Initiatives
Capital Institute

Evergreen Direct Investment ... an initiative of the Capital Institute

Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

An initiative of the Capital Institute

Open a PDF about Evergreen Direct Investing (EDI) Field Guide Study of Evergreen Direct Investing Just Released There is a growing awareness that today's boom-bust cycling capital markets--frequently hi-jacked and manipulated by short-term speculators and algorithmic traders who together account for the vast majority of exchange trading--are no longer well-suited to deliver the dependable stream of returns that large, purposeful, powerful, and perpetual investors--including pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and endowments--require to fulfill their fiduciary obligations. At the same time, this growing dysfunctionality of the capital markets, coupled with its narrow focus on quarterly earnings and shareholder-value maximization, is depriving business enterprises of vital strategic investment partners, and limiting business leaders' ability to undertake the kind of strategic decision-making required to harmonize the long-term interests of people, planet, and profits in the transition to a regenerative economy. But what if one were to take certain proven cash flow sharing investment architectures, adapt them to broader categories of enterprise investment, and enlist them for a higher purpose? Capital Institute's fifth Field Guide case study highlights an investing method, Evergreen Direct Investing (EDI), that does just that. EDI, the brainchild of Tim MacDonald, a career limited partnership attorney, represents both a reengineering and bold repurposing of time-tested techniques. It enables large, perpetual investors to match their known, long-tail liabilities to resilient cash flow streams by entering into partnership with enterprise leaders seeking to be free of the tyranny of the ill-considered pursuit of shareholder value maximization. Read our Field Guide case study of the Evergreen Direct Investing method here. - John Fullerton, Founder & President, Capital Institute