By Janet Brown What makes a fund sustainable? Many people think that sustainable means environmentally friendly, but sustainable investing actually covers three broad categories: environmental, social and governance (ESG). Environmental issues are typically the most widely understood, but social and governance policies are just as important. A socially responsible company seeks to treat its workers […]
Is Trump the Tipping Point for Ethical Investing?
By Joshua Levin You may have voted against U.S. President Donald Trump, protested his policies, and ranted to your friends. Yet most of us are financing him and his agenda. With any typical investment account, 401(k) or pension, Americans indirectly fund their opposition parties and directly finance polarizing activities such as weapons production, private prisons, and […]
Investors Put Over $8B Into Conservation: Can It Continue in the Trump Era?
By Kelley Hamrick On a mild, rainy day in Washington, D.C., America inaugurated its 45th president. The incoming administration represents a fundamental shift from the outgoing Obama administration. And the White House website was updated accordingly. Instead of a clean-energy future, WhiteHouse.gov now announces: “President Trump is committed to eliminating harmful and unnecessary policies such as the […]
Will Equity Crowdfunding Accelerate Impact Investing in 2017?
By Jamie Garuti This past May, a new world of possibilities opened up for social entrepreneurs around the country. The Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) approved Title III, the final part of the 2012 JOBS Act. The new regulation allows for equity crowdfunding, a mechanism that ordinary people can use to become stakeholders of startups. […]
How to Move Sustainable Investing Into the Spotlight
I am new to the world of sustainable investments. For the last 25 years, before joining the Climate Trust, my career was centered almost exclusively on timberland investing. The corollaries between sustainable and timberland investing may not be apparent at first, but U.S. timberland investing is based almost entirely on sustainable forestry. In fact, most […]
The Quiet Progress of Green Property Funds
At the nexus between property developers and today’s socially-conscious investors stands an increasingly persuasive investment choice. Called a green property fund or impact fund, it’s an influential way for investment managers in emerging markets to match developers with those who aspire to both profits and positive change. The concept is simple: Fundraise from third-party clients […]
Why is Nobody Talking About Financial Advisors?
By Tyler Jackson If we want environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors to permeate all layers of the financial system, we need to talk about financial advisors. As Jessica Matthews, head of mission-related investing at Cambridge Associates, said at SOCAP16, “We need to think of advisors as a gateway, rather than a gatekeeper to impact […]
Stranded Assets: Preventing the Next Era of Climate Change
By Joyce Coffee I first heard the term “stranded assets” at a Bloomberg event in New York City during Climate Week 2014. For me, the term conjured up images of homeowners and their dogs waiting atop roofs to be rescued during Hurricane Katrina. Yet that didn’t seem right for the context of the discussion, and […]
Turning Ethical Investing into a Wall Street Disruptor
OpenInvest, a new investing platform that beta-launched at SOCAP16, aims to transform investing by putting the power of ethical investing into each investor’s hand. Sustainable investing is no buzzword – it has been over a decade since the first sustainability-focused investment firms and options emerged. Even as evidence as grown that sustainable investing is actually […]
Missing the Target with Conservation Finance
By Sean Penrith “Are we doing enough?” This was the question Patrick Westerlund of the Wells Foundation asked a packed room in a session titled “Missing the Target” at the 2016 Mission Investors Exchange (MIE) conference in Baltimore. He added that with just the money represented in the room, we could change the world. Based […]
I’m Over Doing Good
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 […]
Sustainability Ratings: Coming to an Investment Near You
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 […]
Will Bad Companies Fail? Want To Bet?
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 […]
Why Policy Change is the Only Way to Open Impact Investing Floodgates
Bain Capital and Blackrock have created dedicated impact practices. High net-worth individuals and family offices are gathering to share deals, ideas and experiences. Foundations are sharing best practices. And yet, the amount of dollars invested in real projects and actual businesses is still a minuscule percentage of all invested capital. What’s holding us back?