Category: December 2015 – Outlook 2016

Colorado Governor Bill Ritter Joins Green Alpha Advisors’ Advisory Board

Green Alpha® Advisors, an asset management firm specializing in innovation-driven, sustainable economy equity portfolios, announced recently that Gov. Bill Ritter, Colorado’s 41st governor and an international leader in clean energy, has joined the firm’s advisory board.

Gov. Ritter, the architect of Colorado’s New Energy Economy, established Colorado as a national and international leader in clean energy, signing 57 new energy bills into law, including a 30% Renewable Portfolio Standard and a Clean Air Clean Jobs Act that replaced nearly a gigawatt of coal-fired generation with natural gas. In total, Ritter’s initiatives created thousands of new jobs. He currently serves as founder and director of the Center for the New Energy Economy (CNEE) at Colorado State University, an energy policy research institute providing technical and strategic assistance to help facilitate America’s transition to a clean energy economy.

“Green Alpha is thrilled to have a renewable energy and policy expert of Gov. Ritter’s stature and reputation joining our advisory board,” said Garvin Jabusch, Green Alpha co-founder and Chief Investment Officer. “His long record of helping to successfully develop what we call the Next Economy make him the perfect fit for everything we are working to accomplish. It’s a real honor for us to be combining efforts.”

Ritter joins fellow Advisory Board members:

Charles Goldman, President & CEO of AssetMark, Inc.
David Hunter, Veteran Executive Management Professional
Meredith Parfet, Director of Marketing at Green Alpha Advisors, LLC
Ross Shell, Founder & CEO of Red Idea LLC
Solomon Halpern, President of Highlander Wealth

 

[adrotate group=”7″]

“We need to invest in a sustainable future and Green Alpha’s leadership in building investment portfolios to meet that future is ground-breaking,” said Ritter. “I welcome the opportunity to join the Advisory Board and help build an impactful, growing enterprise that can make a real difference.”

Bill Ritter is a member of the Board of the Directors of the Energy Foundation and a senior fellow and member of the board of directors of the Advanced Energy Economy Institute. Ritter earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from Colorado State University (1978) and his law degree from the University of Colorado (1981). With his wife Jeannie, he operated a food distribution and nutrition center in Zambia. He then served as Denver’s district attorney from 1993 to January 2005.

About Green Alpha Advisors, LLC

Green Alpha Advisors (www.greenalphaadvisors.com)  is an asset management firm, founded in 2007 on the belief that in order to live and thrive on our planet, we must make an inevitable economic and technological transition to sustainability. Their investment strategies address core economic concerns emerging from the risks associated with resource scarcity and the worst effects of climate change – both exacerbated by population growth.  They see innovations that simultaneously address these core systemic risks and improve economic productivity as the greatest growth drivers of the 21st century. Green Alpha is proud to be a Certified B Corporation.

MEDIA CONTACT

Meredith Parfet, 303-993-7856 or info@greenalphaadvisors.com

Parametric Announces Proprietary ESG Offering

Names a Leader for Responsible Investing Initiatives

Parametric Portfolio Associates LLC (“Parametric”), a majority owned subsidiary of Eaton Vance Corp. (NYSE:EV), today announced the creation of two new proprietary responsible investing strategies, Parametric ESG Domestic and Parametric ESG International.

These strategies are designed to provide exposure to companies that score well on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) metrics, according to Sustainalytics, a global responsible investment research firm specializing in ESG research and analysis, while providing greater risk control than might be available in comparable indices. Starting with a universe of stocks from the S&P 500 and MSCI EAFE Indexes (the Indexes), Parametric uses an optimization process to overweight companies with above average ESG scores.

Jennifer Sireklove, Senior Investment Strategist, has been named to lead the responsible investing effort at Parametric. In addition to the ESG strategies, Ms. Sireklove has developed a range of strategies for faith-based and environmental investors over the last year, as well as introduced social justice focused screening capabilities. Prior to joining Parametric in 2013, she spent more than a decade doing equity and academic research, with a focus on the energy, industrial and utility sectors.

Ms. Sireklove explains, “Parametric ESG strategies are constructed to provide higher exposure to companies with favorable ESG ratings and to tightly control fundamental risk factors relative to the Indexes to limit unintended bets. The strategies are also designed to be amenable to tax management, so taxable clients can receive the added benefits of loss harvesting and capital gain deferral.”

[adrotate group=”7″]

Parametric has been managing responsible investing portfolios by applying social screens or tilts to index-based portfolios for over 15 years. In addition to the new ESG strategies, Parametric recently added licensed screens for fossil free, Catholic values, and other environmentally and socially-focused portfolios.

Paul Bouchey – CIO, Parametric Seattle Investment Center, adds, “The Parametric ESG strategies are the next step in the continuing expansion of Parametric’s responsible investing solutions. The strategies offer a practical way for investors to incorporate their values into a portfolio while adhering to our principles of efficiency and diversification.”

About Parametric

Parametric, headquartered in Seattle, WA, is a leading global asset management firm, focused on the delivery of engineered portfolio solutions, including rules-based alpha-seeking equity, alternative and options strategies, as well as implementation services including custom core equity, futures overlay and centralized portfolio management. As of September 30, 2015, Parametric manages approximately $144.4 billion in total assets on behalf of institutions, high-net-worth individuals and fund investors in the U.S. and internationally. Parametric is a majority-owned subsidiary of Eaton Vance Corp., and its principal investment centers are located in Seattle, WA, Minneapolis, MN, and Westport, CT. For more information about Parametric, visit www.parametricportfolio.com

Eaton Vance is one of the oldest investment management firms in the world, with a history dating to 1924. Eaton Vance and its affiliates managed $298.9 billion in assets as of September 30, 2015, offering individuals and institutions a broad array of investment strategies and wealth management solutions. The Company’s long record of providing exemplary service, timely innovation and attractive returns through a variety of market conditions has made Eaton Vance the investment manager of choice for many of today’s most discerning investors. For more information about Eaton Vance, visit www.eatonvance.com

Apple Launches New Clean Energy Programs in China To Promote Low-Carbon Manufacturing and Green Growth

Apple Now Generating Clean Energy for 100% of its Operations in China

Apple® in late October 2015 announced two new programs aimed at reducing the carbon footprint of its manufacturing partners in China. The programs will avoid over 20 million metric tons of greenhouse gas pollution in the country between now and 2020, equivalent to taking nearly 4 million passenger vehicles off the road for one year.

Apple also announced that construction on 40 megawatts of solar projects in the Sichuan Province is now complete. These solar installations produce more than the total amount of electricity used by Apple’s offices and retail stores in China, making Apple’s operations carbon neutral in China.

“Climate change is one of the great challenges of our time, and the time for action is now,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “The transition to a new green economy requires innovation, ambition and purpose. We believe passionately in leaving the world better than we found it and hope that many other suppliers, partners and other companies join us in this important effort.”

First, Apple is significantly expanding its clean-energy investments in China. Apple plans to build more than 200 megawatts of solar projects in the northern, eastern and southern grid regions of China, which will produce the equivalent of the energy used by more by than 265,000 Chinese homes in a year and will begin to offset the energy used in Apple’s supply chain.

Second, Apple is launching a new initiative to drive its manufacturing partners to become more energy efficient and to use clean energy for their manufacturing operations. Apple will partner with suppliers in China to install more than 2 gigawatts of new clean energy in the coming years.

[adrotate group=”7″]

Apple also will share best practices in procuring clean energy and building high-quality renewable energy projects, and provide hands-on assistance to some suppliers in areas like energy efficiency audits, regulatory guidance and building strong partnerships to bring new clean energy projects to China.

As part of Apple’s industry-leading program, Foxconn will construct 400 megawatts of solar, starting in the Henan Province, by 2018. Foxconn has committed to generate as much clean energy as its Zhengzhou factory consumes in final production of iPhone.

“We are excited to embark on this initiative with Apple. Our companies share a vision for driving sustainability and I hope that this renewable energy project will serve as a catalyst for continued efforts to promote a greener ecosystem in our industry and beyond,” said Terry Gou, founder and CEO of Foxconn Technology Group. “Sustainability is a core pillar in Foxconn’s strategy and we are committed to investing in green manufacturing.”

“Being responsible, protecting air and water, and driving clean energy are at the heart of Apple’s commitment to China,” said Lisa Jackson, Apple’s vice president of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives. “These projects go beyond Apple’s operations in China to help our suppliers adopt clean renewable energy.”

Apple has taken significant steps to protect the environment by transitioning from fossil fuels to clean energy. Today the company is powering 100 percent of its operations in China and the US, and more than 87 percent of its worldwide operations, with renewable energy.

Learn more about Apple’s environmental efforts at www.apple.com/environment

Apple in China

Apple operates 19 corporate offices and 24 retail stores in Greater China, directly employing 10,000 people. In total, Apple has helped create and support over 4.4 million jobs in China, including at least 1.4 million iOS app developer jobs and other positions related to the iOS ecosystem. Developers in China have earned more than $4 billion through the worldwide sale of apps on the App Store®, with over half of that amount paid in the last 12 months alone.

About Apple

Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, the Mac and Apple Watch. Apple’s three software platforms — iOS, OS X and watchOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay and iCloud. Apple’s 100,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth, and to leaving the world better than we found it.

Press Contacts:

Carolyn Wu, Apple
carolyn_wu@apple.com
Phone +86 10 8525 5952

Alisha Johnson, Apple
alisha_johnson@apple.com
Phone (573) 673-1287

Apple, the Apple logo and App Store are trademarks of Apple. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Calvert Investments Continues Expansion of the Calvert Responsible Index Series

Developed Markets Ex-U.S. and U.S. Mid Cap Latest Introductions

Calvert Investments, Inc. (www.calvert.com), a global leader in responsible investing, recently announced the introduction of two new indexes in the Calvert Responsible Index Series: the Calvert Developed Markets Ex-U.S. Responsible Index (CALDMI) and the Calvert U.S. Mid Cap Core Responsible Index (CALMID). In addition, Calvert launched mutual funds that will track each of the two new indexes: the Calvert Developed Markets Ex-U.S. Responsible Index Fund (CDHAX) and the Calvert U.S. Mid Cap Core Responsible Index Fund (CMJAX).

In June, Calvert initiated the build-out of its index series with the introduction of the Calvert U.S. Large Cap Growth Responsible Index Fund and the Calvert U.S. Large Cap Value Responsible Index Fund – both of which complemented the pre-existing U.S. Large Cap Core Responsible Index Fund (formerly Calvert Social Index Fund). The indexes are driven by the Calvert Research System, a proprietary research platform that synthesizes multiple sources of non-financial data, including environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data. Calvert analysts identify and weight the ESG factors that are most material within each of 156 sub-industries, then rate and rank every company to build the list of index constituents. The firm continues to build upon its global responsible investment research expertise with the newest additions to its responsible index series and related low-cost index funds that will track them and institutional separate account products.

HIGHLIGHTS:

Calvert now offers five distinct indexes:

Calvert U.S. Large Cap Growth Responsible Index
Calvert U.S. Large Cap Core Responsible Index
Calvert U.S. Large Cap Value Responsible Index
Calvert Developed Markets Ex-U.S. Responsible Index
Calvert U.S. Mid Cap Core Responsible Index

 
Calvert now offers five index funds, each based on one of the Calvert Indexes:

Calvert U.S. Large Cap Core Responsible Index Fund (NASDAQ: CSXAX)
Calvert U.S. Large Cap Growth Responsible Index Fund (NASDAQ: CGJAX)
Calvert U.S. Large Cap Value Responsible Index Fund (NASDAQ: CFJAX)
Calvert Developed Markets Ex-U.S. Responsible Index Fund (NASDAQ: CDHAX)
Calvert U.S. Mid Cap Responsible Index Fund (NASDAQ: CMJAX)

 

[adrotate group=”7″]

“Calvert is committed to meeting the evolving needs of our institutional and private clients with both active and indexed responsible investing products,” said John Streur, CEO, Calvert Investments. “The universe of indexed responsible investment funds is nearly non-existent. Calvert is providing choices for investors based on their desire to get broadly diversified exposure to responsible investments at a reasonable price. Investors may find our index funds can be a cost-effective way to form a foundation or core for portfolios. Where investors find that active management can be valuable, they may look to our high conviction actively managed strategies.

“Calvert Investments has over 30 years of leadership in helping responsible investors define and assess the environmental, social and governance (ESG) impacts of the corporations they own. Combine this with our shareholder engagement and we can help investors drive real positive change in the world.”

Calvert continues to partner with indexing leader S-Network Global Indexes, Inc. (SNGI) to manage the benchmark universes.

Information about the Calvert Responsible Index Series and the Calvert Principles for Responsible Investment can be found at www.Calvert.com

About Calvert Investments

Calvert Investments is a global leader in Responsible Investing. Our mission is to deliver superior long-term performance to our clients and enable them to achieve positive impact. Founded in 1976 and headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Calvert Investments had more than $12.6 billion in assets under management as of October 31, 2015. Learn more at www.Calvert.com

About S-Network

S-Network® is a service mark of S-Network Global Indexes, Inc. and has been licensed for use by Calvert Investments. The Calvert Responsible Index Funds are not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by S-Network Global Indexes, Inc. and S-Network Global Indexes, Inc. makes no representation regarding the advisability of investing in any such Fund.

Investment in mutual funds involves risk, including possible loss of principal invested. Although expected to track its target index as closely as possible while satisfying its investment criteria, a Fund will not be able to match the performance of the index exactly. It is not possible to invest directly in an index.

For more information on any Calvert Fund, please contact Calvert at 800.368.2748 for a free summary prospectus and/or prospectus. An investor should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses of an investment carefully before investing. The summary prospectus and prospectus contain this and other information. Read them carefully before you invest or send money.

Calvert mutual funds are underwritten and distributed by Calvert Investment Distributors, Inc., member FINRA and subsidiary of Calvert Investments, Inc.

#15205 (10/2015) – Web Release Version

Media Contact:
Annie M. Cull, Calvert
Phone: 301.951.4861 or  email- Annie.Cull@Calvert.com

EarthFolio Launches First Robo-Advisor for Sustainable Investors

A conversation with Art Tabuenca, founder of Blue Marble Investments and EarthFolio, about the development of the first online investment platform specifically dedicated to sustainable investing.

by Robert Kropp, Socialfunds.com

Two of the most significant developments in the investment universe have converged in a single service.

Thanks to advances in information technology, computerized investment advisory services—known as robo-advisors—have skyrocketed in popularity in recent years. For the most part, these portals provide investment advice to individuals who cannot meet the minimum amount required by most in-person investment advisors, and their fees are usually much lower. A recent article at CNN [1] projected that robo-advisors will manage $2 trillion in assets by 2020.

What has not been as readily available, however, is robo advisory services for another significant growing trend, sustainable investing. A 2014 report by US SIF: The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment estimated sustainable investment assets to be $6.57 trillion, a 76% increase since 2012 and 18% of total assets under management in the US.[2]

The absence of such a service was addressed in October 2015, when EarthFolio (http://www.earthfolio.net), the first and thus far only automated investment service, launched. According to a press release, a minimum investment of $25,000 is required, and the management fee is .50%. “EarthFolio constructs each portfolio using mutual funds pre-selected on up to ten environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) screens,” the press release states. “The screens seek best-of-class companies in areas such as clean energy, equal employment, human rights, and animal welfare, while also minimizing companies profiting from sweatshops, tobacco, weapons, and gambling.”

The service’s portfolios are designed and managed by Blue Marble Investments, a sustainable investment advisory firm founded by Art Tabuenca in 2000. Before that, Tabuenca was Vice President of Bank of America Investment Services.

SocialFunds.com spoke recently with Tabuenca about the EarthFolio service.

“About three years ago, some firms emerged that were filling the void between do it yourself and getting advice,” Tabuenca said. Since then, he continued, “Online investment advice has become very popular. All the big firms are rolling out platforms now.”

Even though Tabuenca and Blue Marble (http://www.bluemarble.com) rolled out the first iteration of EarthFolio back in 2006 (“We were way ahead of the robo advisor revolution by quite a few years,” he observed, “Making socially responsible investment advice accessible.”), the technology at the time was unprepared to provide the more intuitive service that the newly launched platform provides. As Tabuenca said, “Investors seeking sustainable alternatives through advisors who are familiar with environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) factors have had a harder time of it, as relatively few advisors could claim such knowledge.”

“This opens up sustainable investing in a way that has never been done before,” he continued. “Basically, it brings the advisor to you rather than you having to go to the advisor.”

Tabuenca was emphatic in debunking the view, still held in some quarters, that sustainable or socially responsible investing (SRI) is still characterized by negative screening. (Even practitioners of impact investing, described by Eurosif in 2014 [3] as “a peripheral strategy within SRI that has not yet realized its full potential,” have asserted that it differs from sustainable investing in that the latter is dominated by negative screening.) “SRI doesn’t end with screening, it actually begins with screening,” he said. “Most of the heavy lifting is in the advocacy, through proxy voting and shareholder advocacy.”

“Every portfolio we build invests exclusively in a broad spectrum of sustainable mutual funds that screen on up to ten environmental, social, and governance, criteria,” EarthFolio’s website states. Most, if not all, of the funds selected by the service will be familiar to regular readers of SocialFunds.com. All the funds “feature established track records, strong management, and no commissions or transaction fees,” the website states. The ten criteria include clean tech, fossil fuel free, and shareowner advocacy. The investment strategies emphasize a best-in-class approach.

“Passive investing is one of the defining characteristics of robo advising,” Tabuenca said. “The minimum investment is far lower, the fees are far lower.”

“As more and more sustainable indexes are developed, we will integrate them into the portfolios,” he continued. The sustainable fund indexes currently employed by the service are the Calvert Social Index and the Vanguard FTSE Social Index. The performance of sustainable indexes have historically been similar to that of the S&P 500, with the added advantage of increasingly important ESG criteria.

The geographical benefits of a sustainable robo-advisory service are considerable; as Tabuenca pointed out, investors seeking sustainable alternatives through advisors who are familiar with ESG factors have had a harder time of it, as relatively few advisors could claim such knowledge. As a result, most investors seeking advice on sustainable strategies have had to fend for themselves. The EarthFolio platform, Tabuenca said, “democratizes socially responsible investment advice in a way that’s never been done.”

The relatively low minimum required to maintain an EarthFolio account, Tabuenca pointed out, makes the service especially attractive to millennials and others who may lack the resources to maintain an account with an in-person investment advisor. In a blog post at EarthFolio [4], Kim Lisagor wrote, “Seven out of ten (of millennials recently surveyed) said they value the social and environmental impact of their investment choices.”

Furthermore, Tabuenca told SocialFunds.com, “EarthFolio’s technology allows for profiling a person’s risk tolerance just as a human advisor would do.”

Source: SRI World Group, Inc (www.socialfunds.com) Reprinted with Permission.

Footnote:

[1]  http://money.cnn.com/2015/06/18/investing/robo-advisor-millennials-wealthfront/

[2] http://www.ussif.org/blog_home.asp?Display=55

[3] http://www.eurosif.org/press-release-6th-sustainable-and-responsible-investment-study-2014/

[4] http://earthfolio.net/blog/introducing-earthfolio-power-to-the-everyinvestor/

ImpactAssets Releases Annual IA 50 Impact Investment Fund Showcase

Free Online Database Connects Investors to Fund Managers that Deliver Social, Environmental and Financial Returns

ImpactAssets has released its 2015 impact investing showcase, the ImpactAssets 50 (IA 50), a free online resource for investors and financial advisors. The fifth annual guide features fund managers representing private debt and equity investments that deliver social and environmental impact as well as financial returns. Find it at- http://impactassets.org/ia50_new/

Fund managers included in the IA 50 2015 manage an estimated $13.3 billion in assets devoted to creating measurable, positive impact.

“As impact investing continues to move into the mainstream, the IA 50 list has become the ‘go to source’ for new impact investors seeking a curated overview of impact funds,” said Jed Emerson, Chief Impact Strategist of Impact Assets. “It’s exciting to see a growing number of investors creating change and making impact with their resources.”

The IA 50 is the only free, public, searchable database of outstanding impact investing fund managers. This year’s showcase, which includes funds based in the United States, Africa, Europe and Latin America, highlights the increasingly diverse opportunities for investors to help create social value across the globe. The featured funds focus on issue areas including: health and wellness, microfinance, small business development, sustainable agriculture, and water and sanitation.

The IA 50 Selection Committee is chaired by Jed Emerson and includes: Karl “Charly” Kleissner, Co Founder of Toniic and KL Felicitas Foundation;  Kathy Leonard, Senior Vice President – Investments and Senior Portfolio Manager for UBS;  Liesel Pritzker Simmons and Ian Simmons, Co-Founders of Blue Haven Initiative;  and Matthew Weatherley-White, Managing Director of The CAPROCK Group.

[adrotate group=”7″]

“The IA 50 provides an entry point for investors and advisors seeking fund managers with established track records across a range of impact investment criteria,” said Kathy Leonard, Senior Vice President – Investments and Senior Portfolio Manager for UBS. “Investors who have been watching from the sidelines and waiting for the field to mature will find no shortage of opportunities.”

ImpactAssets produces the IA 50, and has released 15 impact investing issue briefs to help both novice and experienced investors better understand the field and vet the opportunities that may best serve their goals.

“Every year we see the quality of applications increase, and a more nuanced understanding of the risk, return, and impact profiles of each fund manager articulated in their profiles,” said Amy Bennett, ImpactAssets’ Director of Marketing. “The commitment to evaluation and metrics to support each fund’s investment thesis has also grown in the IA 50 2015.”

The IA 50 is not an index or investable platform and does not constitute an offering or recommend specific products. It is not a replacement for due diligence. In order to be considered for the IA 50 2015, fund managers needed to have at least $10 million in assets under management, more than 3 years of experience as a firm with impact investing and documented social and/or environmental impact. Additional details on the selection process are here.

About ImpactAssets

ImpactAssets (www.impactassets.org) is a nonprofit financial services firm that increases the flow of capital into investments that deliver financial, social, and environmental returns. ImpactAssets’ donor advised fund (The Giving Fund), impact investment notes, and field building initiatives enable philanthropists, other asset owners, and their wealth advisors to advance social or environmental change through investment.

For more information, please contact:
Amy Bennett, Director, Marketing, ImpactAssets
Phone: 415-370-4899  /  Email: ABennett@impactassets.org

EthicMark® Awards Winners: Military Drones, Iron Deficiency are Focuses of Best Socially Responsible Ads of 2015

Advertising campaigns raising awareness about the desensitizing effects of drone warfare and the public health threat of iron deficiency in Cambodia were honored by sustainable investors at The SRI Conference.

Lucky Iron Fish, a Certified B Corp company, and a joint campaign from Inside Out and the Foundation for Fundamental Rights, are the 2015 winners of the EthicMark® Awards for advertising and media campaigns that “uplift the human spirit and society.”

Ethical Markets Media and the World Business Academy announced the winners at the opening dinner of The 26th annual SRI Conference on Sustainable, Responsible, Impact Investing at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Claudine Schneider, former U.S. Congresswoman and EthicMark Awards Executive Committee member, introduced each of the awards and videos to the gathering of investors and investment professionals, demonstrating the positive impact of marketing their sustainability mission.

The Not a Bug Splat campaign (http://notabugsplat.com), a collaboration with Inside Out (www.insideoutproject.net/en) and the Foundation for Fundamental Rights (www.rightsadvocacy.org), challenges the desensitized manner in which drone operators accept casualties of war. The stark image of a local child, deployed in Pakistan and visible from hundreds of feet, has also captured the attention of social media worldwide. The ad may be viewed here: https://goo.gl/KAMt0t

[adrotate group=”7″]

Lucky Iron Fish (www.luckyironfish.com), a Certified B Corporation, has creatively introduced a means to address the chronic low levels of iron found in diets throughout Cambodia.  The trial-and-error and clever marketing tools used by Lucky Iron Fish make it a model for other social enterprises. The ad may be viewed here: https://goo.gl/RiJrk2

Gavin Armstrong, president & CEO of Lucky Iron Fish said: “On behalf of Lucky Iron Fish I’m delighted and honored to receive the EthicMark Award. Our team is passionately committed to eradicating iron deficiency, and we are realizing this vision in a socially responsible way.  We couldn’t be more thrilled to be recognized alongside such outstanding socially-driven enterprises.”

The EthicMark® Awards, founded in 2004 by futurist Hazel Henderson, seek to transform advertising by demonstrating the power of media campaigns to inspire, focus on human potentials and further both public and private legitimate interests. Unlike other advertising and marketing awards, EthicMark® award-winning companies are recognized for the creativity of their message, the value of the product or service and quality of the company culture. This all-encompassing standard ensures the integrity of the Awards and the esteem accruable to winners’ reputations.

Judges for the awards used the following criteria: portrayal of healthy lifestyles and behavior for consumers; high standards of responsibility and trustworthiness; respect for diversity and human rights, and avoiding sordid, sensationalist, or degrading depictions. Winners model and publicize the value of ethics in well-functioning markets while simultaneously promoting what is profitable for business, society and the planet.

The annual EthicMark® Awards are presented in partnership with The SRI Conference. The Awards are co-sponsored by the World Business Academy, Ethical Markets Media (USA and Brazil), ESPM (Brazil’s premier communication and marketing institution over the last 60 years), Sustainable Brands, GlobeScan, Tomorrow’s Company, and TBLI Conference™, in cooperation with media partner, Where Good Grows.

About Ethical Markets Media (USA and Brazil)

Ethical Markets Media (USA and Brazil) is a micro-multinational social enterprise, Certified B Corporation, with the mission of reforming markets and metrics while helping accelerate and track the transition to the green economy worldwide with the Green Transition Scoreboard®, Ethical Biomimicry Finance® Transforming Finance TV Series and research and daily news at www.ethicalmarkets.com

About the World Business Academy

The World Business Academy is a non-profit business think tank and network of business and thought leaders founded in 1986. Led by its Founding President, Rinaldo Brutoco, the Academy’s work and extensive publications address the challenge of innovation and values-driven leadership, renewable energy and climate change, sustainable business strategies, and global reconstruction.

About The SRI Conference

Now in its 26th year, The SRI Conference (www.SRIconference.com) took place November 3–5, 2015 at The Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, CO. Leaders in the philanthropy and foundation worlds are invited to participate in the largest, longest-running annual meeting of responsible investors and investment professionals. Conference participation is open to investment professionals, institutional investors, and related organizations and individuals who are working to direct the flow of investment capital in more positive, healthy, transformative ways—toward the creation of a truly sustainable future. The conference experience features an outstanding series of educational sessions and a focused opportunity to network with hundreds of like-minded individuals, organizations, and industry leaders. The 2016 SRI Conference is November 9-11 in Denver, CO.

About First Affirmative Financial Network

First Affirmative Financial Network, LLC (www.firstaffirmative.com) is an independent Registered Investment Advisor (SEC File #801-56587) offering investment consulting and asset management services through a nationwide network of investment professionals who specialize in serving socially conscious investors. First Affirmative produces The SRI Conference (www.SRIconference.com).

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Patrick Mitchell, for SRI Conference, at 703-276-3266 or pmitchell@hastingsgroup.com

Rosalinda Sanquiche, Ethical Markets Media, 904-829-3140 or office@ethicalmarkets.com

The Year Ahead

Domini
By Amy Domini, founder of Domini Social Investments and partner in The Sustainability Group

Domini

What’s next? What do you see the markets doing next year, and why? It is a question that those of us who work on Wall Street are used to, yet hate to answer. 2016 is about to unfold, coming on the heels of a fantastic rally in markets that began in 2009 (which means it has gone on a long time) and bringing with it a presidential election. An election brings uncertainty. What is the careful investor to do?

I am one that believes that at the end of the day, stock prices are a reflection of two things, 1) the company’s earnings and potential and 2) the investor’s boldness or fear. Since I believe the economy is poised to create greater corporate earnings, and since I believe the investor is ready to be bold, I am reasonably optimistic about the year ahead. I hedge my bet by reminding the reader that one year is a short horizon, and a disaster of any sort might delay the benefits of the trends I will point to.

However, this year does come within a context, and that context is the long-running recovery of the United States, and seemingly a few other nations, from the financial crisis that is still underway. And a growing economy is good for corporate earnings.

Roughly 70 percent of the U.S. economy is tied to consumer spending. Consumer spending increases are tied to there being more consumers. Making more consumers is done in two ways. First, create more people by growing the size of the population and you have more consumers. The millennium generation is the largest since the baby boom and is hitting their earning years. Further, our nation’s relative openness to immigrants helps create the extra spending. The second way is to get money into the hands of people who don’t have enough to make random discretionary purchases. During 2014 it was estimated that 60 percent of bankruptcies resulted from health care costs, and that medical bills were the leading cause of personal bankruptcy. The Affordable Care Act has removed one very large source of non-consumers, but there are other trends that also give us hope here.

Unemployment claims are made public monthly and currently show that we have very few new people seeking assistance. In fact, new claims are at or near their lowest levels for twenty-five years. While the initial unemployment claims were over 650,000 during the financial crisis, they are under 270,000 now. The average over the period was approximately 374,000, which indicates we are generating new jobs at a good clip.

[adrotate group=”7″]

Another simple indication that gives me reason to hope for continued economic expansion is the growing, but still below average, level of housing starts. Homebuilding is generally an excellent indicator of future growth. People who purchase homes furnish them, sometimes even to the point of borrowing to do so. This extra source of consumption is likely to remain relatively robust for several years to come. After all, average housing starts for the past 50 years have averaged 1.445 million. Currently housing starts are under 1.25 million, coming off a low during the crisis of roughly 500,000.

Finally I look at the federal deficit, which is now over $18 trillion. A large deficit can rob the federal government of the ability to spend, which in turn means that the economy loses an important customer. When federal deficits are very high, the U.S. must pay more to borrow. Money that could be spent building bridges, schools, and other infrastructure that would spur economic growth is ‘wasted’ paying higher interest rates. This is not our problem now. The federal deficit is about 2.5 percent of GDP and at that level, government has no problem borrowing at low rates.

There are those who argue that inflation will pick up, that the jobs are bad jobs, that the best is behind us, but these are conjecture. I am a lot more comfortable looking at the current facts and these are positive.

Still, this does not mean that the investor is positive. To check the mood of the investor, I look at stock prices. With the current forward price to earnings ratio of the Standard & Poor’s 500 standing at 16.13 and with the average since 1985 at 14.94, I am comfortable that the investor is still more optimistic than pessimistic about the future. We were at about this rate during mid-1997, just before an explosion on the upside that lasted for the next two and a half years.

Finally, consider the logic of the scenario. Where is an investor to go? Bonds pay nothing and most of the fancy instruments that might raise returns, like venture capital or private debt, require high minimums and a long-term wait. They just do not suit most investors and are by no means a sure bet anyway. To my way of thinking the investors are comfortable enough to stay.

Ah, but what about the elections? A president is up for vote; a third of the Senate along with every member of the House will hit the airwaves with messages. Local elections will create further noise. During an election a great deal of Bad News is released, particularly about what a crummy job other people are doing. The summer before the national election is a particularly dreary period.

It will be vitally important that a Democrat keep the Presidency. The future of the Supreme Court will be in the next President’s hands. And the acceptance of each new justice will be in the hands of the Senate, which must regain a majority if it is to allow for a Supreme Court that stands with the people, rather than with power. The House is unlikely to shift, so almost no legislation will pass, but appointments should be able to go through. The Executive branch will be able to carry on work, like the recent reduction of jail sentences for non-violent crimes, without Congress.

As I write, the Smart People anticipate a Hillary Clinton versus Marco Rubio election. If so, Florida may well go to Mr. Rubio, and that would make a victory for Mrs. Clinton a great deal harder to reach. Since my assignment was to make predictions about the markets, and not the election, I’ll shy away from attempting to determine whether I agree with the Smart People. But I will say that elections affect markets.

In general, Democrats believe in government and will encourage government spending on domestic programs. This pumps money into the economy. It creates wealthier consumers at the lower income level, exactly where, economically speaking, we need help. Government itself can be a robust new spender, as we saw with the American Recovery Act of 2009, commonly called the Stimulus Package. Around the globe nations were knocked flat by the financial crisis, but with robust government spending, America came through.

I said at the beginning that I am comfortable with predicting a gentle increase in stock prices next year. Longer term, however, I predict that the next election will create the market that follows. Will it be a government that believes in creating consumers or will it be a government that relies on the corporate world to dictate what is good for the economy? If it is the latter, this long-term rally has an end in sight.

Article by Amy Domini, partner in The Sustainability Group in Boston where she manages roughly $1.1 billion in liquid assets for high net worth families. Additionally she is the founder of Domini Social Investments (www.domini.com), a New York City based mutual fund family with $1.6 billion under management. She is widely recognized as the leading voice for socially responsible investing. In 2005 she was named to the Time magazine 100 list of the world’s most influential people, and in 2009 Time listed her as one of 25 “Responsibility Pioneers”. In 2005, President Clinton honored her at the inaugural meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative.

Ms. Domini co-authored the groundbreaking book, Ethical Investing in 1984. Since then she has authored or co-authored several books. Her articles have been widely published and she is a regular contributor to The Intelligent Optimist magazine. Ms. Domini serves or has served on several boards and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

Ms. Domini holds a B.A. in international and comparative studies from Boston University. She is the recipient of two honorary degrees: a Doctor of Business Administration, from Northeastern University College of Law and a Doctor of Humane Letters by the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale.

A Pivotal Moment for Responsible Investing

Calvert
by John Streur,
President and CEO of
Calvert Investments

JohnS_Calvert

For this year-end edition of the Green Money Journal, I was asked to write a piece focused on what lies ahead for responsible investing. But it might be more important right now to pause and reflect on the unprecedented year that we have had. Despite the fact that 2015 did not bring the market returns that you or I would have wished for as investors, when we look back we are likely to see this year as a transformative one for our economic and social systems.

From Vision to Strategy

In September, the United Nations’ adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set a framework for concerted action by governments, civil society, and the private sector to solve critical global challenges. Unlike their predecessors, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which were conceived by international development institutions and adopted in 2000, the Sustainable Development Goals are the product of a great deal of engagement across international governments and civil society. Both sets of goals seek to solve major global issues such as extreme poverty, hunger, access to health care, gender equality, and the effects of climate change and political instability. However, the SDGs are more comprehensive than the MDGs and set bolder targets. For example, while the MDGs aimed to reduce poverty by half, the SDGs aim to eliminate severe forms of poverty entirely.

At the United Nations Summit, where member states officially adopted the SDGs, the vital role of corporations and investors in advancing the goals was clear. Private sector activity undoubtedly bears significant economic, social, and environmental impacts globally, and corporations and investors need to ensure that we are making positive contributions. It was my privilege to participate in the Summit’s Private Sector Forum and chair a session on peace and stability. Participants from the corporate and investor communities were asked to make formal commitments in support of the goals and, responding to this call, I announced a new initiative that Calvert Investments is undertaking with Professor George Serafeim to advance the SDGs through responsible investing. We will map the SDGs and their underlying targets to corporate environmental, social, and governance metrics, creating tools that investors can use to evaluate companies’ stake in contributing to the SDGs and their performance in making the goals a reality. This project will help investors identify the companies that are contributing most meaningfully to responsible growth and allocate capital to these companies, effectively allocating capital to achieving the goals. Corporations and investors must contribute to the goals if we, as a global society, are to achieve them.

Now that the SDGs have been adopted, we must maintain the momentum that will drive solutions to our most pressing concerns. The international agenda will certainly help to keep global attention on these issues – world leaders, with strong and growing support from investors and companies, will meet in Paris this December for the United Nations Climate Change Conference, known informally as COP21. The conference will aim to produce an agreement that would limit the increase of global temperatures to 2° Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures. While forging a global pact will require continued and likely challenging negotiation, there is clear momentum toward a low carbon economy, with disruptive impacts for manufacturing, energy, transportation, and development. Companies and investors can benefit financially and be part of the solution. We must create and seize emerging opportunities as the world makes an enormous shift toward a more sustainable future.

[adrotate group=”7″]

The Changing Role of Responsible Investors

Calvert’s most recent white paper, “The Role of the Corporation in Society: Implications for Investors,” details the outsized economic, social, and environmental influence of corporations. The 500 largest companies in the world comprise approximately 50% of the world’s stock market capitalization, an astonishing statistic considering that there are close to 50,000 unique publicly listed and actively traded companies worldwide. For decades, socially responsible investors have played a critical role in pointing the finger at corporations and holding them accountable, in part by refusing to invest in the bad actors. But should that be the main role of the responsible investor moving forward?

Corporations bear ever greater environmental and social impacts, ranging from carbon emissions, biodiversity, civil rights, and conflict minerals, to labor conditions, diversity, corruption, and affordable access to products. Acknowledging the magnitude of these impacts and their relevance to profits and losses, companies are integrating sustainability concerns into core business operations. Detailed corporate sustainability reports have become commonplace. Well-funded public policy initiatives represent corporate views on social and environmental issues. Corporations’ expansive environmental and social impacts combined with their ability to develop innovative solutions and direct considerable resources to executing these solutions places companies in a special position relative to other actors—namely governments and civil society organizations—in addressing global environmental and social challenges. This does not absolve governments and NGOs from fulfilling their duties to protect the public good, but it does clarify the private sector’s obligation to manage negative impacts and maximize positive ones. Companies can and should be—and increasingly society requires them to be—forces for good. Companies must embrace this role, and investors must encourage and reward it. We can do this by striving to produce competitive financial returns while evaluating companies’ environmental, social, and governance performance, and actively advocating for more sustainable, ethical business approaches. In all of this work, we must remember the role of responsible investing in enabling inclusive prosperity, whether through investment in the world’s largest companies, which touch billions of people via employment, products, and services, or through impact investing that supports community development at the most basic levels.

Proving Our Value

Our industry and my company, Calvert Investments, are at a unique moment in our history. As trailblazers in the socially responsible investment movement, we have spent years defending our perspectives and convincing the mainstream of our value. Today, we see signs that point to a sea change in attitudes about responsible investing. Leading corporations are expanding sustainability activities because they benefit the bottom line and stakeholders. Large wirehouses and traditional asset managers are now quick to discuss how ESG factors into their product mix and investment theory. Even as ESG goes “mainstream,” responsible investors with seasoned points of view on sustainable, ethical business must stay in front and drive continued, accelerated progress that proves the value of our approaches and matches the scale and scope of global challenges. But how do we judge success? What does it take to be a responsible investor?

Success in our field has always required insightful analysis of corporate financial information. Success in responsible investing requires capitalizing on rich sets of non-financial information that help us to understand corporate behavior. Recognizing this, Calvert has overhauled our research process, shifting from binary decision-making to a data-focused, quantitative system for rating and ranking corporate ESG performance. Using this system allows us to identify the leaders, the laggards, and every relative ranking in between. We are cooperating with industry peers in a pre-competitive manner to ensure that corporate disclosure of ESG factors continues to improve and that capital market players continue to learn how to use sustainability information for investment decision-making. We are working to ensure that new tools are developed to help identify and incorporate the value of natural capital, such as forests, biodiversity, and water, into financial models.

Succeeding as a responsible investor requires more than managing data to achieve the best financial returns. Success requires combining analysis with activism and encouraging corporate behavior that produces inclusive, sustainable, long-term value. Responsible investors share a long history of effective corporate engagement that has led to significant shifts in how companies consider and respond to sustainability challenges. We must continue to prioritize this work and use it to differentiate our value—and values—in a crowded marketplace.

As a community, we must stay true to our history and our common goals. In the face of mainstream competition, we must constantly test our assumptions and challenge ourselves to do better. We must continue to innovate and lead, understanding that one day, all investing may be “responsible” investing.

Article by John Streur, President and Chief Executive Officer of Calvert Investments, Inc. (www.calvert.com ), an investment management firm that specializes in responsible and sustainable investing across global capital markets. Calvert serves all types of investors through its family of mutual funds and separate accounts. He is also President and a Trustee of the Calvert Funds and a Director of Calvert Foundation and member of its Executive Committee.

Mr. Streur began to focus his energy exclusively on responsible and sustainable investing in 2012, as President, Director and Principal of Portfolio 21, a boutique investment management firm specializing in global environmental investing. Previously, John spent 20 years at Managers Investment Group LLC (and its predecessor), a firm he co-founded and where he served as President, CEO and Chair of the Investment Committee. John was also President and Trustee of the firm’s fund family, Managers Funds and Managers AMG Funds. Managers Investment Group LLC grew to over $30 billion in assets under management and offered investment strategies across global equity, debt and derivative markets. John has managed socially responsible investments at the request of institutional clients, including public funds, religious institutions, and college and university endowments since 1991.

Mr. Streur is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin (Bachelor of Science, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences), where he also competed nationally and internationally as a member of the University’s Rowing Team and as a member of the United States National Rowing Team. He and his wife Mary have four adult children.

2016 Sustainable Investing Themes: ESG Integration, Climate Change and Inequality

morgan-stanley
by Audrey Choi,
CEO of Morgan Stanley’s
Institute for Sustainable Investing

Audrey_MStanley

Sustainable investing is gaining momentum and increasingly taking its place at the center of mainstream investment conversations. We believe we are at a critical moment of sea change where integrating environmental, social and governance considerations into quality investment strategies is not only considered acceptable as a part of sound investment management, but is viewed as core to prudent investing and value creation. Growing interest by individual and institutional investors is driving the financial services industry to create ever more numerous and rigorous investment tools. The focus is on utilizing top-drawer traditional investment techniques combined with ESG considerations to provide improved sustainable investing options for investors to consider. As this virtuous circle continues, we believe strong growth in sustainable investing will continue this coming year and beyond as this increasingly sought-after approach is utilized by mainstream investors.

We see three trends in particular to be of special importance:

First, mainstream financial service firms and investors will increasingly look to integrate environmental, social and governance considerations. Research has continued to proliferate, demonstrating more and more proof points that integrating ESG factors into investment decisions does not mean a sacrifice in financial returns. An important milestone came in October 2015 when the Department of Labor changed its guidance for fiduciary investors, clearing the way for prudent investors to consider ESG factors as part of their investment decision process[1]. This decision by the federal government will likely drive fiduciaries that have previously avoided environmental and social considerations as part of their investment mandate to be more open to considering sustainable investing strategies on par with traditional vehicles. Increasingly, the research is proving the case. A 2014 study by Harvard found that firms with good performance on material sustainability issues significantly outperform those with poor performance on these issues.[2] Other studies have shown that companies with strong ESG performance also tend to have lower costs of capital as well as better operational and financial market performance.[3] At Morgan Stanley, we undertook an analysis of more than 10,000 mutual funds, comparing the risk and return of sustainable strategies to traditional strategies over a 7-year period and found that more often than not, the sustainable equity mutual fund strategies had the same or slightly better median returns with the same or slightly lower volatility.[4] [5]As sustainable investment solutions continue to expand across the full spectrum of asset classes, investors of all sizes need help navigating these opportunities. It has been exciting to see the groundswell of major financial firms joining the sustainable investment space, and we expect the trend to continue with others building out their expertise in this area. Earlier this year, Morgan Stanley’s Sustainable + Responsible investment research team published a global framework for analyzing environmental, social and governance risks and opportunities across 29 sectors.[6] We are working to build tools so our clients, whether large institutions or young families, can know exactly what they own and calibrate their portfolios to address the sustainability issues that matter most while enhancing the richness of data they consider to position their portfolios for the long term.

Second, climate change will be a more central focus for investors than ever before. Climate change will crescendo as a topic in the news as nations and corporations make pledges leading up to the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris. Even Pope Francis has added his voice to the chorus, urging policy makers, business leaders, investors and citizens around the world to focus on climate action as a matter of social justice and economic welfare.[7] Climate advocates are catalyzing the conversation on this topic through divestment campaigns, and increasingly corporations, asset owners and asset managers are integrating climate awareness into their risk, opportunity and financial analysis. At Morgan Stanley, our Sustainable + Responsible investment research team is looking at the ways in which environmental factors have material impacts on business.[8] The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) recently completed a review in 2015 of 79 different industries and found that climate change will have a material financial impact on 72 of those industries, representing 93 percent of the equity markets or $33.8 trillion dollars’ worth of stock market value.[9] We believe that a critical moment has arrived at which investors must understand climate exposure in their own assets, and take action to address both the risk and opportunity side of the equation.

Third, economic inclusion will become an increasingly important topic for investors – not just policy makers. Despite the remarkable growth we’ve experienced over the past century, we’ve also seen quality of life and economic opportunity for many people decline – both in developing countries and here in the US. In an October 2014 speech, Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen warned that beyond the concerns over what inequality means for lower income individuals, the topic is of broader concern to us all. “Inequality of outcomes can exacerbate inequality of opportunity, thereby perpetuating a trend of increasing inequality”,[10] she noted, warning that this cycle can have significant macroeconomic implications for a country’s growth and indeed for economic growth around the globe.[11] The current business-as-usual value chain structures pose mounting challenges for those who have yet to be included in market-based solutions to poverty. Because the poor are disproportionately affected by many environmental and social issues, especially climate change,[12] an enriched understanding of income inequality and of ESG factors is increasingly relevant for strategic investors trying to understand the fundamental macroeconomic risks and opportunities that could affect their investments. Moreover, innovation and entrepreneurship to meet the growing needs of low- and moderate-income communities around the world may provide one of the most significant growth opportunities for investors in the future. Investors focused on understanding the needs of these communities – and how best to meet those needs – will have keen insights into attractive growth sectors for new investment opportunities.

With these drivers at play, more investors understand that traditional indicators of financial performance are too short term and do not adequately account for long term risks and opportunities. It’s clear that the future – notably, the not-too-distant future – will be very different from the past. At Morgan Stanley, we are optimistic that the opportunities outweigh the challenges.

Article by Audrey Choi, CEO of Morgan Stanley’s Institute for Sustainable Investing (www.morganstanley.com/what-we-do/institute-for-sustainable-investing). She is also Managing Director and Head of Morgan Stanley’s Global Sustainable Finance Group. In these roles, she oversees the firm’s efforts to support resilient communities and promote economic opportunity and global sustainability through the capital markets. In a career spanning the public, private and nonprofit sectors, Audrey has become a thought leader on how finance can be harnessed to address public policy challenges.

Bibliography

Derby, Michael. “Janet Yellen: Economic Inequality Long An Interest Of The Fed.” The Wall Street Journal, April 2, 2015. http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2015/04/02/yellen-economic-inequality-long-an-interest-of-the-fed/
L. Clark, Andreas Feiner, and Michael Viehs, “From the Stockholder to the Stakeholder: How Sustainability Can Drive Financial Outperformance,” (University of Oxford, 2014).
Morgan Stanley. “How Future Proof Are My Stocks.” Morganstanley.com. July 7, 2015. http://www.morganstanley.com/ideas/how-futureproof-are-my-stocks/

Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing, “Sustainable Reality,” (Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing, 2015).

Mozaffar Khan, George Serafeim, and Aaron Yoon. “Corporate Sustainability: First Evidence on Materiality.” 2015

Sustainable Accounting Standards Board. “Major Themes from Standards Setting.” Sustainable Accounting Standards Board, 2015.

Yellen, Janet. “Perspectives on Inequality and Opportunity from the Survey of Consumer Finances.” Conference on Economic Opportunity and Inequality, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Boston: Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, 2014.

World Bank, “Climate Change Complicates Efforts to End Poverty” (World Bank, 2015.) http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2015/02/06/climate-change-complicates-efforts-end-poverty

CRC 1335241 11/2015

==============

[1]  Department of Labor, “New guidance on economically targeted investments in retirement plans from US Labor Department ” Press Release. October 22, 2015

[2]  Mozaffar Khan, George Serafeim, and Aaron Yoon. “Corporate Sustainability: First Evidence on Materiality.” 2014

[3]  G. L. Clark, Andreas Feiner, and Michael Viehs, “From the Stockholder to the Stakeholder: How Sustainability Can Drive Financial Outperformance,” (University  of  Oxford, 2014).

[4]  Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing, “Sustainable Reality,” ((Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing, 2015).

[5]  Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.

[6]  Morgan Stanley. “How Future Proof Are My Stocks?” Morganstanley.com. July 7, 2015. http://www.morganstanley.com/ideas/how-futureproof-are-my-stocks

[7]  Pope Francis, “Laudato Si: On care for Our Common Home”, Encyclical Letter, June 18, 2015

http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si.html

[8]  Morgan Stanley. “How Future Proof Are My Stocks?.” Morganstanley.com. July 7, 2015. http://www.morganstanley.com/ideas/how-futureproof-are-my-stocks

[9]  Sustainable Accounting Standards Board. “Major Themes from Standards Setting. “Sustainable Accounting Standards Board, 2015.

[10]  Yellen, Janet. “Perspectives on Inequality and Opportunity from the Survey of Consumer Finances.” Conference on Economic Opportunity and Inequality, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Boston: Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, 2014. http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/yellen20141017a.htm

[11]  Derby, Michael. “Janet Yellen: Economic Inequality Long An Interest Of The Fed.” The Wall Street Journal, April 2, 2015. http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2015/04/02/yellen-economic-inequality-long-an-interest-of-the-fed/

[12]  World Bank, “Climate Change Complicates Efforts to End Poverty” (World Bank, 2015.) http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2015/02/06/climate-change-complicates-efforts-end-poverty

Signup to receive GreenMoney's monthly eJournal

Privacy Policy
Copyright © GreenMoney Journal 2024

Website design & development by BrandNature

Global Events Calendar

View All Events

november

12novAll Day15Greenbuild International Conference and Expo - Philadelphia

13novAll Day14Slow Money event: A Call to Farms Conference – Providence, RI

14novAll Day15Greentech Festival: On a Mission to Net Zero - LA

X