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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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?