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Divestment and SRI
- 1. Divestment and Socially Responsible Investing Presented by Trav Williams Investment Advisory Services offered through Global Financial Private Capital, LLC, an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. CA Insurance License # 0G61385
- 2. I confess… I’m a tree hugger! (me – 1973)
- 3. Four Questions • What is socially responsible investing (SRI)? • What is divestment? • Do they make a difference? • What’s the downside?
- 4. What is SRI? Aligns with investor’s values –Renewable energy –Fair trade –Sustainable development –Etc.
- 5. What SRI Isn’t… • The opposite –Socially irresponsible • Shouldn’t all investments be socially responsible?
- 6. Who controls corporate social responsibility? Employees? Managers? Executives? Boards of Directors? Investors
- 7. SRI Myths • SRI limits investor diversification. • Thousands of investment options to choose from
- 8. SRI Myths • Higher returns from irresponsible investments. • How sustainable are these returns?
- 9. SRI Myths • Markets aren’t impacted by SRI. • Institutional investors are already impacting markets by requiring SRI • CalPERS, for example
- 10. SRI Myths • Hard to know how socially-responsible an investment is • Hard, but not that hard!
- 11. 4 Steps for SRI 1 - Identify SRI screening criteria • Pollution? • Oil drilling and fracking? • Slave labor? • Rainforest destruction? • War?
- 12. 4 Steps for SRI 2 - Analyze existing portfolio 3 - Identify alternative investments 4 - Adjust portfolio
- 13. What is divestment? • Sale of an asset to achieve a particular objective • Eric Hendey, Harvard University Institute of Politics – “…Worldwide popular opposition in the 1980s contributed to the decline of apartheid, and divestment was an important piece of this puzzle.”
- 14. Fossil Fuel Divestment • “…We must reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere from its current level of 400 parts per million to below 350 ppm.” -350.org • Better long-term investment? – Oil? – Renewable energy?
- 15. Divestment Commitments “A growing number of institutions are committing to divest from fossil fuels.” • gofossilfree.org/commitments
- 16. Colleges, Universities, & Institutions College of the Atlantic Foothill-De Anza Community College Foundation Green Mountain College Hampshire College Naropa University Peralta Community College District Pitzer College Prescott College San Francisco State University Foundation Stanford University Sterling College Unity College University of Dayton Conservation Breeding Specialist Group Santa Fe Art Institute New Progressive Alliance Council of Canadians Santa Clara Valley Water District Students’ Society of McGill University Island Institute, Maine, US British Medical Association
- 17. Cities and Counties Seattle, WA San Francisco, CA Portland, OR Eugene, OR Berkeley, CA Richmond, CA Santa Monica, CA Boulder, CO Santa Fe, NM Madison, WI Bayfield, WI State College, PA Ithaca, NY Truro, MA Provincetown, MA Providence, RI Cambridge, MA Northampton, MA Ann Arbor, MI Boxtel, the Netherlands New London, CT Amherst, MA Sudbury, MA Concord, MA Framingham, MA Dunedin, New Zealand Oakland, California Eugene, OR City of Brisbane, CA San Francisco County, CA Dane County, WI
- 18. Foundations Divest-Invest Philanthropic Group Sierra Club Foundation Wallace Global Fund Jubitz Family Foundation The Educational Foundation of America Park Foundation The Russell Family Foundation Compton Foundation KL Felicitas Foundation The Chorus Foundation Singing Field Foundation Nia Community Foundation The John Merck Fund The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust Solidago Foundation Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation Granary Foundation The Schmidt Family Foundation Ben & Jerry’s Foundation Pax Fund Ross Knowles Fund Madden Sainsbury Foundation Earth Welfare Foundation McKinnon Family Foundation The Hunt Foundation Pace Foundation Mullum Trust NSRC Fund Robert and Patricia Switzer Foundation [Rockefeller Foundation]
- 19. Religious Institutions United Church of Christ – National Massachusetts United Church of Christ Minnesota United Church of Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church of Oregon First Unitarian Church of Salt Lake City, UT First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church in Cambridge, MA Portsmouth South Church Unitarian First Unitarian Church of Pittsfield, ME First Unitarian Society of Milwaukee, WI First Presbyterian Palo Alto, CA Uniting Church, New South Wales & ACT, Australia Dover Friends Meeting, Dover, NH Melbourne Unitarian Church, Australia Unitarian Universalist Society of Amherst, MA Anglican Diocese of Wellington, New Zealand Anglican Diocese of Auckland, New Zealand Anglican Diocese of Dunedin, New Zealand Anglican Diocese of Waiapu, New Zealand Anglican Diocese of Waikato and Taranaki, New Zealand Anglican Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia Brighthelm Church, Brighton, UK Society for Community Work Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts, MA Maine Council of Churches, ME Trinity St. Paul’s United Church, Toronto, Canada Quakers in Britain Diakonia, Sweden Colorado Ratnashri Sangha First Unitarian Church, Ottawa Union Theological Seminary, New York City First Religious Society of Newburyport, MA Unitarian Society of Northampton & Florence, MA Unitarian Universalist Association Central Philadelphia Monthly Quaker Meeting, PA, USA Lansdowne Monthly Quaker Meeting, PA, USA Westtown Monthly Quaker Meeting, PA, USA Lehigh Valley Monthly Quaker Meeting, PA, USA Old Haverford Monthly Quaker Meeting, PA, USA Newtown Monthly Quaker Meeting, PA, USA Haverford Quarterly Quaker Meeting, PA, USA Jamaica Plain Unitarian Universalist, NY, USA World Council of Churches Community Friends, OH, USA Uniting Church in Australia Assembly, Australia Franciscan Sisters of Mary, MO, USA Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts, MA, USA
- 20. SRI Resources • Biblical Responsible Investing Institute www.BRIInstitute.com • CalPERS investment research www.CalPERS-Governance.org • Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies www.Ceres.org • Community Development Venture Capital Alliance www.cdvca.org • Corporate filings with the SEC www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml • Details on public companies and funds http://www.morningstar.com/ • Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility – Reports & Publications http://www.iccr.org/reports-and-publications • Most sustainable companies, according to the World Economic Forum www.Global100.org • SRI articles http://www.triplepundit.com/categ ory/investment-markets/ • SRI Mutual Fund List http://charts.ussif.org/mfpc/ • US SIF - Research and Publications http://www.ussif.org/pubs
- 21. Closing • Do SRI and divestment make a difference? –YES! • What’s the downside? –Additional level of screening
- 22. Questions?
Editor's Notes
- Peter Gabriel “You can blow out a candle, but you can’t blow out a fire.”