Webinar:  Mission-Aligned Investing: What New Positive Deviance Research Can Tell Us About What Moves Institutional Investors to Action

Date: March 15, 2017, 12:00 - 1:00 PM ET

• Abigail Abrash Walton, PhD
•  Moderator: Jacquelyn Smith, Senior Fellow, Intentional Endowments Network   

Speaker Bio:

Abigail Abrash Walton, PhD Abigail is a seasoned mission-aligned change leader, with experience at multiple scales including organizational, municipal, state, federal, and international. She serves as faculty in Antioch University New England’s Department of Environmental Studies, where she directs the Advocacy for Social Justice and Sustainability master’s degree concentration and co-directs Antioch’s Center for Climate Preparedness and Community Resilience. Her public engagement, research, and teaching focus on change leadership and translating values into effective action, particularly regarding environmental and social performance. She enjoys the spirit and practice of innovation and has played a central role in launching Antioch’s Conservation Psychology Institute and Translating Research to Inform Policy workshops and in catalyzing a national-level working group to build the capacity of scientists and researchers to engage with the public policy process.  Read more...

 

Presentation slides

Abrash Walton, A. (2016) Positive Organizational Leadership and Pro-Environmental Behavior: The Phenomenon of Institutional Fossil Fuel Divestment. Dissertations & Theses. Paper 269. http://aura.antioch.edu/etds/269    

 

Webinar: Sustainable Investing through Hedge Funds 

Date: March 9, 2017, 1:00 - 2:00 PM ET

ESG and sustainable investing strategies have historically been less prevalent in hedge funds than other areas of investment.  However, the same benefits apply to hedge funds that employ these strategies. In fact, because of their ability to sell short, hedge funds can benefit not only from investing long in winning companies, but also from shorting companies on the losing end of the shift to sustainable business models or companies with high levels of ESG risk.  In this webinar, we will discuss five key areas of focus including:

• Sustainable themes, such as renewable energy and global healthcare solutions, are focused on areas of the equity market with significant stock dispersion, making them excellent areas for long/short investing with strong potential for alpha generation.
• There are growing areas of opportunity in sustainable credit strategies, such as expanding access to credit to underserved segments of the population, funding for hospitals and schools, and community development through small business lending.
• A multi-manager portfolio, integrating multiple sustainability approaches, provides important diversification and risk mitigation benefits to maximize risk-adjusted returns, particularly given the high volatility of certain sustainable sectors such as renewable energy.
• Avoiding investments in carbon-related energy companies that are part of The Carbon Underground 200 avoids risks associated with potentially stranded assets and reduces climate change-related tail risks.
• Active ownership through oversight and corporate engagement can achieve positive outcomes.

For additional information, please also see the Alternative Investments White Paper, ESG and Sustainable Hedge Fund Investing: Observations. 

Webinar:  KnowTheChain Benchmarking Findings: How Are Companies Addressing Forced Labor and Human Trafficking Risks in Their Supply Chains? 

Date: January 19th, 2017

Benchmarks can play a powerful role in encouraging companies to uphold labor standards and protect workers’ rights. In 2016, KnowTheChain, a resource for businesses and investors to address forced labor abuses and human trafficking within their supply chains, has benchmarked 60 large global companies on their efforts to address these risks in sectors that are at high risk of forced labor: the Information & Technology Communication, Food & Beverage, and Apparel & Footwear.   

Based on these findings, this webinar will provide insights into: 

• Why forced labor is relevant to investors?
• How investors can address forced labor risks in their portfolio?
• How are companies across the three sectors addressing forced labor risks?  
• What are gaps and opportunities for improvement in the sectors?
• How can investors use the KnowTheChain findings?
• What questions should investors ask their investee companies? 

Panelists:  

• Bennett Freeman, Senior Advisor, Know the Chain; former Senior VP, Sustainability Research and Policy, Calvert Investments
• Megan Wallingford, Senior Advisor, Sustainalytics
• Felicitas Weber, KnowTheChain Project Lead, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre
• Moderator:  Sonal Mahida, Director, Intentional Endowments Network 

• Presentation
• KnowTheChain Investor Resources 

Speakers Bios:

Bennett Freeman, Consultant, Board Member and Speaker on Business and Human Rights, Sustainability, and Responsible Investment

Over the last 17 years of a three decade-plus long career, Bennett Freeman has worked at the intersection of multinational companies, responsible investors, NGOs, governments and international institutions to promote corporate responsibility, sustainability and human rights around the world.  An innovative leader in the fields of business and human rights, natural resource governance and responsible investment, he has played key roles in developing and leading several now well-established multi-stakeholder initiatives and global standards.  Read full bio... 

Megan Wallingford, Senior Advisor, Sustainalytics

 Sonal Mahida, Director, Intentional Endowments Network

Sonal comes to IEN with over 15 years of experience in the field. During her career Sonal has worked on ESG investing and sustainability issues at institutional investors, S&P 500, Fortune 500companies, as well as non-profits. As Head of North America for the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), she developed and led initiatives to aid U.S. and Canadian investors in the practice and implementation of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) integration and risk management.  Prior to joining PRI, Sonal worked on corporate sustainability at Hess. Read full bio...

Webinar:  Transitioning to Integrating Investment Practices with Program Mission

Date:  10/19 at 1:00-2:00pm EST

Co-hosted by the Intentional Endowments Network (IEN) and the Network for Sustainable Financial Markets (SFM), this webinar will provide an overview of processes used by the Heron Foundation and Hampshire College to develop investment policies and implement management practices that align investments with their respective institutional missions.

Panelists:  

Webinar: Gender Lens Investing: The Business Case, Opportunities, and Action 

Date: February 17, 2017, 12:00 - 1:00 PM ET

The business case for investing in women has never been stronger. Research shows that companies where women are better represented in leadership simply perform better. And the financial power of women continues to grow. Yet, staggering gender inequality persists in varying forms across the globe.

In this session, Kathleen McQuiggan, Senior Vice President of Global Women's Strategies at Pax World, will explore why we should be investing more in women, how investors can make an impact when it comes to gender diversity, and the role we can play in closing the gender gap.

Julianne Zimmerman, Managing Director at Reinventure Capital, will highlight a sampling of third-party research which makes the economic, social, and financial investment case for investing in companies led by women.  She will discuss persistent misconceptions about women founders and leaders, and point to evidence of significant market inefficiencies connected to gender and race.

Kathleen McQuiggan, Senior Vice President, Global Women's Strategies, Pax World Management LLC, Managing Director, Pax Ellevate Management LLC