Divestment and Socially Responsible Investing

Presented by Trav Williams

Investment Advisory Services offered through Global

Financial Private Capital, LLC, an SEC Registered Investment Advisor.

CA Insurance License # 0G61385

I confess…

I’m a tree hugger!

(me – 1973)

Four Questions

• What is socially responsible investing (SRI)?• What is divestment?• Do they make a difference?• What’s the downside?

What is SRI?

Aligns with investor’s values–Renewable energy–Fair trade–Sustainable development–Etc.

What SRI Isn’t…

• The opposite–Socially irresponsible

• Shouldn’t all investments be socially responsible?

Who controls corporatesocial responsibility? Employees?

Managers?

Executives?

Boards of Directors?

Investors

• SRI limits investor diversification.• Thousands of investment options to

choose from

SRI Myths

SRI Myths

• Higher returns from irresponsible investments.• How sustainable are these

returns?

SRI Myths

• Markets aren’t impacted by SRI.• Institutional investors are already

impacting markets by requiring SRI• CalPERS, for example

SRI Myths

• Hard to know how socially-responsible an investment is• Hard, but not that hard!

4 Steps for SRI

1 - Identify SRI screening criteria• Pollution?• Oil drilling and fracking?• Slave labor?• Rainforest destruction?• War?

4 Steps for SRI

2 - Analyze existing portfolio3 - Identify alternative investments4 - Adjust portfolio

What is divestment?

• Sale of an asset to achieve a particular objective

• Eric Hendey, Harvard University Institute of Politics– “…Worldwide popular opposition in the 1980s

contributed to the decline of apartheid, and divestment was an important piece of this puzzle.”

Fossil Fuel Divestment

• “…We must reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere from its current level of 400 parts per million to below 350 ppm.” -350.org

• Better long-term investment?–Oil?–Renewable energy?

Divestment Commitments

“A growing number of institutions are committing to divest from fossil fuels.” • gofossilfree.org/commitments

Colleges, Universities, & InstitutionsCollege of the AtlanticFoothill-De Anza Community College FoundationGreen Mountain CollegeHampshire CollegeNaropa UniversityPeralta Community College DistrictPitzer CollegePrescott CollegeSan Francisco State University FoundationStanford UniversitySterling College

Unity CollegeUniversity of DaytonConservation Breeding Specialist GroupSanta Fe Art InstituteNew Progressive AllianceCouncil of CanadiansSanta Clara Valley Water DistrictStudents’ Society of McGill University Island Institute, Maine, USBritish Medical Association

Cities and CountiesSeattle, WASan Francisco, CAPortland, OREugene, ORBerkeley, CARichmond, CASanta Monica, CABoulder, COSanta Fe, NMMadison, WIBayfield, WI

State College, PAIthaca, NYTruro, MAProvincetown, MAProvidence, RICambridge, MANorthampton, MAAnn Arbor, MIBoxtel, the NetherlandsNew London, CTAmherst, MA

Sudbury, MAConcord, MAFramingham, MADunedin, New ZealandOakland, CaliforniaEugene, ORCity of Brisbane, CASan Francisco County, CADane County, WI

FoundationsDivest-Invest Philanthropic GroupSierra Club FoundationWallace Global FundJubitz Family FoundationThe Educational Foundation of AmericaPark FoundationThe Russell Family FoundationCompton FoundationKL Felicitas FoundationThe Chorus FoundationSinging Field FoundationNia Community FoundationThe John Merck FundThe Joseph Rowntree Charitable TrustSolidago FoundationJessie Smith Noyes Foundation

Granary FoundationThe Schmidt Family FoundationBen & Jerry’s FoundationPax FundRoss Knowles FundMadden Sainsbury FoundationEarth Welfare FoundationMcKinnon Family FoundationThe Hunt FoundationPace FoundationMullum TrustNSRC FundRobert and Patricia Switzer Foundation[Rockefeller Foundation]

Religious InstitutionsUnited Church of Christ – NationalMassachusetts United Church of ChristMinnesota United Church of ChristEvangelical Lutheran Church of OregonFirst Unitarian Church of Salt Lake City, UTFirst Parish Unitarian Universalist Church in Cambridge, MAPortsmouth South Church Unitarian First Unitarian Church of Pittsfield, MEFirst Unitarian Society of Milwaukee, WIFirst Presbyterian Palo Alto, CAUniting Church, New South Wales & ACT, AustraliaDover Friends Meeting, Dover, NHMelbourne Unitarian Church, AustraliaUnitarian Universalist Society of Amherst, MAAnglican Diocese of Wellington, New ZealandAnglican Diocese of Auckland, New ZealandAnglican Diocese of Dunedin, New ZealandAnglican Diocese of Waiapu, New ZealandAnglican Diocese of Waikato and Taranaki, New ZealandAnglican Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand and PolynesiaBrighthelm Church, Brighton, UKSociety for Community WorkEpiscopal Diocese of Massachusetts, MAMaine Council of Churches, ME

Trinity St. Paul’s United Church, Toronto, CanadaQuakers in BritainDiakonia, SwedenColorado Ratnashri SanghaFirst Unitarian Church, OttawaUnion Theological Seminary, New York CityFirst Religious Society of Newburyport, MAUnitarian Society of Northampton & Florence, MAUnitarian Universalist AssociationCentral Philadelphia Monthly Quaker Meeting, PA, USALansdowne Monthly Quaker Meeting, PA, USAWesttown Monthly Quaker Meeting, PA, USALehigh Valley Monthly Quaker Meeting, PA, USAOld Haverford Monthly Quaker Meeting, PA, USANewtown Monthly Quaker Meeting, PA, USAHaverford Quarterly Quaker Meeting, PA, USAJamaica Plain Unitarian Universalist, NY, USAWorld Council of ChurchesCommunity Friends, OH, USAUniting Church in Australia Assembly, AustraliaFranciscan Sisters of Mary, MO, USAEpiscopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts, MA, USA

SRI Resources• Biblical Responsible Investing Institute

www.BRIInstitute.com• CalPERS investment research

www.CalPERS-Governance.org• Coalition for Environmentally

Responsible Economies www.Ceres.org

• Community Development Venture Capital Alliance www.cdvca.org

• Corporate filings with the SEC www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml

• Details on public companies and funds http://www.morningstar.com/

• Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility – Reports & Publications http://www.iccr.org/reports-and-publications

• Most sustainable companies, according to the World Economic Forum www.Global100.org

• SRI articles http://www.triplepundit.com/category/investment-markets/

• SRI Mutual Fund List http://charts.ussif.org/mfpc/

• US SIF - Research and Publications http://www.ussif.org/pubs

Closing

• Do SRI and divestment make a difference?–YES!

• What’s the downside?–Additional level of screening

Questions?