Concessionary Returns & Antiquated Benchmarks
By Roberto Thornton (he/him)
Managing Director, Investments & Impact
Finance is full of terms that make investors think about their portfolios, not people. I understand the impetus — ultimately, as fiduciaries, we have a responsibility and commitment to the numbers. But the truth is, behind your portfolio’s performance are people and communities whose lives, livelihoods, and wellbeing are often at stake. When these racial, gender, economic, and climate risks go unpriced, it’s not just people who suffer. It’s portfolios, too. I know this to be true from my unique perspective as both a financial leader and a movement organizer.
From where I sit at Adasina, it’s become increasingly clear to me that we need a mindset shift in impact investing. One that breaks away from problematic terms like “concessionary returns” and “underperformance” toward a more accurate understanding of portfolio risk and its connections to social justice. So, let’s begin by unpacking these terms, including the antiquated benchmarks they rely on:
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average was created in 1896, just after Reconstruction, when Southern states were codifying Jim Crow laws.
- The S&P 500 was created in 1957, almost a decade before the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
These indices are old; born during a period of systemic inequity. Measuring impact, risk, and value against them without adjustment is outdated and counterintuitive.
The concept of concessionary returns reinforces the false premise that aligning capital with values inherently requires sacrifice. It doesn’t. Often, it simply requires recognizing risks that traditional finance has chosen to ignore. That blind spot exists because finance routinely discounts community wisdom, even when these communities have been signaling material risks for decades. As a Black Trans man in America, one lesson has been painfully consistent: when systems break down, we are rarely surprised since we have been naming these issues all along.
Signals from communities at the margins, advocacy groups, and social justice movements are routinely labeled “non-financial.” As a result, they are underweighted or ignored, even when they point to real, emerging drivers of volatility and reputational risk.
This creates a distortion layered on top of already narrow thinking about risk and return: values-aligned strategies appear to underperform, when in reality, traditional approaches (and sometimes even ESG strategies) may be carrying risks that simply have not been priced yet.
Take GEO Group, a company Adasina has not invested in since inception due to their violation of our Social Justice Investment Criteria. In 2025, GEO Group benefited from strong revenue growth driven by higher facility utilization and policy tailwinds. The subtext: they were profiting from the escalation of unjust immigrant detention in the U.S. Many interpreted this as “solid performance,” despite volatility tied to shifting political expectations.
But GEO Group’s growth model is directly tied to detention volume. More utilization = more people detained. Financial performance and social impact are not separate here — they are inextricably linked.
Social justice movements have raised concerns about private detention for decades, with intensified scrutiny in the current moment around ICE detention centers. Public pressure and reputational risks may not immediately appear in earnings or valuation models, but over time, they can manifest through income statement fundamentals, including revenue and legal expenses (e.g., contract instability, civil rights lawsuits).
In the short term, investors may profit from the failure to price externalities. Over the long term, those same externalities can trigger repricing when social movements become market-moving forces. Often, these externalities also fund behavior that makes the market less stable for all investors. The real question is: when the market finally recognizes these risks, how is your portfolio prepared to mitigate them?
Avoiding risks the market hasn’t priced yet is not a concession or underperformance. It is risk management focused on the long-term stability of the financial system and the people and communities behind our investments.
DISCLOSURES AND IMPORTANT INFORMATION
This material was prepared by Robasciotti and Associates, Inc. dba Adasina Social Capital (“Adasina”), a Registered Investment Advisor. Transmission of the information contained herein is not intended to create, and receipt does not constitute, a client relationship.
This material is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended to be, and should not be construed as, an offer, solicitation or recommendation with respect to any transaction and should not be treated as legal advice, investment advice or tax advice. Recipients should not rely upon this information as a substitute for obtaining specific legal or tax advice from their own professional legal, investment, or tax advisors. The investor must ensure the suitability of an investment as it pertains to their financial and fiscal situation and investment objectives. Before acting on any information in this material, it is prudent to consult one’s financial advisor.
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