Invest with Values

The Investor's Gateway to Positive Change

The Investor's Gateway to Positive Change

New Ceres Report: U.S. insurance sector heavily invested in fossil fuel sectors, despite growing awareness of climate change risks

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Many leading U.S. insurance groups are significantly invested in oil & gas and other fossil fuel industries, even as these sectors face growing pressure from the global clean energy transition and physical impacts associated with climate change, according to a first-of-its-kind report announced today. Authored by the nonprofit sustainability group Ceres in collaboration with investment […]

Behind the Most Successful Microfinance IPO in India’s History: What does gender lens investing have to do with it?

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I never thought that selling our shares in an IPO – the holy grail of private equity investing – would be such a grueling process. But it was all worth it when on April 28 in the pre-dawn hours of a New York morning I checked the news from India. The subscriptions had come in slowly at first, […]

Making Deals in Impact Investing

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By Pallavi Shah, International sustainable/impact investing consultant; photographer Global Investing, May 20, 2016 (Maximpact.com News)  – Impact investing is gaining traction among both large and small investors and entrepreneurs. Angels, private equity firms, and banks are expanding beyond their traditional markets and exploring deals that could generate financial returns, while also having a positive environmental or social […]

To Be Young, Wealthy and Committed to Impact: Millennials Move from Talk to Action

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You may have heard more than enough about Millennials, but possibly not from wealthy Millennials themselves. Meet Alexandra and Josephine, Seth, Steph, Antonis, Adam and Chloe, Sapphira, Talia and Eric. These 20- and 30-somethings recount their personal journeys toward impact investing in “Millennials and Impact Investing,” from Toniic, the global network of impact angel investors […]

Webinar: Toward a Caring Economy

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Our political-economic system is not working: families are struggling, the middle class is diminishing, one in five U.S. children lives in poverty, we have unacceptably high rates of homelessness and incarceration, rising underemployment, collapsing environmental systems, and a host of other problems. What would it look like if the system in all of its dimensions […]

San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) Issues World’s First Certified Green Bond for Water Infrastructure

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In a world first, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) has become the first entity to issue a green bond certified under the Water Climate Bonds Standard, a screening tool that specifies the criteria that must be met for bonds labelled as “green” or earmarked for funding water-related, low carbon initiatives. Proceeds from the […]

A New Look at CSR – Corporate Social Responsibility (All-Videos issue)

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To begin its 24 year of publishing on sustainable business and investing – the award-winning ‘GreenMoney Journal’ launches its first-ever all Videos issue on “CSR – Corporate Social Responsibility” (May 2016). The videos featured Biomimicry expert Janine Benyus;  Patagonia’s founder Yvon Chouinard;  Casey Gerald of MBA’s Across America;  Marine Biologist and explorer Sylvia Earle;  Former VP Al Gore; Judith […]

Impact Investing a Bright Spot in Emerging Markets Private Equity

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Impact investing and emerging markets private equity are like twins that were separated at birth – and have once again been reunited. Approximately 20 percent of LPs said they plan to increase the value of their new emerging markets private equity commitments because they are seeking greater environmental, social and economic impact. The similarities in […]

RSF Prime: Six Years Later, Here’s How It’s Going

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By John Bloom Can you imagine your bank inviting you to come and talk about your interest rate? I usually open RSF Social Finance’s quarterly pricing meetings with this question. So far, no one has said yes. That’s understandable. When we decided in late 2009 to abandon LIBOR (a move that turned out to be […]

The Currency of Self

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by John Bloom Technically, money is meant to be nothing more than a holder of assigned value and to serve as a means for facilitating the exchange of goods and services. However, money is also a complicated social reality, and it is encrusted with layers of perception, values, assumptions, and behaviors. For example, we say […]

Ceres Commends EPA for First Ever National Rule Today on Methane Pollution

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As the clean energy transition continues to pick up steam globally in the wake of the Paris Climate Agreement, the nonprofit sustainability Ceres and major investors welcomed today’s commitment from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to significantly cut methane emissions from the oil and gas industry. The oil and gas sector is the largest source […]

Trillium Successfully Withdraws Board Diversity Proposal at Stifel Financial

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MAY 16, 2016: Trillium Asset Management is pleased to announce that it has successfully withdrawn its Board Diversity shareholder proposal at Stifel Financial (NYSE: SF) following the company’s agreement to institutionalize a commitment to board diversity inclusive of gender, race and national origin. At the time of our dialogue with management in April, the Board […]

Information for Discovery Communications Shareholders Regarding Our Board Diversity Proposal

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May 13, 2016:  Trillium Asset Management has published a letter to shareholders of Discovery Communications (NASDAQ:DISCA) urging them to vote in favor of our Board Diversity proposal. The proposal is co-led by Calvert Investments, Mercy Investment Services and Trillium Asset Management, and appears as item #3 on the company’s 2016 proxy card*.  Shareholders will vote […]

If Not Wall Street, Then Where?

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Following the conversation Don Shaffer started in 2015 about RSF’s decision to seek alternatives to Wall Street, this webinar focuses on different approaches to aligning money with mission and values. Funds, firms, and advisors are now using the term impact investing but definitions and intentions are inconsistent. It can be overwhelming, even for financial professionals. […]

An Increase in Demand Means Higher Rates for Investors

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In April, alongside the release of our new prospectus, Calvert Foundation raised the interest rates on our Community Investment Note®. Previous Rates New Rates- as of April 2016 3 Year 05/15/2019 5 Year 05/17/2021 10 Year 05/15/2026 15 Year 05/15/2031 We have already received a lot of questions about this change: Did this have anything […]

Advertising Rules for Title III Crowdfunding Are More Flexible Than You May Think

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Like most legislation, Regulation Crowdfunding, aka Title III of the JOBS Act, was a compromise. The final bill and the subsequent rules written by the Securities & Exchange Commission attempted to balance competing views on the best way to increase access to capital for the nation’s small businesses while protecting investors. One result of that […]

Center for Financial Services Innovation Releases New Indicators for Measuring Consumers’ Financial Well-Being

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Ground-Breaking Tools Now Available to Financial Services Providers   Chicago, Ill., May 10, 2016 /3BL Media/ – Today, the Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI) released a landmark report that urges financial services providers to measure the financial health of their customers. The work, which benefitted from the strategic and financial support of MetLife Foundation, equips […]

Seizing the Momentum: ‘But For’ These Foundations, Less Impact in Investing

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Baltimore, Md. –  There’s a tendency for some hardcore finance types to look down their noses at philanthropic foundations. Soft-headed. Concessionary. Anti-business. It may be time for a new view: Pioneering. Catalytic. Risk-taking. And in the nascent market for investments that generate financial returns through the creation of social and environmental benefits, perhaps essential. In the […]

Taking Stock of the PRI on Its Tenth Anniversary

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  In April the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) initiative marked ten years as the world’s leading proponent of responsible investing. Launched as collaboration between the United Nations Global Compact and the U.N. Environment Programme Finance Initiative, the PRI promotes six principles involving environment, social and corporate governance (ESG) issues that should be integrated into […]

Statement on the Occidental Shareholder Vote

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Momentum is building in the U.S. for better climate disclosure. Investors and analysts continue to send strong signals that Paris marked a turning point on climate action. On Friday, Occidental Petroleum announced the results of voting on a 2 degree stress testing resolution at its annual meeting, and yet again the votes represented a high-water […]

Just Half of Top Investors Tackle Climate Risk

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LONDON, UK, May 5, 2016 (Maximpact.com News) – Half the world’s 500 largest investors are acting to lessen the risks posed to their portfolios by climate change, but the other half are ignoring climate risk entirely, finds the latest Global Climate 500 Index. The fourth annual benchmark report on the industry from the Asset Owners […]

Can the ‘Chicago Model’ Work in Other Cities to Fill Social Capital Gaps? (Podcast)

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Reactions to last week’s unveiling of Benefit Chicago recalls the story of the blind men and an elephant. Different folks saw different parts. The latest Returns on Investment podcast from ImpactAlpha looked at all aspects of the new $100 million fund. Listen to “Chicago Model” on Returns on Investment with Imogen Rose-Smith, Brian Walsh, and David Bank. Benefit Chicago will […]

I’m Over Doing Good

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By Patsy Doerr As global head of corporate responsibility and inclusion for Thomson Reuters, I can proudly say, “I’m over doing good.” These critical issues: diversity and inclusion, sustainability, gender, corporate social responsibility and philanthropy, which were once delegated as HR issues or a ‘nice to have’ are no longer optional.  Pushing the corporate responsibility […]

Second Benchmark of Corporate Human Rights Performance Launches

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April 30, 2016 Second Benchmark of Corporate Human Rights Performance Launches    by Robert Kropp KnowTheChain, founded in 2013 to address California’s Supply Chain Transparency Act, will initially benchmark the human rights performance of 20 companies in the information and communications technology industry sector. SocialFunds.com — The endorsement, in 2010, by the United Nations’ Human […]

Fixing Crowdfunding: Congress Mulls JOBS Act Version 2

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In Silicon Valley, it’s almost dogma that you start with a minimum viable product and iterate—the techie version of throwing spaghetti against the wall and seeing what sticks. So why shouldn’t it be the same with investment crowdfunding? As we prepare for the long awaited roll out next month of Title III, the final and […]

Carbon Pricing Gathers Momentum

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By Sunny Lewis WASHINGTON, DC, April 26, 2016 (Maximpact.com News) – “There is a growing sense of inevitability about putting a price on carbon pollution,” said World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim on the eve of the April 22 signing ceremony at UN Headquarters of the Paris Climate Agreement. Kim joined government and corporate […]

Global investors launch guide to drive engagement on climate risk with the electric utilities sector

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A week after more than 170 countries signed the Paris Agreement and investors voted on a shareholder climate risk resolution at the AGM of US utility AES Corporation, a global network of more than 270 institutional investors (representing assets worth over €20 trillion) has published a guide setting out the threats facing the utilities sector […]

Institutional Investors Support Increase in Solar Deployment

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April 29, 2016 Institutional Investors Support Increase in Solar Deployment    by Robert Kropp The Green Infrastructure Investment Coalition, launched during the COP21 negotiations, now counts over $60 trillion in assets under management supporting a trillion dollar investment in solar. SocialFunds.com — Sustainable institutional investors have always expressed their support for moving their investments toward […]

$100 Million Impact Investment Collaboration to Benefit Chicago

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The Chicago Community Trust, MacArthur and Calvert Foundation announce Benefit Chicago, an innovative collaboration that aims to mobilize $100 million in impact investments for nonprofits and social enterprises in Chicago. This significant infusion of much-needed capital will provide low-interest loans and other investments to accelerate the efforts of local social sector organizations working to address […]

Sustainability Ratings: Coming to an Investment Near You

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By Ben Gruitt Last month Morningstar Inc., an investment research and management firm, announced a new sustainability rating system would be available for funds on its North American and European websites as well as in Morningstar Advisor Workstation, the company’s Web-based practice management platform for advisors. The Morningstar Sustainability Rating aids investors in evaluating funds based […]

A Call for Systemic Impact

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Foundations, Families and Funds can play a very important role in helping to redirect capitalism toward a more fair and just application, while also finding the right social enterprises to support. By playing a more comprehensive role in the creation and support of Community Capital Markets, these funding sources can build impact into a systemic […]

Green Transition Scoreboard Global Total Now $7.13 Trillion

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Ethical Markets focuses on transition management’s top priority: ending externalities ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla., Apr. 22 /CSRwire/ – Ethical Markets Media welcomes Earth Day with a stunning new total for its Green Transition Scoreboard® (GTS).  As of Q4 2015, the GTS totals $7.13 TRILLION cumulative in non-government investments and commitments tracked since 2007 in the global […]

IRS Widens the Scope of Program-Related Impact Investing by Foundations

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Federal guidelines are finally catching up to the kind of impact investments leading philanthropic foundations have already been making in for-profit companies and other market-based approaches to social and environmental problems. The new IRS and Treasury Department guidance on so-called “program-related investments” by foundations, to be published Monday, are the latest in a series of […]

NexThought Monday: Impact and the Science of Social Networks – More Bang For Your Buck

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The basic principle behind network science is very simple: Things are connected, and the ways they are connected affect their individual and collective performance. Thus, the pattern of connections among neurons in the brain reveals the inner workings of cognition, just as gene combinations give us a clue about disease, or international trade between countries […]

Despite Climate Commitments, World Bank Still Funding Fossil Fuels

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April 22, 2016 Despite Climate Commitments, World Bank Still Funding Fossil Fuels    by Robert Kropp Oil Change International reports that the World Bank Group’s investments in fossil fuel exploration actually increased in 2015, to $313 million. SocialFunds.com — Even before the potentially historic COP21 agreement in Paris—and well before today’s Earth Day signing—the World […]

Communities Investing in Themselves: DPOs for Downtown Revitalization

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An Oregon real estate company and CEC client, Guerrilla Development, is focused on “creating inventive and experimental projects that use both hemispheres of the brain.” Coincidentally, earlier this month they have been busy engaging both “hemispheres” of investors: accredited investors (a.k.a. wealthy individuals) and non-accredited investors (a.k.a. the rest of us). They are using one […]

The Most Powerful Weapon for Changing the World: How Microfinance Institutions Can Increase Access to Education

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Education may be the “silver bullet” of development. It is, as Nelson Mandela described it, the “most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Increase access to quality education for children and adults, and the knock-on effects can be profound – on health, women’s and girls’ opportunities, technology, and the growth of […]

Investors Worth $3.6Tr Support Joint U.S. and Canadian Announcement on Limiting Methane Emissions from the Oil and Gas Industry

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Doubling of support comes as nations gather in New York City to sign the Paris Climate Agreement APRIL 21, 2016 // BOSTON, MA: As attention turns to the Paris Agreement signing ceremony on Friday, leading global  investors representing $3.6 trillion in assets under management released a statement of support today for U.S. and Canadian efforts […]

Will Bad Companies Fail? Want To Bet?

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Peabody Energy declared bankruptcy last week. Some were surprised; others not so much. One such investor is Dale Wannen, founder of socially-responsible hedge fund Sustainvest Asset Management, who has been shorting Peabody stock for months. Activists cheered when Peabody Energy, the world’s largest coal company, declared bankruptcy last week.  These activists have been lobbying endowments […]

S&P Dow Jones Indices and RobecoSAM the First to Launch Indices

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  LONDON, NEW YORK, ZURICH, APRIL 19, 2016 /3BL Media/- S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI), one of the world’s largest providers of financial market indices, and RobecoSAM, the investment specialist focused exclusively on Sustainability Investing, today announced the launch of the S&P ESG Index Series, which is designed to measure the performance of companies in […]

Global Investor Groups Urge World Leaders to Sign and Accede to the Paris Climate Agreement Rapidly

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  LONDON/SYDNEY/BOSTON, April 18, 2016 /3BL Media/ –The Paris Agreement enters into force once 55 countries representing 55% of global emissions have deposited their instruments of accession with the UN. Investors support an early entry into force of the agreement, possibly as early as next year. Speaking in London Stephanie Pfeifer, CEO of the Institutional Investors […]