In the late 2000s, Lisa and I started sharing our investment approach with other investors which ultimately lead to the creation of Toniic, a global network of active impact investors. By that time, we were not the only ones going to 100%. There was a clear need to co-create a trusted community of asset owners who have committed to going all in. Lisa and I co-founded the 100% Network in 2014 for that purpose. In 2015, we folded it into Toniic. It is now a sub-network of Toniic.
Why did we create the 100% Network?
The main reason we created the 100% Network was to create a global network of trust: a network where its members share their impactful lives, their impact portfolios, their challenges and opportunities, because they trust each other. 100%ers understand that when you are in a place of trust, your mind is more open, you have greater access to your mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual resources, and you're also able to think more clearly and make better decisions. Trust is the right strategy for uncertain times. When we keep investing in trust, both in ourselves and in the wisdom and capacity of others, we can bring about a saner world (see Dawa Tarchin Philips).
Trust is associated with ambiguity. Most 100%ers are open to not knowing all the answers, and are comfortable with the uncertainties of designing transformational change initiatives. They profoundly trust themselves, the group and the process to navigate unchartered waters. This trust and comfort with uncertainty becomes the basis of their courage to take action (see Barret Brown).
Trust makes deep sharing possible. Trust enables a system to sense and see itself (see Otto Scharmer). In our 100% gatherings, we are able to see and experience a shift of consciousness in the social field in real time – that is, the shift in quality of listening and interaction amongst our members.
Who are the 100%ers?
The 100% Network is attracting asset owners from all over the world: from Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, South Africa, Middle East, Europe, and North America. Many of the 100%ers are taking leadership roles in their region. Members have committed between $1m and $1bn to impact, cumulatively over $6bn. There are about one hundred 100%ers; they are (ultra) high net worth individuals, family offices, foundations, and endowments.
What binds us together is the intention of aligning 100% of our portfolios with positive impact, the mindfulness of leading an impactful life, and the desire to change the financial system.
Many 100%ers live in regions with challenging geopolitical realities. I am continuously inspired by them choosing to be humanists first; humanists who deeply care about humanity and the planet. I am inspired by 100% father and daughter teams, 100% husband and wife teams, 100% multi-generational family offices, 100% systemic thinkers, and by members who choose to lead their geographic region by example.
What motivates 100%ers?
100%ers are conscious impact investors, holistic and aware. They moved from being driven by the fear of losing money to the joy of making a positive contribution. They moved from the tyranny of or (either making money or having impact) to the genius of and (having holistic returns, financial and impact). They would not be able to do it any other way. They are all in. They are not hedging. They understand that impact investing involves the mind, the heart and the soul, as investing only with your mind does not lead to deep impact; and investing only with your heart and soul most likely results in significant financial losses.
Jim Villanueva
Impact investing has been a natural outgrowth of my spiritual path. Over the course of 20+ years of meditation practice, certain truths have become obvious and unavoidable. The illusion of a separate self independently maximizing personal gain has been increasingly dissolved, and the truth of the connectedness of our human family (and our environment) has become clear. At first, the intention to make a positive impact in the world manifested as a matter of conscience. My wife, Sherry, and I didn’t want to profit from business activities that were detrimental to people or the environment. Over time, it evolved into a moral imperative to intentionally align our entire lives with the love and wholeness that we experience as our deepest truth. Financially, we’ve dedicated 100% of our assets to impact. We’re also experiencing the joy of aligning our work lives with the positive impact we seek to have in the world. We’re continuing to learn what it means to live 100% for impact, and the joy and camaraderie we feel on the journey tells us we're heading in the right direction.
Mariana Bozesan and Tom Schulz
Tom and I are part of the post-post-modern generation and human potential movement that seeks to integrate financial sustainability with the ideals of the Cultural Creatives, the 1968 generation. The integration of sound financial, economic, environmental, and governance criteria with geopolitical sustainability for the benefit of all is, therefore, a must. Hence, our investment activities had to go hand in hand with and be a reflection of our personal growth activities, our heart and soul. We wanted to self-actualize through the integration of all our activities, not just the financial, the business, the philanthropic one, but also consciousness evolution. Our investment motto became the six Ps: The Parity of People, Planet, Profit, with Passion and Purpose. Soon, we discovered Ken Wilber’s Integral Theory and were thrilled about its simplicity, comprehensiveness, and elegance. We use it to develop our own integrated way of life and to de-risk our investments. We call it the Theta Model and have successfully applied it in all our investments since the turn of this century. Joining the 100% Network early on opened the door to a peer group of like-minded people that share the same goals.