Signatory Process

BECOMING A SIGNATORY

To become a Signatory, an organization must have an established impact management system that aligns with the Impact Principles, integrating impact throughout the investment lifecycle of any covered assets. This may still be a work in progress, as Signatories continue to update and improve their systems each year.   
Organizations may become a Signatory at the corporate, line of business, fund, or investment strategy level. We recommend that prospective signatories sign at the highest level possible—usually the corporate or firm-wide level—so that additional funds or business lines can be incorporated into future disclosures.
 

Signatory Process
To become a Signatory, an organization must complete the following steps:

• Submit signed Signatory documentation affirming its adoption of the Impact Principles and commitment to meeting the annual Disclosure Statement and Filing Fee requirements, as well as stating the Covered Assets that align with the Impact Principles.  
• Pay a one-time Registration Fee based on its total assets under management (AUM) in accordance with the fee structure below

The Secretariat may offer a meeting or request select evidence of alignment with the Impact Principles in the process to provide guidance and/or assess readiness of becoming a Signatory.
If you would like to set up a meeting or receive the required Signatory documentation, please contact/email at secretariat@impactprinciples.org.

Signatory Commitment
By becoming a Signatory, an organization commits to:

• Publishing an annual Disclosure Statement describing how the impact system and processes for any covered assets align with each of the 9 Principles. The first Disclosure Statement must be submitted within one calendar year of signing, and subsequent Disclosure Statements are submitted on an annual basis. The Impact Principles Secretariat reviews Disclosure Statement drafts for completeness and provides required edits and recommendations prior to publication. 
• Paying an annual Filing Fee based on its total assets under management (AUM) in accordance with the fee structure below.
• Undergoing periodic independent verification of the alignment of its impact management system with the Impact Principles. This independent verification can be conducted by a 3rd party impact/ESG service provider, auditing firm, an internal auditing department, or an external committee. The first verification is typically completed within the first two years after signing (or within a year of publishing the first disclosure statement) and then repeated every 1-5 years with an average interval of every 2-3 years.

Disclosure Statements and verification summaries are made publicly available on the Signatory's website and at impactprinciples.org/signatories-reporting. Learn more about Principle 9 and the verification requirement here.

Signatory Fee Structure

Signatories must represent and warrant that they are not listed or designated on any of the lists currently promulgated by the United Nations Security Council or its committees pursuant to any resolution issued under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter or on the World Bank Listing of Ineligible Firms & Individuals, or the Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) Specially Designate Nationals and Blocked Persons List ("SDN List").

The Impact Principles require that a Signatory take appropriate administrative, legal, and other measures to implement the Impact Principles throughout the investment lifecycle. Once adopted and signed, a Signatory must not take any action that would undermine the objective and purpose of the Impact Principles.