Sustainable & Responsible Investing News

Rising demand for sustainable investing advice has resulted in new, specialized digital platforms that match values with analytic data. Three firms—OpenInvest, Earthfolio, and Grow Invest—offer easy entry into socially responsible investing with minimum amounts ranging from $1 to $25,000, according to Investment News. Investment that includes ESG factors in decision making is a growing market: a […]

More than 530 companies and 100 investors – from iconic Fortune 500 firms to small family-owned businesses – are calling on the Trump administration and the new Congress to support policies to accelerate a low-carbon future that will help curb climate change. “We want the U.S. economy to be energy efficient and powered by low-carbon […]

The vast majority of climate scientists (97 percent) believe climate change is real, but what about your mutual fund company? We examined how the nation’s largest mutual fund companies voted on climate-related shareholder resolutions in 2015 and 2016. The results are revealing. While the great majority of mutual fund companies voted in favor of many climate-related […]

January 07, 2017 Many Large Mutual Funds Continue Failure to Address Climate Change    by Robert Kropp Ceres updates its annual report on voting climate-related resolutions by mutual funds, noting that several PRI signatories failed to support a single resolution in 2016. SocialFunds.com — When a financial institution chooses to become a signatory to the […]

January 02, 2017 US Chamber Targeted Senate in 2016 Dark Money Spending    by Robert Kropp Public Citizen reports that only the National Rifle Association spent more than the Chamber of Commerce’s $30 million during the 2016 federal election. SocialFunds.com — A few years ago, I applied for an investigative journalism fellowship with the Edmond […]

ESG issues and fiduciary duties are not mutually exclusive.   We spoke to Michael Judin about the nature of fiduciary duties in the 21st century. What became clear is that ESG issues and fiduciary duties are not mutually exclusive. Robert: In their published report Fiduciary Duty in the 21st Century, the UN Principles of Responsible Investment (UNPRI), United […]

You may not know it from the headlines, but Washington is not the only energy game that matters these days. Companies that buy massive amounts of energy and states that set the policies that shape the energy mix of their economies – whether with clean energy or climate-warming fossil fuels – also play a major […]

A new capital markets solution is opening up in the battle against climate change—and business is leading the charge. Climate Risk Disclosure Under the leadership of former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a global industry initiative just released its much-anticipated guidelines for voluntary climate risk disclosure by companies and investors in financial filings. The guidelines, […]

December 17, 2016 Companies Challenged to Adopt Science-Based Climate Goals    by Robert Kropp Over 100 publicly traded companies have reported to CDP that they will adopt science-based emissions reduction plans, and letters from members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility intend to hold them to their promises. SocialFunds.com — It’s still too early […]

December 16, 2016 Investors Target Chevron for Doing Business in Burma    by Robert Kropp A shareowner resolution co-filed by Azzad Asset Management requests that Chevron cease doing business with the government of Burma until state-sanctioned violence against the Rohingya minority is ended. SocialFunds.com — In 2012, the Obama administration dialed back economic sanctions against […]

The Silicon Valley giant networking company Cisco was again challenged to demonstrate its commitment to transparency and fair employment in Cisco’s operations in Israel/Palestine at the Annual Shareholder Meeting on Monday, December 12, 2016. The Holy Land Principles, Inc. moved its Resolution/Proposal at the meeting in San Jose. The Holy Land Principles — an 8-point […]

NASDAQ has announced some of the best socially responsible investing stocks of 2016, according to the Motley Fool financial advisory. The criteria was simple: companies that outperformed the market while committing to CSR values. Among the top picks are Microsoft (YTD return: 10.6%), Johnson Controls (38.8%), Facebook (12.7%), and UnitedHealthGroup (35.5%). Not surprisingly, these companies show […]

“Originally established by President Richard Nixon in 1970, the EPA has a long and distinguished track record of reducing pollution, saving lives and providing industry the clarity it needs to thrive and innovate for the benefit of the country and the economy. Under the Clean Air Act, the EPA  — in both Democratic and Republican […]

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 […]

In response to the Environmental Protection Agency’s announcement that it would stay the course on 2012 greenhouse gas  (GHG) standards for automobiles and light duty trucks, major investors released statements supporting the decision: Ken Locklin, director of Impax Asset Management and Stu Dalheim, vice president of Calvert Investments are members of the Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR), a project of Ceres that […]

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 […]

In a move designed to ensure oil and gas majors do far more to address the climate change challenge, global investors from Europe, North America, Asia and Australasia have today published an updated second edition of their guide setting out the challenges facing the sector and investor expectations for how oil and gas companies must […]

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 […]

More than 365 businesses and investors, from more than a dozen Fortune 500 firms to small, family-owned businesses across more than 35 states, sent a strong message today to President Barack Obama, President-elect Donald Trump, and other elected U.S. and global leaders, reaffirming their support for the historic Paris Climate Agreement and the need to […]

  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 stunning U.S. election results are in, but we should refrain from thinking they will completely thwart climate action and the clean energy economy in the U.S. and around the world. Today’s reality is that the transition to the low-carbon economy is irreversible, inevitable and fully underway. There’s no turning back. More investors and businesses […]

– 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 […]

On the cusp of official “entry into force” of the groundbreaking Paris Agreement on climate change, it’s a great time to take a look at how the United States is positioned to drive the Agreement’s objectives forward. With a recently proposed Integrated Resource Plan from Dominion Resources in Virginia and an agreement struck by Xcel […]