Sustainable Finance & Socially Responsible Investment

Countless studies have shown that individuals with a college degree will do much better financially over the course of their careers than those without. That’s good news for those who graduate college, especially as the degree will be required for the bulk of new jobs the U.S. economy will create in the coming years.

Building off the momentum from its successful inaugural Forum in February, CECP: The CEO Force for Good will again host CEOs from leading S&P 500 companies at the September 19 CEO Investor Forum (CIF) in New York. CIF, organized by CECP’s Strategic Investor Initiative (SII), is a CEO- and investor-backed platform transforming Wall Street’s over-emphasis on short-term quarterly financial results to focus on “long-term value creation”–multi-year strategies that incorporate financial and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors.

Consumers Energy has helped 10,000 small businesses across Michigan lower their costs through an eight-year-old program that rewards them financially for taking steps to use less energy.

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and Mars Incorporated signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) today to work to increase incomes and economic opportunities for thousands of smallholder farmers in developing countries.

The overall organic sector has followed the same impressive trajectory. According to the "Natural Foods Merchandiser", in 1992 organic sector sales were $1.54B. Organic food sales have enjoyed double-digit growth every year since the 1990’s, topping out at $47B in 2016 and on pace for another roughly 10 percent growth this year, when they will likely cross the $50B mark. The organic sector now makes up about 5 percent of US retail food sales and Growing.

CSRHub Co-Founder and CEO, Cynthia Figge, will be speaking at the 28th Annual SRI Conference. This event will be held on November 1-3rd in San Diego, CA. During this conference, thought leaders, investors and investment professionals from all corners of the Sustainable, Responsible, Impact (SRI) investing universe convene to gain and share knowledge and strategies that align financial performance with positive change.

Many corporations that endeavor to be sustainable become a bit nervous as we pass Labor Day in the USA. The rebalancing of the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes is traditionally announced at that time. Is my company in? Out? Increasingly, CEOs and other C-suite execs and board members (as well as numerous managers) are holding "membership" in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices in very high regard.

LBG Canada is a network of professionals guiding social investment, corporate social responsibility and community engagement programs on behalf of Canada's leading companies.

Throughout the summer of 2017, many companies seem to be focused on the ROI of program management investment (ROMI). This would include investment in people, technology and communications (among other things) toward achieving community investment, volunteering and giving objectives.

ESG analytics and ratings have historically improved over the years. ESG ratings can now be used as a risk mitigation technique or an opportunity seeking technique.