The Road to Paris - Global Companies Speak Out Calling fo...
October 2015 The Road to Paris – Global Companies Speak Out Calling for Action on Climate Change Compiled by Trudy Pham & Timothy Smith – Walden Asset Management Introduction – Discussions about the importance of the Conference of the Parties (COP) and the decisions to be made in Paris on climate change have reached a new level of intensity. Investors, governments, environmental organizations, NGOs and companies are all part of the global buzz about COP. Recently, the Governor of Bank of England, Mark Carney, in a major address, asserted that the warming climate presents major risks to the global economy and global financial stability. He called climate change “the Tragedy of the Horizon” (think Tragedy of the...
Thoughts on ESG Investing and Fossil Fuel Consumption
Thoughts on ESG Investing and Fossil Fuel Consumption By Fred Rogers, Vice President and Treasurer of Carleton College The problem of climate change is real and its resolution requires a reduction in the consumption of fossil fuels worldwide. For this to occur, there must be a reduction in global demand, and thus both: (1) serious investment in alternative energy sources and (2) changes in social and economic behavior. While the UN Task Force is focused on GHG emissions and the socio-economic impacts of both climate change and the strategies of GHG reduction, much of the campus dialogue about climate change has been focused on the 350.Org initiative of divesting from the top 200 fossil fuel companies. There are many reasons to...
Selling Stranded Assets: Profit, Protection, and Prosperity
By Bob Litterman, Chairman, Risk Committee, Kepos Capital; and Chairman, Board of Trustees, Commonfund Can you protect your endowment, make money, and support action to reduce carbon emissions at the same time? Sell stranded assets. Many institutional investors including endowments, foundations, pensions, and even sovereign wealth funds are considering or have already divested from coal and other fossil fuel companies. At the US based World Wildlife Fund, where I chair the investment committee, we addressed this issue a little over two years ago. We asked ourselves what would be the impact on our portfolio holdings if appropriate incentives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions were instituted globally. The answer was obvious – certain assets such as reserves of coal and expensive...
Investing in Renewable Energy - Three Important Considera...
By Scott Hill, Clean Energy Advisors As direct investing in renewable energy becomes more common, especially investments available to a wider group of investors, it's important to remember there are three specific considerations you'll want to address first before you get into the common due diligence information we're all used to (management team, track record, financials, etc.). These three considerations are technology, development, and the off-taker. Renewable energy is advancing at an impressive rate. Universities, labs, and private companies are exploring ways to create and improve renewable and sustainable energy sources. While some of these technologies hold great promise in the future, you need to be mindful of how "proven" the technology is today. Some renewable energy technologies have enough...
Tony Cortese serves as moderator of panel discussion
On Tuesday, May 19th, 2015, WISE and BASIC, with the guidance of the Intentional Endowment Network, hosted a panel discussion in Boston focused on ESG and educational endowments in the U.S. today. Tony Cortese, Principal of the Intentional Endowment Network, moderated the panel discussion. Other panelists included Alice DonnaSelva, Consultant at Prime Buchholz & Associates, Christi Electris, Senior Associate at Croatan Institute, and Bill Jarvis, Managing Director at Commonfund Institute. In total, there were 40 participants from colleges, universities, and the investment industry. Together they explored a wide range of issues surrounding higher education endowment investments. These topics included everything from fossil fuel divestment, to ESG integration, to stakeholder action, and how to move the agenda forward in the endowment...
How Hampshire Invests
How Hampshire Invests By Jonathan Lash, President, Hampshire College There is growing debate — much of it driven by students — about the obligation of mission-driven nonprofit organizations to consider non-economic issues in their choice of investments. Society exempts us from taxation because we serve public purposes. Donors support us because they believe that doing so contributes to the common good. Each institution has its own mission, values, culture, and traditions to consider in making decisions about fiscal responsibility and moral obligation, but it is difficult to understand why an institution would refuse even to discuss the issues. For those of us engaged in education, this is no minor question: College and university endowments total more than $346 billion —...
Should MIT Divest? A Debate on Fossil Fuel Investment
Yesterday, Tony Cortese, a Principal of the Intentional Endowments Network, moderated a debate on whether or not MIT should divest of fossil fuels. Click here or on the image below to watch the full program on the MIT site. A description of the event and speakers from MIT's website: Join this event of the MIT Climate Change Conversation to learn about different facets of divestment from fossil fuel companies and explore whether MIT should divest its endowment as part of its response to climate change. Six prominent voices in the dialogue on climate change and energy will be staged as two teams that present PRO-divestment and AGAINST-divestment arguments in a classic debate format. The discussion will provide a nuanced view of...
Student Action at San Francisco State Foundation Board Me...
Students marching and carrying signs outside of the San Francisco State Foundation’s Board meeting on February 5th, 2015 had a slightly different message than most divestment protesters: “Thank You.” The demonstration was a show of student support regarding the Board’s decision in May 2013 to divest from coal and tar sands companies. Through open and respectful engagement between students, administrators, and the board, San Francisco State became the first public university to make the commitment to divest. The foundation has also voted to look into the option of divesting from all fossil fuel companies in the future. Last month, Robert Nava, President of the SFSU Foundation, spoke at the Intentionally Designed Endowment Forum at Arizona State. He told...
Student Action at San Francisco State Foundation Board Me...
Students marching and carrying signs outside of the San Francisco State Foundation’s Board meeting on February 5th, 2015 had a slightly different message than most divestment protesters: “Thank You.” The demonstration was a show of student support regarding the Board’s decision in May 2013 to divest from coal and tar sands companies. Through open and respectful engagement between students, administrators, and the board, San Francisco State became the first public university to make the commitment to divest. The foundation has also voted to look into the option of divesting from all fossil fuel companies in the future. Last month, Robert Nava, President of the SFSU Foundation, spoke at the Intentionally Designed Endowment Forum at Arizona State. He told...
Should MIT Divest? A Debate on Fossil Fuel Investment
Yesterday, Tony Cortese, a Principal of the Intentional Endowments Network, moderated a debate on whether or not MIT should divest of fossil fuels. Click here or on the image below to watch the full program on the MIT site. A description of the event and speakers from MIT's website: Join this event of the MIT Climate Change Conversation to learn about different facets of divestment from fossil fuel companies and explore whether MIT should divest its endowment as part of its response to climate change. Six prominent voices in the dialogue on climate change and energy will be staged as two teams that present PRO-divestment and AGAINST-divestment arguments in a classic debate format. The discussion will provide a nuanced view of...
How Hampshire Invests
How Hampshire Invests By Jonathan Lash, President, Hampshire College There is growing debate — much of it driven by students — about the obligation of mission-driven nonprofit organizations to consider non-economic issues in their choice of investments. Society exempts us from taxation because we serve public purposes. Donors support us because they believe that doing so contributes to the common good. Each institution has its own mission, values, culture, and traditions to consider in making decisions about fiscal responsibility and moral obligation, but it is difficult to understand why an institution would refuse even to discuss the issues. For those of us engaged in education, this is no minor question: College and university endowments total more than $346 billion —...
Tony Cortese serves as moderator of panel discussion
On Tuesday, May 19th, 2015, WISE and BASIC, with the guidance of the Intentional Endowment Network, hosted a panel discussion in Boston focused on ESG and educational endowments in the U.S. today. Tony Cortese, Principal of the Intentional Endowment Network, moderated the panel discussion. Other panelists included Alice DonnaSelva, Consultant at Prime Buchholz & Associates, Christi Electris, Senior Associate at Croatan Institute, and Bill Jarvis, Managing Director at Commonfund Institute. In total, there were 40 participants from colleges, universities, and the investment industry. Together they explored a wide range of issues surrounding higher education endowment investments. These topics included everything from fossil fuel divestment, to ESG integration, to stakeholder action, and how to move the agenda forward in the endowment...
Investing in Renewable Energy - Three Important Considera...
By Scott Hill, Clean Energy Advisors As direct investing in renewable energy becomes more common, especially investments available to a wider group of investors, it's important to remember there are three specific considerations you'll want to address first before you get into the common due diligence information we're all used to (management team, track record, financials, etc.). These three considerations are technology, development, and the off-taker. Renewable energy is advancing at an impressive rate. Universities, labs, and private companies are exploring ways to create and improve renewable and sustainable energy sources. While some of these technologies hold great promise in the future, you need to be mindful of how "proven" the technology is today. Some renewable energy technologies have enough...
Selling Stranded Assets: Profit, Protection, and Prosperity
By Bob Litterman, Chairman, Risk Committee, Kepos Capital; and Chairman, Board of Trustees, Commonfund Can you protect your endowment, make money, and support action to reduce carbon emissions at the same time? Sell stranded assets. Many institutional investors including endowments, foundations, pensions, and even sovereign wealth funds are considering or have already divested from coal and other fossil fuel companies. At the US based World Wildlife Fund, where I chair the investment committee, we addressed this issue a little over two years ago. We asked ourselves what would be the impact on our portfolio holdings if appropriate incentives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions were instituted globally. The answer was obvious – certain assets such as reserves of coal and expensive...
Thoughts on ESG Investing and Fossil Fuel Consumption
Thoughts on ESG Investing and Fossil Fuel Consumption By Fred Rogers, Vice President and Treasurer of Carleton College The problem of climate change is real and its resolution requires a reduction in the consumption of fossil fuels worldwide. For this to occur, there must be a reduction in global demand, and thus both: (1) serious investment in alternative energy sources and (2) changes in social and economic behavior. While the UN Task Force is focused on GHG emissions and the socio-economic impacts of both climate change and the strategies of GHG reduction, much of the campus dialogue about climate change has been focused on the 350.Org initiative of divesting from the top 200 fossil fuel companies. There are many reasons to...
The Road to Paris - Global Companies Speak Out Calling fo...
October 2015 The Road to Paris – Global Companies Speak Out Calling for Action on Climate Change Compiled by Trudy Pham & Timothy Smith – Walden Asset Management Introduction – Discussions about the importance of the Conference of the Parties (COP) and the decisions to be made in Paris on climate change have reached a new level of intensity. Investors, governments, environmental organizations, NGOs and companies are all part of the global buzz about COP. Recently, the Governor of Bank of England, Mark Carney, in a major address, asserted that the warming climate presents major risks to the global economy and global financial stability. He called climate change “the Tragedy of the Horizon” (think Tragedy of the...
How Hampshire Invests
How Hampshire Invests By Jonathan Lash, President, Hampshire College There is growing debate — much of it driven by students — about the obligation of mission-driven nonprofit organizations to consider non-economic issues in their choice of investments. Society exempts us from taxation because we serve public purposes. Donors support us because they believe that doing so contributes to the common good. Each institution has its own mission, values, culture, and traditions to consider in making decisions about fiscal responsibility and moral obligation, but it is difficult to understand why an institution would refuse even to discuss the issues. For those of us engaged in education, this is no minor question: College and university endowments total more than $346 billion —...
Investing in Renewable Energy - Three Important Considera...
By Scott Hill, Clean Energy Advisors As direct investing in renewable energy becomes more common, especially investments available to a wider group of investors, it's important to remember there are three specific considerations you'll want to address first before you get into the common due diligence information we're all used to (management team, track record, financials, etc.). These three considerations are technology, development, and the off-taker. Renewable energy is advancing at an impressive rate. Universities, labs, and private companies are exploring ways to create and improve renewable and sustainable energy sources. While some of these technologies hold great promise in the future, you need to be mindful of how "proven" the technology is today. Some renewable energy technologies have enough...
Selling Stranded Assets: Profit, Protection, and Prosperity
By Bob Litterman, Chairman, Risk Committee, Kepos Capital; and Chairman, Board of Trustees, Commonfund Can you protect your endowment, make money, and support action to reduce carbon emissions at the same time? Sell stranded assets. Many institutional investors including endowments, foundations, pensions, and even sovereign wealth funds are considering or have already divested from coal and other fossil fuel companies. At the US based World Wildlife Fund, where I chair the investment committee, we addressed this issue a little over two years ago. We asked ourselves what would be the impact on our portfolio holdings if appropriate incentives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions were instituted globally. The answer was obvious – certain assets such as reserves of coal and expensive...
Should MIT Divest? A Debate on Fossil Fuel Investment
Yesterday, Tony Cortese, a Principal of the Intentional Endowments Network, moderated a debate on whether or not MIT should divest of fossil fuels. Click here or on the image below to watch the full program on the MIT site. A description of the event and speakers from MIT's website: Join this event of the MIT Climate Change Conversation to learn about different facets of divestment from fossil fuel companies and explore whether MIT should divest its endowment as part of its response to climate change. Six prominent voices in the dialogue on climate change and energy will be staged as two teams that present PRO-divestment and AGAINST-divestment arguments in a classic debate format. The discussion will provide a nuanced view of...
Student Action at San Francisco State Foundation Board Me...
Students marching and carrying signs outside of the San Francisco State Foundation’s Board meeting on February 5th, 2015 had a slightly different message than most divestment protesters: “Thank You.” The demonstration was a show of student support regarding the Board’s decision in May 2013 to divest from coal and tar sands companies. Through open and respectful engagement between students, administrators, and the board, San Francisco State became the first public university to make the commitment to divest. The foundation has also voted to look into the option of divesting from all fossil fuel companies in the future. Last month, Robert Nava, President of the SFSU Foundation, spoke at the Intentionally Designed Endowment Forum at Arizona State. He told...
The Road to Paris - Global Companies Speak Out Calling fo...
October 2015 The Road to Paris – Global Companies Speak Out Calling for Action on Climate Change Compiled by Trudy Pham & Timothy Smith – Walden Asset Management Introduction – Discussions about the importance of the Conference of the Parties (COP) and the decisions to be made in Paris on climate change have reached a new level of intensity. Investors, governments, environmental organizations, NGOs and companies are all part of the global buzz about COP. Recently, the Governor of Bank of England, Mark Carney, in a major address, asserted that the warming climate presents major risks to the global economy and global financial stability. He called climate change “the Tragedy of the Horizon” (think Tragedy of the...
Thoughts on ESG Investing and Fossil Fuel Consumption
Thoughts on ESG Investing and Fossil Fuel Consumption By Fred Rogers, Vice President and Treasurer of Carleton College The problem of climate change is real and its resolution requires a reduction in the consumption of fossil fuels worldwide. For this to occur, there must be a reduction in global demand, and thus both: (1) serious investment in alternative energy sources and (2) changes in social and economic behavior. While the UN Task Force is focused on GHG emissions and the socio-economic impacts of both climate change and the strategies of GHG reduction, much of the campus dialogue about climate change has been focused on the 350.Org initiative of divesting from the top 200 fossil fuel companies. There are many reasons to...
Tony Cortese serves as moderator of panel discussion
On Tuesday, May 19th, 2015, WISE and BASIC, with the guidance of the Intentional Endowment Network, hosted a panel discussion in Boston focused on ESG and educational endowments in the U.S. today. Tony Cortese, Principal of the Intentional Endowment Network, moderated the panel discussion. Other panelists included Alice DonnaSelva, Consultant at Prime Buchholz & Associates, Christi Electris, Senior Associate at Croatan Institute, and Bill Jarvis, Managing Director at Commonfund Institute. In total, there were 40 participants from colleges, universities, and the investment industry. Together they explored a wide range of issues surrounding higher education endowment investments. These topics included everything from fossil fuel divestment, to ESG integration, to stakeholder action, and how to move the agenda forward in the endowment...