1. SBA FINALLY MEETS DEI The U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2021 report showed that only 18% of early-stage business loans went to women-owned firms, 8% to Hispanic-owned businesses, and 5% to Black-owned businesses. Pre-pandemic numbers were just as bad. Last month the SBA announced additional enhancements to Section 7(a) funding that should help improve its […]
In 2007, when I worked at The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment (US SIF)— The national association for socially responsible investing (SRI) firms and professionals—I became the staff liaison for the Investors and Indigenous Peoples Working Group (IIPWG). One of IPWG’s main campaigns at the time was asking companies and investors to pressure the
We finally get to take some victory laps! After years battling the previous administration, we are finally seeing executive branch actions that roll back its archaic rules and guidance that clearly benefited corporations and not investors. SUCCESSES The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), for example, recently issued new guidance addressing the criteria by which shareholders
1: FUND MANAGERS FEEL HEAT IN SEC CRACKDOWN OF OVERBLOWN ESG LABELS With the explosive growth in ESG products in response to consumer demand for sustainable and ethical investments, the Securities & Exchange Commission reviews the criteria companies are using. It is an effort to curtail greenwashing, especially with firms that repackage traditional funds with
It’s been a busy summer season for advocacy, and it continues to be refreshing to discover allies on Capitol Hill for the priorities of sustainable and responsible investors. SUCCESSES The EPA recently announced environmental protections under the Clean Water Act for Bristol Bay and a plan that could permanently block the development of the proposed
Fifty years is a long time to be active in any field. For Tim Smith, his five decade career has been defined by leadership in the socially responsible investment industry. Smith co-founded the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, in 1971 and served as Executive Director from
Natural Investments plays a proactive role within our industry by facilitating positive economic, social, and environmental change. One of the ways we push for the transformation we want to see is through shareholder engagement with companies, as well as advocacy with elected officials and federal agency commissioners on matters of public policy.
Natural Investments has joined with other investors representing $6.7 Trillion in assets under management to request that Amazon, Inc. respect workers’ rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining. We believe that worker representation plays an important role in companies. In light of the reported anti-union practices at Amazon’s Bessemer facility in Alabama, we have
Company Engagement: Amazon and Human Rights Standards Read More »
Despite the pandemic and ensuing economic crisis, socially responsible investments (SRI) have received higher inflows of capital in 2020 than in any other period of American history. That’s right: investors have poured more than $21 billion into 300+ publicly available domestic SRI funds, well before the year’s end. All told, investors have already purchased more
Socially responsible investing has gone mainstream, if you haven’t heard. Recent reports show that the total amount of professionally managed money invested with social and or environmental criteria has topped $11 trillion. This hasn’t gone unnoticed by a myriad of large and small investment companies and advisors. It is now more important than ever for