Sustainable & Responsible Investing News

For all the potential benefits of impact investing, major questions are still to be resolved. A round-up of thoughts from industry insiders across Europe – plus a handful of solutions. Ever more funders are venturing into impact investing: globally, the number of impact investors rose from fewer than 50 pre-1997 to well over 200 in 2017, according […]

Part one of a two-part series on why index funds help prop up an obsolete economy, and where you should be investing instead. Originally published by Worth Magazine, authored by Garvin Jabusch If you’re fortunate enough to be able to save for the future by investing in stocks, you’re probably invested in an index fund. The […]

Have you caught any Canadian news lately? If so, you’d know the Montreal-based engineering firm, SNC-Lavalin, is at the centre of a major controversy in Canadian politics right now. We won’t rehash all the gory political details, but suffice it to say, the scandal hasn’t helped SNC’s investors. The stock has taken a nosedive as […]

Why Shifting Gender Balance in Wealth Brings Ripple Effects As women take impact investing by storm, Amy Brown, 3p’s finance reporter, shares how various shifts in the investing world have led to more women assuming leadership roles in finance, with more women entrepreneurs reaping the benefits. As we recognize Women’s History Month 2019, Brown shows us […]

UNITED NATIONS, N.Y., March 5, 2019 /3BL Media/ — The UN Global Compact and the Sustainable Stock Exchanges initiative together with partners today rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange in support of gender equality. To mark International Women’s Day on 8 March, more than 80 stock exchanges will participate in the […]

A 2018 survey by Morgan Stanley took the pulse of U.S. asset managers (with in-depth telephone interviews) to determine the level of adoption of sustainable investing approaches by asset managers in the United States. Results:  in the report “Sustainable Signals: Growth and Opportunity in Asset Management” a majority of managers said they now see sustainable […]

As awareness dawns of the increasing risks of climate change, business and government have developed new tools and mechanisms to promote pro-social and environmentally friendly investment. But one U.K. analyst is pointing out that such high standards could backfire by restricting capital to many developing nations that need it most. Charles Robertson is the London-based […]

NEW YORK, February 21, 2019 /3BL Media/ – A majority of U.S. asset managers are now practicing sustainable investing, viewing it as a strategic business imperative. In a new survey entitled Sustainable Signals: Growth and Opportunity in Asset Management, from the Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing and Bloomberg, 75% of respondents reported that their […]

Although 2018 was a tough year for stock markets around the world, it marked a turning point for responsible investment in Canada. According to the 2018 Canadian Responsible Investment Trends Report, more than $2 trillion in Canadian assets (just over half of all investments) now use one or more responsible investment strategies. Big investors like […]

NEW YORK, February 13, 2019 /3BL Media/ – To build on the growing body of global corporate social investment research, CECP: The CEO Force for Good announced the launch of a multinational inquiry into shared themes and trends in corporate social investments around the world. CECP’s Global Exchange seeks to unite country-based, mission-driven corporate social […]

His Holiness Pope Francis Faithful followers: 1.2 billion Catholics Fund management body: Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR), commonly known as the Vatican Bank Mandate: To serve the global mission of the Catholic Church through the administration of the entrusted assets and providing payment services to the Holy See and related entities. The celebration […]

  By Jessica Caron –  G&A Sustainability Report Analyst Intern A comparison of the SASB Meat, Poultry & Dairy Standard — which is designed for use by companies involved in the raising, slaughtering, processing and packaging of animal food product — to the GRI Standards must start with the observation that the GRI Standards are […]

Organized, and even disorganized, religion oversees large amounts of assets. From the centuries of wealth accumulated by the Roman Catholic Church, to the Church of Scientology’s operating as a lucrative business that pays its recruiters from new-member revenues, churches are rich. This leads inevitably to the question of whether, as investors, it is possible to […]

It is often the case that many us may not give our monthly energy utility company a second thought — unless there is an issue with the power going out or the bill is too high. However, for those of us working in the sustainability field, the Energy Utilities Industry is one of the most important […]

Workers who helped install Mongolia’s largest solar energy farm in the Sumber Soum area of the country’s Govisümber province with a few of the solar panels they put in place. The solar facility began generating power on January 28, 2019. (Photo courtesy Green Climate Fund) Posted for media use. By Sunny Lewis SONGDO, Incheon, South […]

The industry titan changed the way millions of people invest, but indexing has greater implications now than it did 50 years ago. Published in Worth Magazine By Garvin Jabusch John C. Bogle, a champion of stock investing for average people, passed away on January 16. I didn’t personally know Bogle, but I was fortunate to […]

By Emilie Ho – G&A Sustainability Report Analyst Intern During my analysis, I found that although many of the material disclosures that the SASB Standards suggested for disclosure by the Agriculture Products Industry are in line with the GRI’s Topic Disclosures, there are also a number of material topics that SASB advances for disclosure that […]

  With additional reporting by Toby A. A. Heaps Over nearly a decade and a half of writing a weekly column and several books under the Ecoholic banner, I ranked endless streams of products from worst to best in terms of planetary impact, from beer companies to banks, footwear to ethical funds. Many weeks, judging […]

Last year, Larry Fink’s annual letter to CEOs forged its way into public and corporate consciousness. In it, Fink, chief executive officer of BlackRock Inc., the world’s largest investment firm, made the bold declaration that “to prosper over time, every company must not only deliver financial performance, but also show how it makes a positive […]

With the recent publication of the much-anticipated “Report on US Sustainable, Responsible and Impact Investing Trends 2018” issued by US SIF showing that ESG has hit the capital markets’ mainstream, with $1-in-$4 in the US (by professional investment managers now incorporating ESG), and the recent petition seeking mandatory ESG reporting submitted to the Securities & […]

Impact Investing & ESG   The Rise Fund Spin-Off Marks Growth of Impact Investing U.S. private equity firm TPG and U2 star Bono’s announcement earlier this week that they have created a new organization for measuring the social and environmental returns of investments appears to be a signal of growing investor demand for tools to […]

In the last two decades, sustainability reporting has gone from an exercise for the largest companies to a necessity to attract investors and meet local and international regulation. But the main benefit of sustainability reporting remains that companies best understand their impacts and can improve their bottom line along with the world around them. The […]

In Q3 2018, we saw that the economy is functioning at a high level. It was a quarter of unusually rapid economic growth in the U.S., enough that the Fed took the word “accommodative” out of their September FOMC Statement, meaning they estimate that the economy is healthy enough to no longer require unusually cheap […]

 Global Sustain organised with great success in a full hall for 3rd consecutive year in cooperation and partnership with Forum for Responsible Investment (FNG), Investment Bank Berlin (IBB) and International Bankers Forum (IBF) the 3rd ESG Responsible Investments, Green Finance & Brands Forum 2018 (http://sustainabilityforum.de/) in Berlin on 26.9.2018 at the Conference Center of Investment Bank Berlin, with […]

The socially responsible investment industry is exploding. By any measure, the growth is exponential, and increasing rapidly. The reasons are straightforward: Sustainable investing is increasingly seen as a superior methodology to manage risk and drive returns. A few numbers tell the story. Socially responsible assets under management (AUM) are estimated at $8.7 trillion as of 2016—a […]

One of the gurus of ESG investing has recently launched a new service for financial advisors (FAs) who want to integrate Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors into their investment process.  He has created a site called “Sustainable Investing” and filled it with content about ESG investing.  Those who subscribe (there is a three month […]

Recently the ESG / SRI Investments is gaining momentum. The ESG / SRI market, in terms of assets under management, number of ESG relevant funds, number of Asset Owners and Asset Managers that integrate ESG factors into their investment strategies, as well as the number of UN PRI Members, grow at a stable pace the […]

A Boko Haram bombing, February 6, 2015, (Photo courtesy Diariocritico de Venezuela) Creative Commons license via Flickr By Sunny Lewis STOCKHOLM, Sweden, August 27, 2018 (Maximpact.com News) – More nature-based solutions are urgently needed to avoid a violent global water crisis, warn the hosts of World Water Week 2018, which opened Sunday in Stockholm, attracting government […]

Barclays’ first green finance conference, held at London’s Royal Geographical Society, brought together speakers from business, finance and government to explore how innovation and investment can tackle climate change. The conference was an example of what Rhian-Mari Thomas, Chair of Barclays’ Green Banking Council, calls “our convening power, that can bring together different parties to […]

By Lois Yurow Delaware companies that are focused on sustainability will soon have a new way to demonstrate their dedication. Effective October 1, any Delaware “entity”—a term that encompasses corporations, partnerships, limited liability companies, statutory trusts, and certain associations—may elect to apply for a so-called “certificate of adoption of transparency and sustainability standards.” The newly […]

Climate Displacement in Bangladesh: The Jamuna River has swollen from heavier than usual monsoon rainfall causing severe flooding on the islands. Women on Dakkin Patil Bariare are forced to wade across waterlogged land. August 2011 (Photo by Stuart Matthews) Creative Commons license via Flickr By Sunny Lewis WASHINGTON, DC, August 2, 2018 (Maximpact.com News) – The […]

The professional CPAs working inside a public company, or in the outside accounting firm working with a company may or may not yet be involved in assisting corporate managers in responding to a growing number of third-party surveys focused on the company’s ESG strategies, actions and achievements.  Responses to these periodic surveys and engagements by […]

Every week G&A Institute assembles the value-added content that our team gathers for you as we closely monitor trends and developments in corporate sustainability, corporate responsibility, corporate citizenship, sustainable investing, and related topics and issues.  Our Editor-in-Chief Ken Cynar leads the daily effort and you see the results of his work in each issue of Highlights […]

Creative approaches to advance the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are being jointly developed at the national level by multi-stakeholder partners. That was the key take away from SDG Country Plans: A Roadmap to Private Investment, an event organized on the sidelines of the High-level Political Forum by the United Nations Global Compact, the Principles […]