by Suzanna Buck, Senior Impact Investment Associate at Domini Impact Investments (named to the 30 Under 30 list at The SRI Conference in Nov 2019)
I might be the only ecologist on Wall Street, but I don’t mind. It’s exactly where I want to be: after a winding journey through field research, advocacy, and legal work, I believe changing the financial system may be the most effective solution to climate change.
by Jessye Waxman, Green Century Capital Management
As a shareholder advocate for an environmentally-responsible mutual fund company, I directly engage companies on their supply chain strategies and have successfully convinced them to adopt practices that have real-world impacts that protect a triple bottom line. I’ve collaborated with Aramark and Tyson Foods to develop robust no-deforestation commitments, and have successfully pressed Kroger, the largest grocery chain in the US, to adopt a no-deforestation policy that will cover its private label products.
by Jon Hale, Ph.D, head of sustainable investing research for Morningstar. In 2018, Hale was named to Barron’s list of the 20 most influential people in ESG investing, and in 2019, he was included in the InvestmentNews’ 10 leaders of ESG & Impact investing
To boost portfolio ESG quality and the potential for improved risk-adjusted returns
Article
by Scott LaBreche, Director at Impax Asset Management
The megatrends underlying the transition to a more sustainable economy, such as climate change and widening inequality, are global issues. It should come as no surprise, then, that companies are addressing sustainability risks and opportunities regardless of their domicile.
So investors may be wondering, how are companies in developed markets outside the U.S. and Canada performing on sustainability issues? It varies, of course, but on the whole, they are performing better than those in the U.S.
by Doug Lynam, book author and financial professional
I’ve always hated talking about money. Growing up in a rich family, I learned through the behavior of those around me that money and materialism were evil. Instead of being used in love and service, money was weaponized and became a tool to manipulate and control behavior. So when I began studying philosophy and religion in high school and read the words of Paul the apostle, “For the love of money is the root of all evil,” I mistakenly believed Paul was right. I was a proto-monk in the making.
by Julie Gorte, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Impax Aseet Management and Pax World Funds
When I began working to make boards more gender diverse in 2001, the percentage of women on the boards of large companies in the United States was around 12 percent. By 2011, women had gained a few more seats at the table, and by 2016 women held 21 percent of board seats at Fortune 500 companies. At this rate of progress — less than one percent increase per year — it will be three more decades before big companies’ boards achieve gender parity. And that, sadly, is the good news.
