Explorer Philippe Cousteau and
Dr. Adam Seitchik interviewed by
Cliff Feigenbaum, founder of GreenMoney Journal
One of the more enjoyable tasks at GreenMoney is interviewing true leaders in our world. This interview features Philippe Cousteau, Explorer, Social Entrepreneur, Environmental Advocate and Philanthropic Partner of the AdvisorShares Global Echo ETF (GIVE) and Adam Seitchik, Ph.D., CFA, Chief Investment Officer of Arjuna Capital, Baldwin Brothers’ sustainable investment platform, and co-Portfolio Manager of GIVE
This is Philippe’s second GreenMoney interview and he has much to share. He starts with a review of his work with AdvisorShares over the last 3 years that brings together business and the environment; and Philippe also gives us a look at the impactful and life-changing project his Foundation is funding in Africa.
GMJ: It’s now been three years since the launch of the AdvisorShares Global Echo ETF (Ticker: GIVE), please tell us more about its genesis and how GIVE differs from other investment offerings.
PHILIPPE: My inspiration for GIVE is rooted in the legacy of my family. That legacy goes back three generations and at its core seeks to find innovative ways to solve some of the biggest challenges facing our planet. My grandfather started out back in the 1940s as the co-inventor of the scuba diving “aqua lung” as they called it and then went on to invent various other underwater submersibles, cameras, scientific techniques and more, eventually becoming a pioneer in ocean conservation. My father, Philippe, Sr., continued with that work but unfortunately, his time was cut short when he passed away in an airplane accident in 1979. My father was also very much an innovator, and explored the world, thinking differently about how we approach and solve problems, and his life’s work inspires me every day.
When I graduated from university, I founded a non-profit organization called EarthEcho International that has gone on to become one of the leading youth environmental organizations in the United States. But in 2008, when the financial crash happened, like anyone else, I got the wind knocked out of me. It was a difficult time particularly for the non-profit community. I thought to myself, there must be a better way.
A friend of mine suggested that I look at Wall Street as an unlikely ally, and so I did. I had the opportunity to meet with AdvisorShares and told them about my vision to leverage Wall Street to do good. Fortunately, it was a vision that they shared. So we built a partnership and the AdvisorShares Global Echo ETF – also known by its ticker symbol, GIVE – was born as a result.
GIVE provides a way where people can make money through their investments that also align with their values. When it launched, GIVE was the first fund of its kind – an actively managed exchange-traded fund (ETF) with multiple, accomplished portfolio managers – Baldwin Brothers, Reynders McVeigh and Community Capital Management – overseeing a strategy with a sustainable, dual-impact investment mandate. While GIVE invests in companies with proven performance track records as well as a proven commitment to good environmental, social and governance standards, it doesn’t stop there. The beauty of the fund is that it not only allows people to invest in a responsible way, it also allows them to support important philanthropic causes without donating any of their own money. Forty basis points (0.40%) of GIVE’s annual assets funds the GlobalECHO Foundation, 501(c)3 charitable organization that I co-chair which focuses on three core areas: women and children, environmental education, and micro enterprise. GIVE has already experienced wonderful success in a pretty short amount of time, which now allows us to support a project for the Panzi Hospital in the Eastern Congo.
GMJ: Aside from GIVE’s innovation and successes, what have been challenging aspects that you’ve faced with the fund?
PHILIPPE: The biggest challenge for GIVE is how different it is, especially when you create something new in a space that is not necessarily renowned for its approach to sustainable investing or impact investing. The U.S. financial markets are worth approximately $30 trillion dollars, and impact investing, while it’s grown a considerable amount over the last few years, still only accounts for about $3.5 trillion of that market. One of the challenges of innovation is that creating something new and different takes time before people begin to understand it and embrace it. Another important point for investors has been to understand that AdvisorShares is in this for the long haul. They can have confidence in the product and know that together we’re committed to building this partnership step-by-step. Ongoing education will remain a continuing challenge – both to financial professionals and the investing public because the fund is so different – articulating what GIVE represents and why it makes sense as an investment.
ADAM: Like any start-up, we had a few course corrections early on. I took over as the portfolio manager for our global equity sleeve, as well as the asset allocator for GIVE. The strategy has matured, the performance is coming through, and I feel we have the right team in place now and into the future.
GMJ: What is the current state of charitable giving and how does that equate into GIVE’s philanthropic mandate?
PHILIPPE: Annual charitable giving in the U.S. is about $300 billion. It goes up and down based on the economy. The simple fact is that it’s not enough. From hunger and disease to the environment and mental illness – almost any issue that we’re facing today lacks sufficient financial resources to overcome the problem. GIVE, tries to find a better way – an innovative opportunity where people can make money and still support philanthropic causes. In this case, that cause is the GlobalECHO Foundation, which seeks to find high impact projects to support that can really move the needle, and that means investing in people as much as investing in direct conservation. My grandfather always told me, we can’t achieve environmental sustainability without human sustainability. That’s why we support projects that include women and children, environmental education and micro enterprise. While I am an environmentalist at heart, I realize that we have to help build healthy sustainable communities if we are going to tackle the kinds of major environmental challenges we face, from deforestation to carbon pollution – particularly in the developing world.
GMJ: Why is it important to invest in companies that are sustainable and how has that affected other initiatives such as the divestment movement?
PHILIPPE: I think the divestment movement is really interesting but also a little frustrating. Having been born largely within the non-profit movement, the divestment movement is very indicative of the typical negative approach non-profits take, which is: stop what you are doing, don’t do what you’re doing, and what you’re doing is bad. By that I mean, it’s all about divesting ourselves of fossil fuels, getting rid of that in our portfolios, and for some pension funds and groups that I’ve spoken to, their response is, “Okay I’ve done that, what now.” We should be calling it the reinvestment movement. The narrative should be, “Join us and together we can change the world by building something better.” Not “You are doing it all wrong…shame on you.” We need to be reinvesting in the kind of financial opportunities that make sense and are empowering positive companies, and get away from this negativity. That’s what GIVE is designed to do – to show that financial markets are a powerful tool for actually doing good. In my opinion, the rhetoric surrounding the divestment movement has only gone a half step. I think GIVE is a symbol of that positive, proactive approach to investments that we need to embrace in the 21st century both in the U.S. and around the world.
GMJ: The GIVE portfolio itself is now entirely a fossil-fuel-free portfolio, is that correct?
ADAM: Because of the high sustainability bar in GIVE, there have rarely, if ever, been any investments in traditional fossil fuel companies. Last year, we decided to formalize that status, with all three portfolio managers happily agreeing to never invest in traditional energy producers or refiners. We believe in the necessity of a low-carbon future, which should be a tailwind for fossil fuel free strategies over time.
GMJ: What impact has GIVE yielded for the GlobalECHO Foundation’s philanthropic efforts?
PHILIPPE: The Panzi Hospital in the Eastern Congo represents a great match for the GlobalECHO Foundation’s goals. We recognized there was an important opportunity to support an organization, which helps rebuild the lives of women who have survived sexual violence, and provides maternity care and education in a part of the world that desperately needs it. The heartbreaking and inspiring story of Furaha and her six year old daughter illustrate the power of investing in projects like the Panzi Hospital. Furaha and her young daughter suffered a brutal gang rape that left them physically and psychologically scarred, infected with HIV/AIDS, and with few options to support themselves as Furaha’s husband was also murdered in the attack. Through the work of the Panzi Hospital and the Panzi Foundation, Furaha and her daughter were not only given comprehensive medical and psychological treatment, but Furaha was also provided with a modest micro-loan to invest in a business and her daughter now has guaranteed enrollment in a local school. Today, Furaha has a successful business, which enabled her to purchase land and a home for her and her daughter. The GlobalECHO Foundation and GIVE have supported the installation of solar panels for the hospital laboratory, which are now driving clean, renewable, affordable – essentially free – energy to the facility to replace a very expensive, conflict-ridden dirty fuel that has traditionally powered it. 
In so doing, we’re saving the hospital money so they can serve their patients better and treat more women and children like Furaha and her daughter, thus building a healthier and more resilient community; we’re also helping to reduce pollution in the community because they’re not using fossil fuels; and the project has become a green jobs initiative that provides training jobs in sustainable energy systems for people in the community. It’s tremendous to see this success based off GIVE, and fundamentally, recognizing that this model can be a successful one and represents an exciting example for the future. As we continue to grow, we look forward to adding more projects like the Panzi Hospital to our philanthropic portfolio.
GMJ: Can you share specific examples from GIVE’s portfolio that illustrate its dual-impact mandate?
ADAM: We are explicitly looking for good financial investments that deliver social and environmental impact. To cite just a few examples from the GIVE portfolio: Hannon Armstrong (NYSE: HASI) is the first company investing in sustainable infrastructure to be approved as a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT). HASI provides financing for projects that increase energy efficiency, provide cleaner energy sources, positively impact the environment or make more efficient use of natural resources. Illumina (NASDAQ: ILMN) is an example of GIVE’s focus on preventative health and healthy living. The company is a leader in genetic testing that has the ability to radically change health care from retroactive medicine to prevention. If a patient does become sick, the goal of testing can be to rule out invasive or expensive treatments that will ultimately have no benefit.
GMJ: Ultimately, why is this an important opportunity to consider and who should consider it?
PHILIPPE: An actively managed ETF was the only financial instrument that met my two most important criteria very specifically and effectively, which were transparency and accessibility. I felt it was very important that people should have immediate access and full transparency when investing in the fund. You don’t get that in a mutual fund, and other fund structures are often times only for certain accredited investors. I wanted to allow anyone the opportunity to invest in this strategy. GIVE’s ETF structure allows an opportunity to universally access deeply experienced institutional managers – who are not accessible to most investors but are now so through GIVE. These managers collectively provide investors a sophisticated, well-constructed impact investment that can allow anyone to purchase a single share or as many shares as they desire.
ADAM: As an ETF with a World Asset Allocation – which we believe better suits the fund than its assigned Morningstar category – GIVE can serve as a core holding for sustainable investors seeking both growth and capital preservation. It allows all investors to have real impact with their money in an investment structure targeting competitive long-term returns.
BIOGRAPHIES:
Philippe Cousteau – Explorer, Social Entrepreneur & Environmental Advocate
Philippe Cousteau has established himself as a prominent leader in the environmental movement. An award-winning television host, producer, author, speaker, philanthropist and social entrepreneur Philippe is the son of Philippe Cousteau Sr. and grandson of Jacques Cousteau. His life-mission is to empower people to recognize their ability to change the world.
Philippe is the host and executive producer of Awesome Planet a new syndicated series that airs each week on Saturday mornings on Fox and then again on HULU. He is currently co-producing and co-hosting a multi-part documentary series about whales and dolphins in the wild. The first installment, “Orcas: The Wild Truth,” began filming in July 2014. As a special correspondent for CNN International he has hosted several award-winning shows including Going Green and Expedition Sumatra. Over the years he has hosted television series for the BBC, Animal Planet and Discovery Channel.
As an author, Philippe has co-written many books including “Going Blue” and “Make a Splash” both of which have won multiple awards including Learning Magazine’s 2011 Teachers’ Choice Award for the Family, a Gold Nautilus Award and a 2010 ForeWord Reviews Book of the Year Gold Award.
In 2013 he founded Voyacy Group to combine his various enterprises under one roof. From production to developing location based entertainment, Voyacy is a multi-faceted company. In addition to his work at Voyacy, Philippe is taking his market oriented approach to Wall Street and in 2012 he partnered with AdvisorShares Investments to launch the Global Echo Exchange Traded Fund on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: GIVE).
His Philanthropic efforts are focused on solving global social and environmental problems. In 2004 he founded EarthEcho International, a leading environmental education organization that is creating a whole new generation of environmental citizens; youth equipped with the knowledge to understand environmental challenges, the critical thinking skills to solve them, and the motivation to do so.
In addition, Philippe founded the GlobalEcho Foundation (www.globalechofoundation.org ), a sister organization to his investment fund which donates a percentage of the fund’s management fee to support projects around the world which support woman, environmental education and micro-enterprise. Most recently the foundation made a grant to support installment of solar panels at the Panzi Hospital in Eastern Congo, an award-winning hospital focused on the treatment and empowerment of women as well as much needed maternity care for thousands of women and children each year.
Philippe serves on the Board of Directors of The Ocean Conservancy, the National Environmental Education Foundation and on the National Council of the World Wildlife Fund. Philippe has also testified to Congress on issues of ocean management and off-shore drilling. Philippe resides with his wife and fellow adventurer Ashlan Gorse-Cousteau in Los Angeles California.
Adam Seitchik, Ph.D., CFA – Chief Investment Officer at Arjuna Capital, the sustainable investment platform of Baldwin Brothers
Adam Seitchik, Ph.D., CFA, is a Portfolio Manager and serves as the Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of the sustainable investment platform – Arjuna Capital.
A thought leader in sustainable investing, Adam was the co-CEO and CIO of responsible investment specialist Trillium Asset Management and is Executive Director of the Sustainable Investment Research Center (www.sirc.us ). A frequent writer and speaker on sustainable investing, Adam is the author of “Climate Change from the Investor’s Perspective” (for the Civil Society Institute). Adam holds a Ph.D. in economics and early in his career was an assistant professor at Wellesley College. Adam served as the Chief Global Strategist at Deutsche Asset Management in London, an Analyst and Portfolio Manager at Wellington Management in Boston, and is a Chartered Financial Analyst. He is a trustee of the Hyams Foundation (www.hyamsfoundation.org ) in Boston, and is on the faculty at Pinchot University (www.pinchot.edu ), a leader in sustainable business education.
