Off you go... into the purple yonder! » Finance/SRI

intel

ward — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 14:06:14 +0000

Sometimes Google Finance has its issues – check out INTC’s listing this morning:

trade deficits

ward — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 23:06:24 +0000

CNN has an excellent article by Warren Buffett on the worrying US trade deficit.

He wrote it four YEARS ago.

norway’s pension fund

ward — Sat, 05 May 2007 15:20:06 +0000

The New York Times has an interesting article about how Norway is divesting some of its huge pension fund based on ethical considerations – in this particular case, Wal-mart’s turning a blind eye to child-labor at its suppliers, and its anti-union stance.

It’s refreshing to see a huge investor apply ethics deliberately. It’s also particularly refreshing to see a country actually build up a pension fund, rather than deplete it to fund budget deficits. Of course, Norway has oil so this is ‘easy’ for them – but all that extra income must make the temptation to spend it even bigger, and they are not.

MaxedOut

ward — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 03:21:27 +0000

Went to see MaxedOut tonight in a special showing at Harvard Law. Highly recommended – catch it if you can. It’s also very timely now that (subprime) debt is “suddenly” a big issue because a couple of big lenders are in financial trouble. As the film shows, credit card companies and major banks are doing some very nasty stuff and have no intention of changing their ways – they make way too much money doing what they do.

We obviously need some major policy change, but that will no doubt take a lot of time. As a more concrete step, it would be nice to change banks to a less evil, more progressive one. There are some out there – smaller ones like Wainwright in Boston, for instance. But high-quality, extensive online banking is really, really important to me, and from what I hear their online banking isn’t quite on par with the offerings from bigger banks quite yet. I’ll keep an eye on them though.

the dirty secret of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

ward — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 18:11:34 +0000

The LA Times exposes the Gates Foundation as an unethical investor. Read the article – it’s shocking. They are trying to do all this good in the world, and at the same time they have their enormous assets invested in companies that make people sick, are heavy polluters, and grossly overprice the very pharmaceuticals that are most helpful in the number one priority of the foundation: the fight against AIDS.

According to the article, the Gates Foundation has at least 41% of its assets invested in companies that are notoriously non-ethical. That includes investments in 69 of the top 100 worst polluters in the US and the top 50 worst polluters in Canada (based on 2005 figures).

They are not alone – many other philantropies are invested this way – but while some of the other foundations have become activist shareholders, pressuring the companies they invest in into changing their ways, the Gates Foundation instead is planning to institutionalize the ‘firewall’ they have set up between their investment arm and the part of the foundation that hands out grants by splitting the investment arm off in a separate trust. That way, the investments will not be ‘hampered’ by the policies of ‘doing good’.

The Gates Foundation has the opportunity to set an amazing example by choosing to invest ethically. I hope they will change their ways, but I must say I’m not holding my breath, given the people that are involved.

If you want to become part of the solution rather than the problem, Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) or Ethical Investing is really not that hard. Check out this Morningstar article, and this NRDC one. Do you have a 401K or an IRA? Consider investing them responsibly. If you have a money market account, check out Domini Funds, they offer one with competitive rates. Domini has several SRI funds as well.