About this guide

A goals-based approach to investing and philanthropy is built on the recognition that capital is a means rather than an end. Traditional investing often assumes wealth maximisation is the ultimate objective, but this guide argues that capital is merely an instrument to achieve intrinsic values such as financial security or well-being. Without clear goals, investors risk funding activities rather than achieving real progress. This research draws on academic insights and real-world experiences to outline the work necessary to focus on what matters to the individual or family. Identifying goals sets the stage for more effective resource deployment, whether the aims are financial, personal, or societal.

Executive summary

Many successful investors struggle to make progress because they lack a clear sense of what they are trying to accomplish. Goals-based investing involves investing time upfront to clarify real goals and using them to guide long-term decisions. This guide is organised around a four-part action cycle: Identify, Plan, Implement, and Learn. By following this discipline, investors can move beyond inherited assumptions and achieve specific, meaningful improvements in the world.

Insight 1: clear goals are foundational

A smart strategy built on clear goals is central to generating significant positive impact. Research shows that specific, challenging goals significantly boost performance compared to vague intentions. This involves managing wealth to achieve real-world outcomes that contribute to well-being, such as a certain lifestyle or retirement security. The guide introduces a framework of six goal dimensions: Who, What, When, Why (intrinsic vs instrumental), Risk (essential vs aspirational), and How Much (satisficing vs maximising). For example, the “Enough Project” helps investors define their “surplus” by determining how much they actually need for security, thereby unlocking the freedom to pursue more ambitious impact goals.

Insight 2: even tiny differences in goals can be big in practice

Each goal acts as a unique lens that shapes how an investor perceives and evaluates opportunities. Even slight shifts in definition can lead to different priorities. For instance, a goal to “help kids now” may lead to funding malaria nets, while “help future kids” suggests higher-risk medical research and development. Recognising these different lenses is vital for navigating “gridlock” in families or boards. Moving from “what are my goals?” to “what goals do I share with a coalition?” creates a foundation for win-win options and prevents personal relationship strain during decision-making.

Insight 3: without coherence, you leave value on the table

Coherence is the standard of ensuring that decisions align with selected values. Investors risk leaving value on the table if their choices are a muddled reflection of their priorities. Effective practitioners maintain a “coherent competition for capital,” where every opportunity must continuously prove its worth against others. This requires applying consistent rules across all opportunities. The guide references the Gates Foundation’s “risk share” approach, where the investment team asks if an investment’s impact is worth the expected financial cost compared to a grant. Tools like impact valuation help manage these trade-offs by expressing impact in a common metric to guide informed decision-making.

Insight 4: pursue goals separately to enable coherence

Balancing multiple goals simultaneously can be unproductive due to limited decision-making capacity. The solution is creating focused structures—active, dedicated allocations of capital toward a specific set of goals. Grouping related goals allows for potential synergies while separating unrelated ones, such as financial security and global health, reduces paralysis. For example, the “Alice” case study shows an investor splitting her fortune into four focused structures: Financial Security, Creative Expression, Global Pandemic Preparedness, and Local Mental Health. This separation ensures that “moonshot” impact goals do not accidentally compromise “safety” buckets.

Insight 5: clear impact goals unlock advanced strategies

A foundation of clear goals allows investors to move beyond convention and focus on outcomes rather than activities. This clarity unlocks advanced strategies that may seem unconventional, such as systemic investing, which targets the deeper structures causing problems rather than just treating symptoms. Other strategies include knowledge transfer for sector experts, multicapital strategies that deploy social and cultural capital, and mission hedging. Mission hedging involves holding investments likely to perform well when an impact mission becomes more urgent, such as holding semiconductor stocks to fund future AI policy work.

Insight 6: goals evolve

Goals, values, and beliefs are not fixed; they are hypotheses that evolve with experience and a changing world. This evolution happens on multiple levels, from intrinsic views on a good life to instrumental strategies for grantmaking. This reality requires humility and a commitment to learning. Engaging with peers, listening to beneficiaries, and participating in communities of practice are essential for making effective decisions in dynamic environments. The guide suggests that contributing to the world creates a positive feedback loop, reinforcing an investor’s sense of “being enough” and uncovering further opportunities for contribution.