December 2017 – 2018 SRI Outlook

At Appleseed Capital, we have watched developments in SRI and ESG with great satisfaction. Having launched the Appleseed Fund nearly 11 years ago, we are proud to have been a participant in the long-term movement to align investments with values. As we look forward to 2018 and beyond, we expect to see the recent trends surrounding SRI investing to remain solidly intact. We believe that more and more traditional investors and asset managers will come to understand the value, both social and financial, of investing with a purpose, and we are confident that the Sustainable Responsible Impact Investing industry will continue to evolve in response to the changing political and economic environment.

Looking into 2018, higher corporate earnings – inevitable with the new lower taxes rates – ought to lead to the sort of volatility-free rise in the stock market that 2017 saw. Further, employment is full in this country; emerging economies continue to grow at rates that exceed those of developed economies; exciting new industries such as software-as-a-service, alternative energy storage and the internet of things arise with regularity fueling dynamic growth. Then there\’s the other picture. There are two enormous longer-term and permanent threats to my cheerful scenario. China is the macro geopolitical one and the other is due to climate change. Further, there are three short-term unavoidable threats, also worth acknowledging.