“Everyone has to make up their mind if money is money or money isn’t money and sooner or later they always do decide that money is money.” —Gertrude Stein My Legal Tender project was inspired in part by the Great Recession. Each day, I listened to NPR and almost never heard the female pronoun. All […]
Introduction to MFIs Part II: Microfinance Networks
This blog is the second in a series we are doing on microfinance. Before you read this, I suggest you see Part I Introduction to Microfinance Institutions (MFIs). Here in Part II, I make an introduction to microfinance networks. What’s the difference between microfinance networks and microfinance institutions? Keep reading for an explanation. There are […]
Trillium’s Statement on Signing of “Religious Liberty” Executive Order
May 4, 2017 // Boston, MA – Today, the Trump Administration issued an executive order on so-called religious liberty titled “Promoting Free Speech and Religious Liberty”. The executive order suggests that the Administration may be considering allowing individuals and organizations greater freedom to discriminate against the LGBT community, resulting in economic consequences. In […]
Announcing Capital Aggregration
Today we announced Capital Aggregation, our service to more actively aggregate and facilitate capital to meet the evolving needs of the communities we serve. Currently, growth-stage organizations seeking larger capital rounds face a complex, time-consuming process. At the same time, institutional and accredited investors are increasingly challenged to find impact investments that meet the needs […]
Conversations With Our WIN-WIN Borrowers
Najada Kumbuli looks at ‘Kazi na Zola’, the solar energy kits that are being distributed in Tanzania through the support of Calvert Foundation borrower Off Grid Electric International Women’s Day in March of this year marked the fifth year of our Women Investing in Women initiative (WIN-WIN). It was a celebration that was particularly important […]
Introduction to Microfinance Institutions (MFIs)
by Songbae Lee, Sr. Investments Officer on March 14, 2017 I joined the Calvert Foundation investments team in 2012 to manage our microfinance portfolio. Given how long it took me to sort out all the different players, I thought I’d try to make it easier for other microfinance newcomers by writing a series of blogs on the […]
Information for PepsiCo Shareholders Regarding Trillium’s 2017 Shareholder Proposal
April 26, 2017 // Boston, MA – Trillium Asset Management and The Sustainability Group of Loring, Wolcott & Coolidge, have sent a letter to shareholders of PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE: PEP) urging them to vote in favor of our shareholder proposal regarding Pesticide Pollution. The proposal appears as item #5 on the company’s 2017 proxy card. […]
Trillium, Green Century, & 350.org Launch New Investor Guide to Fossil Fuel Free Investing
April 19, 2017 // Boston, MA – Today, Trillium Asset Management, Green Century Capital Management, and 350.org announced the release of a new guide for investors on fossil fuel free investing titled Make a Clean Break: Your Guide to Fossil Fuel Free Investing. The first version of the guide was launched in 2013 and updated […]
Impact Investing: The Core of Jewish Philanthropic Responsibility
Editor’s note: Spring is a season of significance for the three major monotheistic religions of the world: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In a three-part series of articles, members of Calvert Foundation’s Jubilee Assembly explore how impact investing embodies elements of their faith traditions. Rabbi Yishmael (second century CE) said, One who wishes to acquire wisdom […]
Trillium & NRDC Launch Paper on Reducing Corporate Food Waste
April 18, 2017// Boston, MA – This week, Trillium Asset Management and The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) released a new paper “Assessing Corporate Performance on Food Waste Reduction: A Strategic Guide for Investors.” The paper provides investors with key insights about assessing the risks and opportunities associated with food waste and why it should be […]
RSF Quarterly: Power of Women’s Capital
In this spring RSF Quarterly, we lend our focus to understanding the role that leaders in social finance and at social enterprises play in empowering women and girls. We start this issue by interviewing Amalia Greenberg-Delgado, Global Programs Director for Asylum Access, an RSF grant recipient, who enlightens us on the plight that refugee women […]
Calvert Foundation’s Investment Platform
We’ve moved Vested.org back to our homesite, invest.calvertfoundation.org. We encourage you to sign in, look around, and see for yourself. This change comes as a response to ongoing feedback from our investors and a desire to make the investment process simpler, quicker, and accessible all in one place. You’ll see that while the address might […]
Trillium Webinar Now Available: Large Cap Core Strategy Update
Trillium Asset Management’s March 7, 2017 webinar titled, “Trillium’s Large Cap Core Strategy: Navigating a Changing Economic Landscape with ESG Integration and Impact” is now available for download here. Speakers: Stephanie R. Leighton, CFA, Partner, Portfolio Manager Cheryl I. Smith, Ph.D., CFA, Partner, Portfolio Manager Susan Baker, Vice President of Shareholder Advocacy Paul A. Hilton, […]
Trillium Successfully Withdraws Greenhouse Gas Shareholder Proposal at Tractor Supply Company
March 20, 2017 // Boston, MA – Trillium Asset Management is pleased to announce that we have successfully withdrawn our 2017 shareholder proposal filed at Tractor Supply Company (NASDAQ: TSCO). The proposal asked the company to “…adopt quantitative, time-bound, company-wide, science-based goals for reducing total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from products and operations.” Trillium withdrew the […]
RSF Social Finance Launches Integrated Capital Fellowship for Financial Activists
New program teaches powerful strategies to leverage diverse capital as a tool for long-term change San Francisco, March 13, 2017—In its latest initiative to revolutionize investing and giving, RSF Social Finance today opens applications for the Integrated Capital Fellowship. This intensive program will give financial practitioners the tools and strategies they need to help values-driven […]
Do women invest differently?
On the five-year anniversary of WIN-WIN, we use our investor survey findings to explore whether women invest differently than men. This year, our CEO Jenn Pryce and I are celebrating International Women’s Day (IWD) in Nairobi, Kenya. We are on a ten-day trip visiting our borrowers in the field, and look forward to sharing more […]
Trillium Successfully Withdraws Shareholder Proposals at Chipotle
March 9, 2017 // Boston, MA – Trillium Asset Management is pleased to announce that it has successfully withdrawn two shareholder proposals, filed on behalf of our clients, at Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG); one on sustainability reporting and one on minimum wage reform. Trillium has withdrawn its shareholder proposal on sustainability reporting, co-filed alongside […]
Advisor Perspective: Opening My Eyes To Impact Investing
Katherine St. Onge, Senior Officer, Investor Relations, talks with advisors during an impact investing tour in Denver, CO. Before my time here at Calvert Foundation, I spent most of my career as a financial advisor with some of the big-name financial planning firms and traditional wirehouses. I remember during my first year as an advisor […]
Happy Birthday, Ours To Own Baltimore
by Beth Bafford, Investments Director, and Rodney Foxworth, Invested Impact on February 21, 2017 This month we celebrate the one-year anniversary of Ours To Own in Baltimore. Ours To Own is an investment initiative created to engage individual investors in the creation of local economic and community value in the Charm City with the belief that small […]
Sustainable Investors and Businesses Urge Congress to Support the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
February 8, 2017 // Boston, MA – On Monday, Trillium Asset Management and more than 100 sustainable investors and businesses signed a letter urging the Administration and Congress to continue support for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Jointly organized by the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility and the American Sustainable Business Council, the letter […]
A “Farmer First” Approach to Land Access
Think “local food,” and your mind’s eye produces various images of farmers in vast fields harvesting strawberries as the sun rises. Or you visualize a weekend farmers market offering colorful arrays of fruits and vegetables. These images strike at the idea of a food movement that has grown more diversified and equitable. But barriers persist, […]
Trillium Webinar Now Available: A Post-Inauguration Update
Trillium Asset Management’s February 1, 2017 webinar, “Post-Inauguration Update: Economic Directions, Investor Rights, and Advocacy Priorities Under the New Administration” is now available for download. Please find a link to the full recording and accompanying slides here. Speakers: Cheryl Smith, Ph.D., CFA, Partner, Portfolio Manager Jonas Kron, Esq., Senior Vice President, Director of Shareholder Advocacy […]
Trillium Develops New Product Specific Impact Reports
New reports seek to create dialogue around leveraging investments for impact February 1, 2017 // Boston, MA – This week Trillium Asset Management publicly released for the first time proprietary impact reports measuring a range of ESG metrics on our key investment products. These reports are based on a prior beta version that Trillium introduced […]
Information for Whole Foods Market Shareholders Regarding Trillium’s 2016 Shareholder Proposal
January 30, 2017 // Boston, MA – Trillium Asset Management has sent a letter to shareholders of Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ: WFM) calling for support of our Food Waste Reporting shareholder proposal on the company’s 2017 proxy. The letter provides an overview of the importance of the issue as well as the four main reasons why we believe […]
Harvesting Capital for Maine’s Food Economy
By John Meyers With eight thousand plus farms in Maine, New England’s northernmost state is also its most agricultural. Since 2007, agricultural sales in the Pine Tree State have grown an astonishing 24 percent. But before you celebrate, consider this: financing small farms and food businesses in Maine remains restrictive. Commercial financial institutions continue to […]
2017 Rate Increase Announcement
On January 1, 2017, RSF Social Finance increased its “RSF Prime” base interest rate for borrowers to 5.00%. Other participants in the Social Investment Fund (SIF) are affected as follows: the investor rate is now 0.75%, up from 0.50%, and the RSF revenue share will remain at 4.25%. The decision to raise rates is a […]
Defend the Sacred: RSF Winter 2017 Newsletter
In this latest RSF Quarterly, we listen deeply to members of our community as they recount stories of struggle and newfound strength. This issue’s Clients in Conversation is international and features Native people’s voices from as far north as Alaska, down to the South African region of Pondoland. Despite being halfway across the world from one […]
Investors Call for Continued Support of Paris Climate Agreement
January 11, 2017 // Boston, MA – In November 2016, Trillium Asset Management joined over 300 investors and companies as signatories of the “Business Backs Low-Carbon USA” letter urging the incoming administration and elected leaders to support the Paris Climate Agreement and public policy helping to advance a low-carbon economy. Yesterday, ahead of the incoming […]
Reflections on Ten Amazing Years
Dear Friends, For the last ten years, I have had the honor of serving as RSF’s president and CEO. On the eve of my departure, I reflect on what we have accomplished as a community of staff, board, clients, partners—and what makes RSF so special and unique. I love RSF. It’s a rare bird; one that you […]
Bloomberg Covers Trillium’s Shareholder Proposals on Minimum Wage Reform
December 30, 2016 // Boston, MA: Bloomberg recently published a story on four shareholder proposals filed by Trillium Asset Management on minimum wage reform in its Sustainable Finance newsletter. This Fall, Trillium re-filed shareholder proposals at Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. and TJX Companies alongside Zevin Asset Management. The shareholder proposals asked each company to adopt […]
Post-Election Landscape: The Value of Shareholder Advocacy to Inclusivity, Climate Change, and Economic Equality
December 8, 2016// Boston, MA: Given the many potential and real challenges to our work from the incoming administration, we believe it is important for investors to provide clear policy direction that supports sustainable economic growth. Three critically important areas that Trillium will be working on include: Inclusiveness, climate change, and economic equality. Much of […]
Standing in Solidarity: CEO Matt Patsky Visits Standing Rock
December 5, 2016 // Boston MA: For 34 years, Trillium has advocated for the protection of Indigenous Peoples’ rights. We have worked with Native American leaders to bring their concerns to corporate decision-makers, pressing major corporations to take action on policies and practices that demonstrate a pattern of exploitative behavior towards Indigenous communities. During late […]
Leveraging Microfinance for Agricultural Lending
Calvert Foundation has approved a new $4 million loan to MCE Social Capital (MCE). This loan is a great example of leveraging our long history of lending to the microfinance sector to explore new areas of portfolio growth in a risk-mitigated approach, in this case, agricultural lending. MCE is a nonprofit impact investing firm based […]
US SIF FOUNDATION PUBLISHES 2016 BIENNIAL REPORT ON U.S. SUSTAINABLE, RESPONSIBLE AND IMPACT INVESTING TRENDS
Boston, MA // November 14, 2016: Trillium Asset Management sponsored the US SIF Foundation’s biennial Report on US Sustainable, Responsible and Impact Investing Trends 2016 which was released today. The report found that sustainable, responsible and impact investing assets now account for $8.72 trillion, or one in five dollars invested under professional management in the U.S. […]
The Aftermath of the 2016 Presidential Election
We believe that after the dust has settled, more people will understand that the work of sustainable investing is vitally important. More people will bring their commitment, their energy, and their assets to join this movement. In many important ways, the 2016 election cycle has echoed the extended legacy of the financial crisis and subsequent […]
RSF’s Work: An Inside Look at Our Integrated Capital Approach
[embedded content] To build a thriving social enterprise sector, we need to rethink the purpose of capital and take a holistic approach to funding social entrepreneurs. This is a model RSF calls integrated capital: the coordinated use of different forms of financial capital and non-financial resources to support an enterprise that’s working to solve complex […]
Trillium Co-Sponsoring Upcoming BSAS Sustainable Investing Seminar
Boston Security Analysts Society’s 4th Annual Sustainable Investing Seminar will be held on Thursday, November 17th. Cheryl Smith, CFA, Partner and Portfolio Manager at Trillium will be moderating a panel titled, “A Fresh Perspective on Engagement” with Pat Zerega, Senior Director of Shareholder Advocacy at Mercy Investments and Gergoge Serafeim, Jakursi Family Associate Professor at Harvard […]
The Social and Environmental Impact of Our Loans
Every year here at Calvert Foundation we release our Impact Report. The report highlights both the social and environmental impact of our loans made in the past fiscal year, showing our current investors the positive change their dollars have made, and showing prospective investors the incredible potential of their dollars in the years to come. […]
A Time to Plant: Will You Join Us?
In July, Calvert Foundation launched the Jubilee Assembly, our community of faith-based investors, and introduced me, Jeffrey Dekro, as the new Director of Faith-based Investing. I couldn’t be more honored to step into this role. In my life’s work growing socially responsible, community investment and organizing faith-based investors, Calvert Foundation stands out as one of […]
Trillium Files LGBT Proxy Voting Shareholder Proposal with BlackRock
On October 13, 2016, Trillium Asset Management filed a shareholder resolution with BlackRock asking the company to issue a report discussing its proxy voting on workplace LGBT non-discrimination policy shareholders resolutions. Below is a press release regarding the filing. PRESS RELEASE October 18, 2016 // Boston, MA – Based on an analysis of mutual fund voting, it has […]
RSF Prime: Creating Community Through Setting Interest Rates
Does your bank invite you to discuss and provide feedback on interest rates? Learn why RSF does so with its community every quarter. In 2009, RSF began hosting community pricing gatherings for representatives of the RSF Social Investment Fund – investors, borrowers, and RSF staff. We’ve now hosted nearly 30 gatherings and have made many discoveries along […]
A Change for the Better: RSF Fall 2016 Quarterly
In this latest RSF Quarterly, we introduce RSF Social Finance’s new branding—a change to our look and language that provides us with greater capacity to celebrate our clients and to better tell the story of our integrated capital approach. One story in this newsletter that excellently conveys this evolving approach profiles San Francisco-based Veritable Vegetable, […]
Trillium Releases New White Paper on Investing for LGBT Equality
PRESS RELEASE Trillium Asset Management Releases New White Paper on Investing for LGBT Equality Investing in Equality: Integrating LGBT Issues into Total Portfolio Activation BOSTON, MA // September 29, 2016 – A group of investors has released a new white paper, Investing in Equality: Integrating LGBT Issues into Total Portfolio Activation. The paper was prepared by […]
Investors Worth $2.1 Trillion Call for Full Repeal of North Carolina’s House Bill 2
NYC Comptroller, Trillium Asset Management, and Croatan Institute organize investors calling for a full repeal of the state’s anti-LGBT law SEPTEMBER 26, 2016 // RALEIGH, NC: In a statement organized by Trillium Asset Management, Croatan Institute and the New York City Comptroller, investors representing $2.1 Trillion in collective assets under management are calling for a […]
Biking for Climate Change: Trillium Takes Part in 390-mile Ceres Ride
Boston, MA // September 16, 2016 – On Monday, Vice President of Shareholder Advocacy, Brianna Murphy, completed a 5-day, 390-mile ride from Bar Harbor, ME to Boston, MA as part of this year’s 2016 Northeast Climate Ride. Riding as a member of “Team Ceres”, Brianna and her fellow team members raised over $12k to fund […]
Trillium Writes Case Study in PRI’s Latest Guide to ESG Integration for Equity Investing
Boston, MA // September 9, 2016 — Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) launched “A Practical Guide to ESG Integration for Equity Investing”, a report helping asset owners and investment managers apply ESG integration techniques to their investment strategies. The publication includes a case study authored by Trillium Research Analyst Jeremy Cote, which analyzes our approach to […]
Redefining Return
By Kelley Buhles In the foundation world of charitable fund management, there are two avenues for deployment of funds: a) a charitable gift or loan or b) a “prudent” investment, generally considered to be a “market rate” investment. Recent guidance from the IRS indicates that an investment that is aligned with the mission of the […]
Trillium, Ceres, and Investors Welcome California’s Senate Bill 32
Boston, MA// August 26, 2016: This week, California’s state assembly passed an important climate bill extending greenhouse gas emission (GHG) targets, a critical step towards global effort to adopt strong climate policy. Under the new law, Senate Bill 32, legislation requires reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 40% below 1990 levels by 2030, extending the current […]
5 things to know about our impact investors
Biannually we ask our investors for their thoughts on our customer service and how how we’re doing on our mission overall. This year we expanded the scope of the survey to also capture more general information about our investors’ personal finances and investments. More than 530 people participated, and their responses yielded findings that are […]
New Book: Inhabiting Interdependence
RSF Social Finance’s Vice President of Organizational Culture, John Bloom, published a new book this week titled Inhabiting Interdependence: Being in the Next Economy. In this collection of insightful essays, John explores approaches to transforming conventional habits of mind and practice that have led to an imbalance in our economic life. Acknowledging that money permeates […]