionable research and tools to drive long-term value creation for savers and communities.
We Drive Change Through a Focus on Key Areas
Longer investment horizons
Developing strategies that companies and investors can implement to prioritize long-term growth and avoid the short-term behaviors that hinder progress.
Broader business objectives
Researching the connection between stakeholder considerations and long-term value creation.
Greater participation in capital markets
Uncovering new pathways for economic mobility, allowing more savers to access the benefits of long-term investing.
