Invest with Values

The Investor's Gateway to Positive Change

The Investor's Gateway to Positive Change

Go Local for the Holidays

By

It’s that time of year again where jingle bells are ringing, holiday decorations are lining the streets and children are making their lists and checking them twice. That’s right – it’s time to Go Local for the Holidays! ICBA is encouraging consumers to Go Local for the Holidays this year by shopping, dining and banking […]

Millennials and Venture Philanthropy

By

During the annual gathering of the European Venture Philanthropy Association on December 2 and 3 in Madrid, which saw record 520 registrations, one of the emerging themes that received some air time was Millennials and their approach to Venture Philanthropy. For the sake of clarity, Venture Philanthropy is an approach to strengthening social purpose organizations […]

What’s the Real Story? Reading Between the ESG Lines

By

  CHICAGO, December 7, 2015 /3BL Media/ – While the triple bottom line is now an established principle in sustainability circles, moving from the platitudes in CSR reports to the hard data investors seek to understand the ROI of these measures involves a far more rigorous approach to disclosure. In a recent presentation to SRI, JLL’s General […]

New York Pension Fund Tips $3.5 Billion Toward “Low Carbon Future”

By

It’s time to start tallying up the billions that major institutional investors are betting on the low-carbon economy. New York State’s $183.5 billion Common Retirement Fund will double its $1.5 billion sustainable investment program and commit $2 billion to a new index “that will exclude or reduce investments in companies that are large contributors to […]

Weekly Roundup 12-4-15: Did Zuckerberg and Chan Just Become the World’s Biggest Impact Investors?

By

Much like a cheery Facebook status update, millions of people immediately clicked the “like” button when they saw the announcement by Mark Zuckerberg that he and his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan, plan to give 99 percent of their Facebook fortune toward somewhat vague social, environmental and health causes. The announcement, which came in the form […]

The Worker-Owned Sharing Economy Aims to Disrupt the Disruptors

By

Tech-based startups are drawing on cloud computing, algorithms and mobile phones to create a new on-demand service economy, conjuring help with the press of a button.  There’s Uber for transportation, Handy for home cleaning, and Task Rabbit for everything from running errands to assembling furniture.  In the process, they are changing the nature of work […]

Trillium Engages Chipotle on Minimum Wage Reform

By

DECEMBER 4, 2015 // BOSTON, MA: Trillium Asset Management, on behalf of our client The Congregational Council of Plymouth Church UCC of Seattle, recently filed a shareholder proposal at Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) urging the Board of Directors to “adopt principles for minimum wage reform, to be published by October 2016”. As public protests […]

DBL Partners’ Nancy Pfund: Spotting the Next Tesla and Solar City

By

When Nancy Pfund‘s DBL Partners recently closed its $400 million third fund, ImpactAlpha wrote, “Want to spot the next Tesla? Watch DBL Partners.” In her podcast interview with ImpactAlpha, Pfund discusses new investments from Tanzania (Off Grid Electric) to San Francisco (Advanced Microgrid Solutions). Hint: Advanced Microgrid is the largest customer of Tesla’s new PowerPack […]

DealFlow Nov. 25-Dec. 4: ImpactAlpha’s Roundup of Investments, Raises and Exits

By

Celebrity Investors Back Pay-As-You-G0 Solar in Africa. The Kenyan pay-as-you-go solar energy venture M-Kopa has pulled in $19 million in new financing from celebrity investors. The investment was led by Generation Investment Management, an investment firm founded by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and his partner David Blood. Sir Richard Branson and the Case Foundation […]

Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to Finance Both For-Profit and Non-Profit Solutions

By

A new crop of billionaire activists are signaling that they’re going to use all the tools at their disposal to tackle challenges from climate change to income inequality. Those tools include not only grants and advocacy, but high-impact private investments in companies, funds and high-leverage mechanisms such as loan guarantees and first-loss protections for commercial investors. The […]

Measuring the Carbon Impact of Our Investments

By

DECEMBER 1, 2015: At Trillium Asset Management, we believe that fiduciary duty requires the integration of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors into the investment process as a way to identify the companies best positioned to deliver strong long-term performance. We integrate climate risk into our investment process because we believe that climate change is […]

The Day of Giving and the Commonwealth

By

One year ago John Bloom published this blog piece on Giving Tuesday and the nature of gift. We think his words are as relevant as ever today. By John Bloom December 2, 2014—a Day of Giving. I cannot tell you how many e-mail requests I received yesterday. Each made the case for why I should […]

In Hawaii, a Utility Cooperative Leads The Way in Renewable Energy

By

As Hawaii considers the ramifications of a contentious $4.3 billion sale of its major electric utility to Florida-based power giant NextEra, Kaua’i Island Utility Cooperative (KIUC) stands out as an alternative model of utility ownership. KIUC is one of around 900 electric cooperatives serving some 42 million electric consumers in 47 states. Like all cooperatives, […]

A Better Path to Impact Careers for MBAs

By

Guest blog by Ryan Steinbach, Net Impact As I stood in front of my booth at the Net Impact Conference Expo, I watched eager MBA students stride between tables. These aren’t your typical MBA students. They’re not interested in climbing the corporate ladder or the highest-paying careers. These MBAs want to use their degrees to create a […]

The $1 Trillion Challenge: Can Clean Energy Investors Fulfill Global Climate Deal?

By

Bill Gates is raising the stakes at this week’s global climate conference in Paris, with an expected announcement of a multi-billion dollar fund for clean energy research and development. According to ClimateWire, Gates and other billionaires will make the pledge as part of an effort to secure a commitment from India to carbon-reduction goals. That is a […]

Equilibrium’s Dave Chen: Pension Funds Tipping Toward Sustainable Investments

By

The tipping point toward sustainability as a truly compelling investment thesis won’t come until pension funds and other institutional investors start to write checks of hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars. That day may already have come, says Dave Chen, CEO of Equilibrium Capital in Portland, Ore., which counts pension funds as investors […]

Climate Crisis! Energy Efficiency to the Rescue

By

PARIS, France, November 30, 2015 (Maximpact News) – “Mobilising energy efficiency is an urgent priority,” says Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA). “To transition to the sustainable energy system of the future, we need to decouple economic growth from greenhouse gas emissions. Energy efficiency is the most important “arrow in the […]

Wall Street And World’s Largest Asset Managers are Awake to Climate Change

By

(3BL Media/Justmeans) – Decarbonising the global economy is an ambitious plan. Now, corporate leaders understand the size of the challenge and the importance of meeting it. We are on the threshold of an economic revolution that will transform how we think about productive activity and growth. Wall Street is waking up to climate-conscious investing; financial […]

Diversity is strength

By

A recent event hosted by the BC chapter of Canadian Investor Relations Institute (CIRI) featured a panel of mining sector experts who addressed questions on how trends – such as mandated diversity, investor activism and increased regulatory oversight – are likely to impact corporate boards. The panel also touched upon best practices in director recruitment, […]

Filling in the Social Enterprise Map: India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Ghana

By

Social enterprise is flourishing throughout the Commonwealth. To document the entrepreneurs and investors who are fueling this growth, the British Council has commissioned a set of social enterprise landscape maps of India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Ghana The Council’s Global Social Enterprise Programme has tapped Ennovent and ANDE to map the size and scale of the social enterprise sector in India. […]

‘Tis The Season to ‘Shop Small and ‘Buy Local.’ What About Investing That Way?

By

In the next few days, a wave of shopping ‘holidays’ hits one after another—Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, all in preparation for, well, the holidays. But a more conscious consumerism seems to be emerging. Last month, outdoor sports retailer REI vowed to close all of its 143 stores on Black Friday, prompting other […]

WEBINAR: Is a Direct Public Offering Right for You? Jan 6, 2016, 1 p.m. PT

By

A Direct Public Offering (DPO) is a term that refers to a public offering of securities by a business or nonprofit to both accredited and non-accredited investors in one or more states. DPOs can involve several different legal compliance strategies, and can be structured as debt, equity, or revenue-sharing.  DPOs are available to many different […]

The Power of the Purse: The Five P’s for Shifting Finance to Help Women and Girls

By

Purchasing power. Portfolio power. Philanthropic power. Political power. and ‘preneur power. Geri Stengel, president of Ventureneer, a digital media and market research company, has a good piece on Forbes.com rounding up the many ways consumers, investors, philanthropists, citizens and, yes, entrepreneurs can both harness and help the growing power of women and girls. Finance can impact issues as […]

Here’s the Dirt on the International Year of Soils

By

The International Year of Soils is coming to a close. Though you wouldn’t know it from the Food and Agriculture Organization’s dirt-poor marketing campaign, there are rich possibilities for investing in soil health. “Let’s Talk About Soil,” a recent report from PYMWYMIC fund in the Netherlands shines a light on several opportunities to invest in soil health. Plant […]

Impact Investing in Emerging Economies Promises Competitive Advantage

By

(3BL Media/Justmeans) – The environmental footprint of global companies has an economic cost that affects their valuations and competitiveness. The risk of environmental damage increases when these companies have a substantial presence in emerging markets. Even institutional investors with significant exposure to emerging markets may have liabilities for unsustainable operations in the developing world. The […]

An Impact Investment Fund for (Dutch) Retail Investors

By

Triodos Investment Management, a EUR 2.5 billion AUM Impact Asset Manager launched its first retail product earlier this week. The Triodos Multi Impact Fund Currently is only available on the Dutch market via its mother company Triodos Bank, as well as by Rabobank. It will be available on Euronext Fund Service from 1 December 2015. This […]

Threshold Group Recruits Toniic’s Stephanie Cohn Rupp to Direct Impact Investments

By

Impact investing talent is in demand as family offices and wealth advisors build teams to respond to their clients’ demand for impactful investment opportunities. The latest hire:  Stephanie Cohn Rupp, who will become director of impact investing for Threshold Group, a $3 billion multi-family office with offices in Seattle, Philadelphia and Gig Harbor, Wash. Rupp is […]

Cornerstone’s Erika Karp: Corporate Sustainability = Corporate Excellence

By

Erika Karp is an accidental “sustainability” investor. As managing director and head of global sector research at UBS Investment Bank, she already was used to asking executives questions about supply chains, political risk and financial controls. Those kind of questions are at the core of ESG — for environmental, social and governance –investing. “It is […]

Bloomberg partner CDP launches their US Climate Change Report

By

  Wall Street is waking up to climate-conscious investing. Financial giants are acquiring investment boutiques and quickly building departments to address environmental opportunities and risks. The world’s largest asset managers are designing products that capture the full returns of the S&P500 and other indexes but with half of their greenhouse gas emissions, and adding green […]

Find ‘Hot Leaders’ in Barometer of African Investing for Impact

By

The Bertha Centre for Social Innovation an Entrepreneurship at the University of Cape Town has released the third edition of its African Investing for Impact Barometer, a compelling snapshot of strategies deployed in Kenya, South Africa, and (for the first time) Nigeria, to combine financial returns with positive impact on society and the environment. These […]

Want a more sustainable world? Let women lead the way.

By

Originally published on Ensia. Women are increasingly driving the global economy. According to a 2009 Harvard Business Review article, women controlled $20 trillion in consumer spending each year. Morgan Stanley reports that women control $11.2 trillion of the United States’ investable assets, too — assets held in one’s bank account, stocks, bonds and certificates of […]

World’s Business Leaders Buy In to Sustainability

By

By Sunny Lewis SAN FRANCISCO, California, November 18, 2015 (Maximpact News) – Best business practices, collaborative approaches to sustainable development and inspiring ways to build a better world were front and center as 1,000 business, government and civil society leaders gathered in San Francisco earlier this month for their annual Business for Social Responsibility Conference. […]

Responsible Investing Provides Careers for Women

By

Finding Real Opportunities to Succeed   I recently attended the PRI in Person conference on the Principles for Responsible Investment held in London last September and came away quite impressed. While I came away with plenty of new information to digest, and more than a bit overwhelmed, the reoccurring theme that stood out was not […]

Women and Investing

By

Green Money Journal’s November 2015 Issue   Investing With Her By Gloria Nelund, Chairman & CEO of TriLinc Global, LLC Fixing a Flaw in the Financial Sector by Geeta Aiyer, president & founder of Boston Common Asset Mgmt Why Investing in Women Pays Off By Leslie Samuelrich, President of Green Century Capital Management Responsible Investing Provides […]

Lowered Risks Means Higher Returns for Agriculture Investors in Frontier Markets

By

There is an old Portuguese saying that you cannot expect the sun to shine on the threshing floor while it rains in the turnip fields. Some would apply the saying to impact investing to argue investments can’t simultaneously deliver market-rate returns and measurable social impact. The harder investors pursue social goals in sectors where commercial […]

Millennials and Scaling Social Finance

By

“Generation Lost: Engaging Millennials with Retirement Saving” is a new study by BNY Mellon and Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge that surveyed 1,253 millennials between July and September this year. In this extract from the study, BNY Mellon’s John Buckley, Global Head of Corporate Social Responsibility, talks about bringing social finance to scale. […]

An MBA Program Aims to Train a New Generation of Co-op Leaders

By

Co-ops are on the rise. There are 30,000 cooperative businesses in the U.S., which generate over $500 billion in total revenue, pay out $25 billion in wages and benefits and employ nearly 1 million people. The International Cooperative Alliance has declared this the Decade of the Cooperative and has invited the world to make co-ops […]

At the Intersection of Gender and Climate Change: Investment Opportunities

By

Women’s rights and empowerment are receiving renewed global policy attention: The United Nations’ 20th anniversary of the World Conference of Women and the “Sustainable Development Goals” have enshrined the global goal of gender equality. Another global trend is also capturing the spotlight: More than 2,000 individuals and 400 organizations, representing more than $2.6 trillion in assets […]

Good Advice for Corporate Boards on Sustainability From Bob Eccles – Prominent Harvard Business School Voice

By

Professor Bob Eccles of Harvard Business School is out front and very vocal on key corporate sustainability issues (like the global Integrated Reporting movement and continued expansion of sustainable investing). In a Forbes commentary he offers advice for corporate leadership on “how to show corporate leadership [in sustainability], posing the question to boards and C-suite:  “What progress are […]

Reflections from a Waypoint in First Green Bank’s Regenerative Journey

By

  Over the course of the first six months of Capital Institute‘s Year in the Life of a Regenerative Bank project, we have talked to the stakeholders of First Green Bank about the critical challenges they face as the bank works to embed its regenerative-values-based mission into its day-to-day operations and to balance the profit motive against […]

Wells Fargo Invests $1,000,000 in Metropolitan Consortium of Community Developers

By

Investment will provide small business loans for emerging entrepreneurs   MINNEAPOLIS, Nov. 16, 2015 /3BL Media/ – Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) today announced it has provided a $1,000,000 Equity Equivalent Investment (EQ2) to Metropolitan Consortium of Community Developers (MCCD), a 501(c)3 organization that provides small business loans and technical assistance to emerging entrepreneurs who […]