One of the questions we are often asked is whether investors need to sacrifice returns for impact. Even more often, we observe that investors implicitly assume that a trade-off between impact and financial return is required without engaging in the conversation.
Major trends are changing finance as we know it. The world is undergoing structural shifts of money, with the World Economic Forum predicting a $41tn wealth transfer (PDF) from baby boomers to millennials over the next 40 years. It is also trying to adapt to a changing financial market structure.
An international group of more than 110 investors managing more than $5 trillion in assets is concerned about a small substance found in many household goods: palm oil.
If you took a college Ethics course, you may remember the famous debate between philosophers Immanuel Kant and John Stuart Mill. To simplify, Kant proposed that intentions determine whether an action is right or wrong. Mill, generations later, claimed that outcomes, such as how many lives an action saves, determine morality regardless of motives.
When it comes to managing money, the rich are increasingly pursuing more than just financial rewards and going full tilt on the idea of using investments as a tool for social and environmental change.
Raul Pomares, founder of San-Francisco-based Sonen Capital, said he advises clients, including tax-exempt foundations that typically don’t buy munis, that this segment of local-government debt has a role to play.
They have published research reports that require one to register for their website, but are worth that small effort, including "Evolution of an Impact Portfolio", "2013 Annual Impact Report",
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