January 2016

Planetlight

 

“Sustainable Investing” goes Mainstream

The Wall Street Journal
By Alex Davidson
January 13, 2016

Long viewed as a niche asset class catering to wealthy individuals and institutions that wanted to avoid controversial industries such as tobacco and firearms, sustainable investing turned a corner last year. Mainstream financial firms have jumped into the fray, launching investment products that take into account environmental, social and governance factors.

Yet challenges remain, including that there is not one agreed-upon definition of what makes an investment “sustainable.”

Document

REPORT – Impact Investing: Making the case to your Trustees

Exponent Philanthropy – Philanthrofiles
By David Wood
January 7, 2016

The responsibility for impact investment adoption for foundations lies at the board level.

The idea to explore impact investment as a philanthropic strategy may come from a single board member, or from staff or consultants who have seen other foundations adopt impact investing. Board engagement is a critical next step for implementing an impact investing strategy: the board should be educated on the state of the field, and take a broad survey of potential areas of interest or investment opportunities that match the board’s goals.

 

Barbarians

An Investment Strategy to Save the Planet

The New York Times
By Tina Rosenberg
January 5, 2016

If one of your New Year’s resolutions was to do your part against climate change, now you can – with your investments. You’d be following the State of New York’s example. The state’s comptroller, Thomas DiNapoli, announced that the Common Retirement Fund, for public employee pensions, will put $2 billion into a new investment fund that prioritizes companies with smaller carbon footprints.

The NY Common Retirement Fund is the country’s third-largest pension fund, making this announcement big news for climate change and the world of institutional investors.


renewable energy

Clean Energy got a record $330 Billion in Investment Last Year 

Fortune
By Katie Fehrenbacher
January 14, 2016

The growth of solar and wind farms worldwide bucked the drop in fossil fuel prices. Investors and governments around the world put $330 billion into clean energy last year including solar farms and wind projects built on both land and sea.

This funding highlights the global shift towards cleaner energy and away from certain fossil fuels like coal. About a third of the funding occurred in China amid increasingly aggressive support from the government to help the country meet its rising electricity demand and ameliorate its pollution problem.