NWSRI - Northwest Socially Responsible Investors
our collection of bits N bobs - Shaula and Elise
What is socially responsible investing? Shaula wrote a blog entry about it.
Information and Research
Green Money Journal - "Every week brings news that makes socially and environmentally responsible investing and green business more relevant then ever."
Materials on Mission Related Investing from the Noyes Foundation
Social Funds - personal finance site devoted to socially responsible investing
International - the United Nations Environment Programme - Finance Initative: UNEP-FI
They just published (Jan 2007) an interesting whitepaper on the slow uptake of ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) issues in High Net Worth Individual asset management.
Socially Responsible Investment Research firm
Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility - home of the EthVest proxy vote database
Social Investment Forum guide to socially responsible mutal funds
Social Investment Forum Community Investment Database
Info on Nathan Cummings Foundation shareholder engagement activities
Investor Network on Climate Risk
Good Money
ISS - Institutional Shareholder Services - they do proxy voting for large holders
Proxy Democracy - help for individual investors - see what the big SRI funds are doing!
SRIAdvisor.com
Social Edge
Innovest - investing and research firm focused on socially & environmentally responsible investment
A great SRI book listing, courtesy of Creative Investment Research. They also have several pages with good info on choosing advisors and investments.
http://www.sristudies.org/index.html - a collection of 17 key papers on socially responsible investing
Glossary of Investment Terms - an nwsri link
Places we've heard of to invest
Asset Managers
Progressive Investment Management, Portland OR
Light Green Advisors, Seattle, WA
Trillium Asset Management, Boston, Boise, San Francisco, Durham
http://www.harringtoninvestments.com/ - Napa, CA
http://www.creativeinvest.com/ - MN. They run a diversity fund that looks at how companies manage diversity.
Generation Investment Management - London & DC. Honorary Chairman Al Gore. However they don't consider themselves SRI, rather they're trad alpha with a "sustainability lens".
Investment Advisors
The Caprock Group, Boise ID
Social Equity Group, Berkeley, CA
Good Funds, Seattle, WA
Natural Investing, CO, CA, HI
Veris Wealth Partners, NY
Newground Social Investment, Seattle, WA
Investment managers of The Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation
Blue Dot Venture Fund
Boston Common Asset Management http://www.bostoncommonasset.com
Commons Capital http://www.commonscapital.com
Kenwood Capital Management http://www.riversource.com/rvsc/investments/kenwood-management.asp
Neuberger Berman, LLC http://www.nb.com
Solstice Capital http://www.solcap.com
TIAA-CREF Asset Management http://www.tcasset.com
Trainer, Wortham & Company http://www.trainerwortham.com
Winslow Management Company http://www.winslowgreen.com
Consultant Mercer Investment Consulting http://www.merceric.com
Mutual Fund Companies
Domini Social Investments
Trillium Asset Management
The Calvert Group has an Introduction to Socially Responsible Investing
Progressive, mentioned above, has a mutual fund: Portfolio 21
Community Development Venture Capital - overview
Pacific Community Ventures
SJF Ventures
CEI Maine
Kentucky Highlands
Bay Area Equity Fund
Angel Groups
Investor's Circle
Investment Banking
Evergreen Pacific Capital, Issaquah, WA
Interesting Private Equity or similar
Good Capital - full disclosure: Shaula is interning here for summer of 2007
Return On Inspiration
Conscious Capital Fund - stumbled across this site while researching a potential new friend. don't know them yet.
Farm Power - working to turn manure into fertilizer, electricty, bedding and carbon credits.
Ignia Fund - vVVenture capital investment firm based in Monterrey, Mexico that supports the founding and expansion of high growth social enterprises that serve the base of the socio-economic pyramid in Latin America.
Root Capital - a nonprofit social investment fund that is pioneering finance for grassroots businesses in the developing world. We work with artisan and farmer associations that build sustainable livelihoods and transform rural economies in poor, environmentally vulnerable places.
Brokerage Firms
AltruShare Securities - though they only work with institutional clients for now (Sept 2007).
Measuring Return
methods
- Return On Investment (ROI) - straight cash on cash, no time component
- Compound rate - ROI annualized
- Internal Rate of Return (IRR) - the theoretically comparable compound interest rate to earn the same ROI over a specific set of time. However, it assumes that returned cash is reinvested at the same rate until the entire project ends, which isn't realistic. A criticism of IRR for evaluating investment returns.
- non-financial returns or impacts, screening filters or engagement?
- carbon footprint
- changed priorites (someday!)
- internal gini coefficient?
- training investment - helping employees develop or improve skills that will make them more employable. helping employees develop or improve Financial LIteracy (something the Ford Foundation has asked of the Bay Area Equity Fund)
- entry-level employment - related to the above and below - are there entry-level opportunities that provide training and enable formerly low-income people to move to (and beyond) living wage employment?
- living wage - are employees making a living wage for their area?
- % employees with health care coverage
- employee ownership - particularly in growth companies looking for an investor exit. Share the wealth, eh?
- Pacific Community Ventures has developed a "Job Quality" measure that is " a weighted scale of key employment features including wage, employer share of health benefit premiums, training hours and provision of wealth building opportunities" from http://www.pacificcommunityventures.org/publications/2005-SocialReturnExecutiveSummary.pdf. They do consulting, inquire at
info at pcvmail.org
benchmarks
Metrics and Indicators
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