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Planetsave has published a blog by Carolyn Fortune that distinguishes SRI (socially responsible investment) from ESG-driven (environment, social, governance) investment, a field of activity that overlaps but is quite distinct from SRI. Fortune describes ESG investment as a strategy that incorporates ESG criteria into investment analysis. It is especially suited to shareholders looking for channels to […]

Still confused about SRI (socially responsible investment) and ESG (environmental, social, and governance) investment? Planetsave has published a blog by Carolyn Fortune that explains all concisely. SRI is an exclusionary strategy that steers clear of products and services that are not consistent with a green/progressive agenda. SRIs focus on “investments that bring into balance the […]

Two-thirds of asset managers polled pursue sustainable investing, with 64% believing its adoption will continue to grow   NEW YORK, November 17, 2016 /3BL Media/ – Two-thirds of asset management professionals surveyed (65%) say that they are using sustainable investing strategies to achieve competitive market-rate financial return alongside positive social and/or environmental impact.  Sixty-four percent […]

  Donald Trump’s election has sent the global climate community into a tailspin. It seems every climate change action supporter is making lists of the awful things he’s planning to do, so I’ll turn to the very succinct one I received in a Sunday morning email from Michael Brune, Executive Director of the Sierra Club: […]

The interest in sustainable investing continues to rise in the mainstream investment community.  Numerous data & analytics providers, ratings & rankings organizations, and other influentials are busily shaping new approaches in and for the mainstream investment community. Corporate “ESG” factors are an important addition to the ubiquitous Bloomberg terminals, as example (i.e. the ESG Dashboard).  Mainstream asset managers — notably BlackRock, […]

The field of what was once known as ‘ethical investing’ may be poised for its next terminology shift, reports the Financial Times. Ethical investing began as a moral values filter to exclude “sin” stocks such as tobacco and alcohol. Over time, the activity evolved into SRI—socially responsible investing—to indicate a more positive, pro-active approach that […]

– The Why and How of Applying ESG to Corporate Valuations   NEW YORK, November 3, 2016 /3BL Media/ –  In response to the growing demand for sustainable investing education from asset owners, asset managers, financial analysts and other financial professionals we are pleased to announce a one-day certificate program entitled, “Introduction to Corporate Environmental, Social […]

Paul Tudor Jones, founder of Tudor Investment, an $11 billion asset management and investment firm, is moving into the socially responsible investment field. The vehicle is JUST Capital, a nonprofit organization that is developing a measure called America’s Most Just Index. That’s a rating that ranks Russell 1000 Index companies on how they treat their […]

  The Green Transition Scoreboard® (GTS) highlights the fact that private investments are necessary to complement government funds for transitioning to low-carbon economies as pledged by 195 countries and their INDCs at COP21 and the UN’s SDGs in 2015. The first Green Transition Scoreboard was released during the Copenhagen Climate Summit in Copenhagen in 2009, […]

In April 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a request for public comment regarding the modernization of certain business and financial disclosure requirements under Regulation S-K as part of its ongoing “Disclosure Effectiveness Initiative.” Under Regulation S-K, reporting companies must disclose non-financial information that is material to investors. The SEC requested comment on several issues […]

by Lara Birkes, HPE’s Chief Sustainability Officer and Vice President, Living Progress As world leaders gather in New York City next week for the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly, I am reminded what a difference a year makes. Last year, at their 70th session, the UNGA released a bold set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) […]

By Jeff Terry The world is ever changing, and so too is the landscape of corporate social responsibility. The partnership of public, private and governmental entities to focus on a specific issue area is nothing new, but over the past few years the approach partners have taken to face an issue has shifted. Now more […]

S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI), one of the world’s leading index providers, and RobecoSAM, the investment specialist focused exclusively on Sustainability Investing (SI), today announced the results of the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) review SOURCE: RobecoSAM DESCRIPTION: September 8, 2016 /3BL Media/ – The three largest additions and deletions (by free-float market capitalization) […]

Here’s a problem in search of a solution. A recent survey by TIAA Global Asset Management reports growing interest by investors in socially responsible investing. Almost one-third of the investors polled in the survey have made responsible investments. But here’s the twist: only five percent of financial advisors polled said that their clients were investing […]

There’s new evidence that interest in environmental, social, governance/socially responsible investing strategies continues to grow. “The {ESG/SRI] industry began to see more mainstream acceptance,” according to Benefits Pro, evaluating a report by research firm Cerulli Associates, “U.S. Products and Strategies 2016: Identifying Opportunities for Active Management.” The same report notes that the market share for […]

Investing in the future means more than making money for retirement. Among everyone from millennials – who make up 34% of the workforce and recently became the largest age group employed in the US – to baby boomers, there’s a growing trend of “impact investing”. Practitioners of this method seek to generate not just long-term financial returns […]

By Carol Pierson Holding – CSRHub The fossil fuel divestiture campaign GoFossilFree equates the end of oil, gas and coal to the great moral crusades of our time — Apartheid and tobacco — while hoping to reduce demand for fossil fuel stocks and thereby threaten their stock prices. It’s a tall order. As long as GoFossilFree was focused […]

Green bonds—financial instruments with a socially responsible investment aspect baked into their DNA—are red-hot. So far this year, global green bond issuance totals $28.7 seven billion, up 78% from the $12.1 billion issued last year in the same time period, reports Business Insider. Along with this explosive growth in sustainable finance dollars comes a shift […]

An explosive growth in socially responsible investment is driving requests from investors, financial advisors, and asset managers for more and better environmental, social and governance data for use in their investment decision-making. ESG data in the asset management industry has grown by 45% over the last four years, affecting $59 trillion of assets under management. […]

CEOs need to ramp up communications about environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues even when Wall Street is more concerned with short-term financial performance like earnings per share (EPS), according to a new report from the Conference Board. While acknowledging that reporting about sustainability is at an all-time high, the failure of the investment community to engage can […]

  Financial advisors who provide options for socially responsible investing are increasingly the choice of clients, according to a survey by TIAA Global Asset Management. The poll of 1,100 US investors found that 74 percent would prefer to work with a financial advisor who can provide both good returns and social impact. Yet there’s a […]

Animal welfare is an increasingly important CSR issue and it’s just moved even more to the center of the corporate conversation on the topic. 18 institutional investors, who represent £1.5 trillion in assets under management, have become the founding signatories to the first investor statement on farm animal welfare. The signatories of the Business Benchmark […]

  When former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg announced in March that he would not be running for U.S. president, at least one person may have been quietly cheering: Bank of England governor Mark Carney. In his role as chair of the Financial Stability Board, Carney had tapped the billionaire businessman in December to head up […]

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 […]

  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 […]

  Banking came into its own in the first industrial revolution. Banks were the intermediaries between the people with money and the ideas and opportunities of the community they served. Now, says UBS’s Global Head of UBS and Society, Caroline Anstey, it is time to remember this. “Towards the end of the Twentieth Century, finance […]

  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 […]

  An exchange-traded fund is a security that tracks an index, a commodity, bonds, or a basket of assets, like an index fund. ETFs trade like common stock on a stock exchange, which means they show price changes throughout a day’s trading as shares are bought and sold. With their higher daily liquidity and lower […]

Corporate green bonds are a debt taken on by a company to finance environment-friendly projects. The green bond market is still in its infancy. According to Climate Bonds Initiative, the first corporate green bond was issued only in 2013. Since then, a handful of leading companies, such as Bank of America, Toyota and EDF, a […]

March 7, 2016 /3BL Media/ – On the heels of a historic global climate agreement in Paris, investors have filed a record number of shareholder resolutions this year with major U.S. energy companies asking them to disclose their strategies for competing in a global economy that is shifting towards clean energy and away from fossil […]

An action plan for ESG integration across the U.S. financial services sector has been released in a report by the Principles for Responsible Investment. The report is made up of legal opinions on integrating ESG issues into investment decisions under the Employee Retirement Security Act (ERISAS).  It follows the decision six months ago by the […]

NEW YORK, February 29, 2016 /3BL Media/ – Fifty CEOs from the world’s largest companies convened at CECP’s 11th annual Board of Boards to discuss the theme Competing for the Long Run and how leading companies are addressing societal challenges through business. A Forbes-named top three “power player” event for CEOs, the Board of Boards is a closed-door, […]

Following the 2008 global financial meltdown, financial experts have increasingly highlighted the need to incorporate sustainability, ethics and human rights into the financial system for long-term stability. The financial system must support sustainable livelihoods, inclusive societies and mitigate the impact on the environment. Looking into this critical need, the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB), […]

Sustainable investing has traditionally been perceived as a niche asset class catering only to a select group of wealthy individuals and institutions that want to avoid controversial industries. However, in the last one year, actions of some of the mainstream financial companies are setting a new trend. Leading financial firms such as BlackRock and Goldman […]

Provides Innovative Approaches to Implement Climate Change and Fossil Fuel Aware Investing   NEW YORK, February 12, 2016 /3BL Media/ – Investors who are interested in proactively seeking opportunities to enhance environmental impact without sacrificing potential financial return now have access to a new framework to transform the dialogue around climate change and the fossil fuel debate […]