Robert Goellner

New Thoughts = New Vocabulary!

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There is an old saying, “If you put your ear to the ground” you can hear something coming.  This still applies, except the ‘ear’ is now mostly electronic!  In our business we need to stay very alert and follow all of the news that will impact our future.  Clearly , there are changes coming that will impact all of our lives.

Using this BLOG I intend to introduce you to as many of these new forces as possible over the coming weeks. In this way, we can explore the issues and begin to digest what our future will look like and how we can make it all work.

The New Economy is a place to start.  You may have heard or seen this already in various ways. Basically it means an economy that meets our current social and environmental goals. An economy that focuses less on driving profits and more on good corporate citizenship, positive community impacts, and expanding ownership differently.

The Triple Bottom Line is the next item on the agenda. It is otherwise seen and heard as “People, Planet, and Profits.” This idea too focuses as much on social and environmental concerns as it does on profits.  Sustainability is the main thrust here.

The J.E.D.I Collaborative and the American Sustainable Business Council looks at the world from the same viewpoint as the two items above, but it also adds another set of valuable ingredients: Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion to the mix.  The idea here is to “recognize the fundamental rights of all people to develop their talents, earn a living wage, and be treated with dignity in the workplace.” Our future economic life depends on all of us working together and prospering!

In studying these three ideas you can get a start in terms of how these ideas are different from previous similar ideas, and you can put them all together and imagine how the world will be different than it is now. We at Common Interests talk a lot about the Global Village in which we live.  Basically these three ideas will be part of making this Global Village a wonderful place!

As I said above, this is the first of a series of BLOGS.  Over time we will build a complete framework that relates to our collective futures.  Common Interests is becoming a “Thought Leader” in helping to develop a future that features the best use of all of our talents, hopes and dreams, and makes our world a better place.

Max Mintz

What we’re doing internally and the importance of planning

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In the spirit of full transparency, we thought it would be worth taking a minute to discuss how Common Interests has prepared for emergencies.

  • Our first priority is the security of our clients’ accounts and our ability to provide access and up-to-date information in times of crisis. To this end, we have conducted rigorous due diligence on our partners, and have evaluated their business continuity plans. We invite you to read the business continuity plans for our key partners here:
  • Our second priority is making sure that our firm is protected so that we can continue to serve our clients. Too many people rely on us for us to get sick. Here are the steps we’re taking:
      • Our office functions almost entirely on cloud based systems. Our phones, trading system, meeting platforms, website, and client files are all hosted on separate secure cloud servers with redundant backups. We converted to these systems in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, and have been training and preparing for the next disaster since then. We have relied on these systems to continue working from the road at conferences in the past, and have full confidence in our ability to continue to serve our clients from anywhere with a stable internet connection and a power outlet.
      • We re-configured our scheduling tool to provide additional clarity and make additional options available to our clients, while restricting non-client meetings. Our firm has offered Virtual meetings for years, and we’re extremely comfortable meeting over video chat with screen-sharing. To protect both ourselves and our clients, we are encouraging everyone to meet with us virtually or over the phone.
        • Give the new configuration of our scheduling tool a spin below! We’re here to talk. Please feel free to use it to find a time to chat, even if you only have a quick question (there’s an option for that!)



 

Robert Goellner

Record 515 institutional investors managing $35 trillion in assets urge governments to step up ambition to tackle climate change

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Ahead of next week’s United Nations Climate Action Summit, a record 515 institutional investors managing $35 trillion in assets urged governments worldwide to step up action to tackle climate change and achieve the Paris Agreement’s goals.

The Global Investor Statement to Governments on Climate Change, developed by the seven Founding Partners of The Investor Agenda, calls on governments to phase out thermal coal power worldwide, put a meaningful price on carbon pollution, end government subsidies for fossil fuels, and update and strengthen nationally-determined contributions to meet the emissions reduction
goal of the Paris Agreement no later than 2020.

“The global shift to clean energy is underway, but much more needs to be done by governments to accelerate the low carbon transition and to improve the resilience of our economy, society and
the financial system to climate risks,” the investors wrote. They warned the current government commitments leave an “ambition gap” that will not prevent global average temperature from rising
beyond the 1.5 degree threshold that scientists warn could trigger catastrophic and irreversible effects of climate change.

The investors’ call to action published today comes as UN Secretary-General António Guterres is asking all leaders, from governments and the private sector, to present plans – at the UN Climate Action Summit on September 23 or at the latest by December 2020 – to cut greenhouse gas emissions 45% by 2030 and reach carbon neutrality by 2050. “I am also asking all investors to scale up green ventures, to increase lending for low-carbon solutions and to stop, in effect, financing pollution,” Secretary-General António Guterres said at a preparatory meeting for the
Summit.

Signing the Global Investor Statement to Governments on Climate Change is an action item in the Policy Advocacy focus area of the The Investor Agenda. Launched in September 2018 by seven Founding Partners — Asia Investor Group on Climate Change, CDP, Ceres, Investor Group on Climate Change, Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change, Principles for Responsible Investment and UNEP Finance Initiative — The Investor Agenda is a collaborative initiative that aims to accelerate and scale up the investor actions worldwide that are critical to tackling climate change and achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement with the aim of keeping global average temperature rise to no more than 1.5-degrees Celsius. It provides investors with a set of actions
that they can take in four key focus areas: Investment, Corporate Engagement, Investor Disclosure and Policy Advocacy.

The Founding Partners also announced today the release of The Investor Agenda Annual Progress Report, which found that nearly 1,200 investors have taken action in one or more of the focus areas of The Investor Agenda. More than 750 investors have engaged with or directly influenced portfolio companies to act on climate change, more than 400 investors have stepped up their own disclosure on climate change, and more than 260 have set a climate target.

“Investors are stepping up their response to climate change and increasingly aligning their investment with the goals of the Paris Agreement,” said Rebecca Mikula-Wright, Director, Asia Investor Group on Climate Change (AIGCC). “The Investor Agenda has a pivotal role to play as a platform for supporting investors to lead ambition and catalyse sustainable investment, whilepromoting engagement across all regions and jurisdictions.”

“The Investor Agenda provides an unprecedented global forum for investors to accelerate action on climate change and drive transformation of capital markets to deliver a 1.5-degrees Celsius economy. To do that investors need to take further action themselves, but also require stronger incentives from governments” said Paul Simpson, CDP CEO.

“The global reach and potential impact of The Investor Agenda and the global collaboration of the seven organizations are quite extraordinary,” noted Mindy Lubber, Ceres CEO and President. “With the immense power and influence that investors hold in our global economy, they have a tremendous opportunity and responsibility to act at the urgent pace and scale required to keep average global temperature rise to no more than 1.5-degrees Celsius.”

“By working with our peers globally and across the regions, we can scale up ambition and action to tackle climate change and deliver on the promise of the Paris Agreement,” said Emma Herd, Chief Executive Officer, Investor Group on Climate Change (IGCC). “Collaboration is the key to success, and investors must play our part. The Investor Agenda is the platform we need to drive real investor action at this crucial point in time.”
Climate change poses an unprecedented threat to the global economy,” said Stephanie Pfeifer, CEO of the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC). “Investors representing nearly half the world’s invested capital are sending a clear message that they need to see far greater ambition from governments in addressing the climate crisis. A considerable number of countries have already committed to delivering net zero emission economies by 2050. Investors are asking that others now follow their lead.”

“The Investor Agenda has a critical role to play in compelling investors to act and bring about lasting change around climate,” said Fiona Reynolds, CEO of Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI). “Ambition and meaningful action from governments, business and the financial sector is imperative to curb the current trajectory of global warming. These groups must act now to curb the climate emergency the world is facing by reaching the goals of the Paris Agreement to realise 1.5-degrees Celsius.”

“There is a growing urgency for investors and corporations to act on climate change goals. As of today, temperatures have risen 1-degree Celsius above pre-industrial levels,” said Eric Usher, Head of UNEP Finance Initiative. “To keep the rise to within 1.5-degrees Celsius globally, leadership from within the investor community will be key. The Investor Agenda is one critical platform in supporting investors in their individual actions.”

About The Investor Agenda
The Investor Agenda is a collaborative initiative to accelerate and scale up the investor actions that are critical to tackling climate change and achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement with the aim of keeping average global temperature rise to no more than 1.5-degrees Celsius. It provides investors with a set of actions that they can take in four key focus areas: Investment, Corporate Engagement, Investor Disclosure and Policy Advocacy. It has been developed by seven Founding Partners: Asia Investor Group on Climate Change, CDP, Ceres, Investor Group on Climate Change, Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change, Principles for Responsible Investment and UNEP Finance Initiative. Visit www.TheInvestorAgenda.org for more information.

Max Mintz

Climate Risk in Passive Investing

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We’ve been seeing a lot of articles recently about a “bubble” in passive (index) investing. We haven’t commented much on this trend, as we’re big fans of low cost index funds in our portfolios. However, an article came out yesterday in Forbes that makes a point connected with this debate that we agree with wholeheartedly. Jeff McMahon writes in his article “Index Funds Face Heightened Risk From Climate Change” that Index funds are uniquely exposed to the systematic risks faced by climate change, and specifically to the inevitable policy response to climate change.

The Principles For Responsible Investing (PRI) (of which we are a signatory) has been doing a lot of research on this (see here for more information, or click here to view the slides from a recent event we attended with the PRI). We have incorporated this viewpoint into our portfolios, and the way we’ve done it speaks directly to McMahon’s article from yesterday.

McMahon points to the recent testimony before Congress from Alicia Seiger, the Managing Director of Stanford’s Sustainable Finance Initiative, who argues that investors are less able to manage climate risk because they are less able to monitor it (you can read her entire testimony here). We completely agree with this for the vast majority of index funds on the market today, but in our practice we have discovered that there are a number of ESG approaches that can be used to manage this risk (see this blog post from earlier this year for more information). Further, by looking at the PRI’s research, we believe we can identify the most likely policy responses and manage these risks within our portfolios.

The most likely policy levers to secure an accelerated and just transition Source: UNPRI (https://www.unpri.org/climate-change/what-is-the-inevitable-policy-response/4787.article)

By mindfully choosing investments that incorporate Environmental, Social and Governance data in their investment process, we believe we can manage these risks. However, there are a number of different approaches emerging within the investment community, and they do not all have the same results! If you are interested in what we’re doing to manage these risks in our portfolios, or if you would like us to analyze your investments to see how exposed you are to these risks, click here to schedule an appointment!

Max Mintz

President Macron of France addresses PRI In Person 2019

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This week marked PRI In Person, the United Nations-Supported Principles for Responsible Investing’s (PRI) annual meeting. We weren’t able to attend since it’s hard to justify a Paris trip, but we wanted to share the remarks that President Macron made to open the meeting. We’re proud to be a signatory of the PRI, and to help our clients align their investments with the issues they want to work on.

If his remarks speak to you, and you want to get involved to add your voice and investments to the global effort to combat climate change, we’re here to help.

Max Mintz

The role of Business in our society

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The sustainable investing world has been on fire this week, after the Business Roundtable made a groundbreaking statement on the Purpose of the Corporation in modern society. For the first time, corporate leaders at the highest level are changing how they think, replacing the mantra of “maximize profits at all costs” (you’ll see the words ‘shareholder supremacy’ thrown around a lot) with ideals that acknowledge the impact businesses have on more of their stakeholders: customers, employees, suppliers, the communities they work in, and their shareholders. Read more

Max Mintz

Common Interests Supports the Investor Agenda on Climate Change

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Common Interests is proud to be a part of the global investor network, including Amundi, California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS), Legal & General Investment Management, Natixis Investment Managers, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, and Sumitomo Trust Mitsui Asset Management, making up a record number of signatories to the Global Investor Statement to Governments on Climate Change.

Today, we are joining with investors from around the globe to urge world government leaders to step up their ambition on climate change and enact strong policies by 2020 to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement, including phasing out thermal coal power and pricing carbon. 477 investors with $34 trillion (USD) in assets, a record number of signatories, are behind the urgent call-to-action to limit average global temperature rise to no more than 1.5-degrees Celsius.

“As institutional investors with millions of beneficiaries around the world, we reiterate our full support for the Paris Agreement and strongly urge all governments to implement the actions that are needed to achieve the goals of the Agreement, with the utmost urgency,” the investors wrote in a Global Investor Statement to Governments on Climate Change.

The statement comes as world government leaders gather at the Group of Twenty (G20) Summit in Osaka, Japan and as the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres calls on “countries to build no new coal power plants after 2020.”

“Climate change affects all sectors of the economy and all countries,” said Christiana Figueres, Convener of Mission 2020 and former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). “It is the biggest and most urgent challenge currently facing the world. As we face a true climate emergency, limiting temperature increase to 1.5-degrees Celsius is necessary for survival, and achievable!”

Figueres added, “Investors have a vital role to play in providing the trillions in capital required to support the transition to a low-carbon and climate-resilient future. It is therefore hugely encouraging to see so many investors unite around such a clear and powerful statement to governments. They are showing a sentiment shared across the global community: exponential scale-up and acceleration of climate action is not a choice but a requirement, and represents our best opportunities for financial stability and economic prosperity.”

“As an investor in global markets, we are exposed to the increasing risks and opportunities that climate change presents to our portfolios, especially in Asia where the physical impacts of extreme weather events will be the harshest and of the greatest cost,” said Seiji Kawazoe, Senior Stewardship Officer, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management. “To enable us to effectively invest in the necessary transition to net-zero carbon economies around the world, we have signed this statement to urge governments to take the actions needed to set us on the course to limiting global warming to 1.5-degrees Celsius.”

In particular, investors are asking world government leaders to:

Achieve the Paris Agreement’s goals

  • Update and strengthen nationally-determined contributions to meet the emissions reduction goal of the Paris Agreement, starting the process now and completing it no later than 2020, and focusing swiftly on implementation
  • Formulate and communicate long-term emission reduction strategies
  • Align all climate- related policy frameworks holistically with the goals of the Paris Agreement
  • Support a just transition to a low carbon economy.

Accelerate private sector investment into the low carbon transition

  • Incorporate Paris-aligned climate scenarios into all relevant policy frameworks and energy transition pathways
  • Phase out thermal coal power worldwide by set deadlines.
  • Put a meaningful price on carbon
  • Phase out fossil fuel subsidies by set deadlines

Commit to improve climate-related financial reporting

  • Publicly support the Financial Stability Board’s Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations and the extension of its term
  • Commit to implement the TCFD recommendations in their jurisdictions, no later than 2020
  • Request the FSB incorporate the TCFD recommendations into its guidelines
  • Request international standard-setting bodies incorporate the TCFD recommendations into their standards.

“As shareholders, we are engaging with companies about their emissions, and how their Boards and their business plans are preparing them for a carbon constrained future,” said the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) CEO Jack Ehnes. “We need the governments of the world to implement the Paris Agreement and regulate emissions on a clear timeline so that businesses know what the interim targets are and the timeline for their action.”

“Renewables are the cheapest energy source across more than two-thirds of the world today. The direction of travel is clear: the economics of wind and solar will continue improving,” adds Carola van Lamoen, Head of Active Ownership, Robeco, a global asset manager with $203 billion in assets under management. “Renewables are expected to outcompete new coal-fired power plants by 2030 almost everywhere. As investors, in our view the development of new coal power plants after 2020 puts at risk both the return on investment and the world’s chance of limiting global warming in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement.”

“As one of Australia’s largest industry superannuation funds, and a major institutional investor, we believe we have an important role to play in bringing about positive action on climate change to protect the retirement savings of our members,” said Deanne Stewart, Chief Executive Officer, First State Super. “This aligns with the view of regulators in Australia, and internationally, who have identified climate change as a significant material and foreseeable risk and have called for immediate action. While we are responding on behalf of our members, this issue will require a coordinated, collective and collaborate response from governments, business and investors to ensure that critical changes are made now for the long-term interests of our members and the community.”

The Investor Agenda Founding Partners strongly welcomed the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) Special Report on 1.5-degrees Celsius which emphasised the urgency for average annual sustainable energy investments of up to USD $830 billion to transition to a zero-carbon and climate resilient global economy. The report also said that in order to achieve a 1.5-degree Celsius pathway, global net emissions need to decline by 45 percent by 2030 and reach net zero emissions around 2050.

The statement was drafted through a collaboration among seven partner organisations – AIGCC, CDP, Ceres, IGCC, IIGCC, PRI and UNEP-FI – that are the Founding Partners of The Investor Agenda. Launched in 2018, The Investor Agenda calls on investors to step up action on climate change in four key focus areas: Investment, Corporate Engagement, Investor Disclosure and Policy Advocacy. Signing the statement is one of the actions investors can take in line with the policy focus areas of the agenda. The statement is published at www.theinvestoragenda.org.

About The Investor Agenda

The Investor Agenda has been developed for investors to accelerate and scale up the actions that are critical to tackling climate change and achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement with the aim of keeping average global temperature rise to no more than 1.5-degrees Celsius. It provides investors with a set of actions that they can take in four key focus areas: Investment, Corporate Engagement, Investor Disclosure and Policy Advocacy. It has been developed by seven Founding Partners: Asia Investor Group on Climate Change,CDP, Ceres, Investor Group on Climate Change, Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change, Principles for Responsible Investment and UNEP Finance Initiative. Visit www.TheInvestorAgenda.org for more information.

Nick Bongiovanni

Investing in the ‘Blue Economy’

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For as long as anyone can remember, oceans have provided a source of sustenance and wonder to humanity. Whether by supporting coastal populations or perhaps even playing a role in human evolutionary development, our reliance on marine resources has been profound. In many cultures and societies, this reliance has not gone unappreciated. Ancient tribes and civilizations often looked at the oceans as a gift from the gods, and in return, had tremendous respect for their sanctity. Fast-forward to a pollution-ridden 2019, and the oceans are now in the worst state of our existence.

By their very nature, being that all streams flow to rivers and all rivers lead to the sea, the oceans are the end point for much of the pollution we produce on land, however far from the coasts we may be. And from dangerous carbon emissions, to choking plastic, to leaking oil and constant noise, the types of ocean pollution humans generate are vast.

The majority of the garbage that enters the ocean each year is plastic, and here to stay. That’s because unlike other trash, grocery bags, water bottles, drinking straws, and yogurt containers, among eight million metric tons of the plastic items we dispose of (instead of recycle), do not biodegrade. Instead, they will persist in the environment for a millennium, polluting our beaches, entangling marine life, and getting ingested by fish and seabirds. Plastic, while incredibly detrimental to marine life on its own, is not the only source of pollution flooding our seas.

Plastic Waste washed up at shore, Turneffe Atoll, Caribbean, Belize

Today’s seas absorb as much as a quarter of all man-made carbon emissions, changing the pH of surface waters, and rapidly leading to acidification, or “osteoporosis of the seas”. It’s estimated that by the end of this century, if we keep pace with our current emissions practices, the surface waters of the ocean could be nearly 150 percent more acidic than they are now, bringing down marine ecosystems and the coastal economies that depend on them with them.

While this whole blog post could easily be written solely about the destructive impact of pollution on marine life, I want to shift the attention to the tremendous opportunities these challenges present us. Yes, in order to unlock this opportunity we are going to have to open our wallets, and not just a small portion of governments and NGOs across the globe, but your average person and investor. A small price to pay to restore and preserve marine resources that will keep us and future generations alive for years to come.

Research suggests that impact-focused investors alone have approximately $5.6 billion in capital to deploy over the next five years and have the means to dramatically reshape the world’s “Blue Economy.” The ‘Blue Economy’ refers to an emerging concept which encourages better stewardship of our ocean or ‘blue’ resources. It supports all of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, especially SDG 14 ‘Life Below Water’, and recognizes that this will require ambitious, coordinated actions to sustainably manage, protect, and preserve our oceans.

The problem then becomes: how can we open the faucet on this sitting capital, and once funds begin to trickle in at higher rates, how can we effectively channel these funds to the places where they will make the highest impact?

First, we are going against a generational notion that investing in the planet, and more specifically the oceans, is charity, rather than an opportunity to achieve substantial economic gains. While there are plenty of impact and Pro-Bono investors willing to invest money without seeing an immediate chance of return, the only way we are going to get the adequate funding that our oceans so desperately need, is to tap in to the group of investors solely motivated by the chance to realize gains. Luckily for us, we have the research to prove that these gains are possible.

Extensive research done by sustainably-driven groups and organizations like the Bloomberg Philanthropies Vibrant Ocean Initiative, Rockefeller Foundation, and Encourage Capital prove that impact investors in the fisheries sector have a real opportunity to realize potentially attractive financial returns, while at the same time creating lasting social and environmental impacts. The Investment Blueprints provided by Encourage Capital, (a new kind of investment firm that seeks to make profitable investments that solve critical social and environmental issues) show that impact-oriented business models benefiting from stock stabilization or restoration have the potential to generate equity returns between 5% and 35%, using conservative growth and exit assumptions. These returns are driven primarily by increased volumes linked to stock recoveries, improvements in supply chain efficiency, access to higher-value markets, and reductions in raw material supply volatility.

Furthermore, overall economic value creation associated with ocean reform is quite compelling. A recent study conducted by the University of California Santa Barbara’s Sustainable Fisheries Group concluded that the restoration of distressed fisheries globally could increase global fish stocks by 36%, boost seafood production by an additional 12 million metric tons, or 14% of current wild capture production, and in turn, generate an additional $51 billion in aggregate profits within 10 years.The global restoration potential offers an ample seascape (pardon the pun) of investment opportunities for impact investors, especially if management and governance improvements are linked with business models that profit from stable or improving stock health.

The opportunities are abundant, and with rapidly advancing marine technology, paired alongside a mind-boggling $68 trillion being passed to sustainably-conscious children through the largest wealth transfer ever, there is no excuse not to make the oceans and the ‘Blue Economy’ a priority for years to come. The ocean is the largest ecosystem on Earth, it is the planet’s life support system. Oceans generate half of the oxygen we breathe and, at any given moment, they contain more than 97% of the world’s water. Put simply, without them, we would not exist. The ball is in our court, what will we do with it?

Max Mintz

Quantifying the risks from Climate Change

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CDP (formerly the Climate Disclosure Project) came out with a new report this week, their Global Climate Change Analysis for 2018. The summary of the report is well worth a read (it has some really great interactive charts if you’re a data nerd like I am), but there were a few takeaways that were so spectacular that we felt compelled to write a short post highlighting their findings. I’ll go through a few of the top quotes from the report and provide a little commentary of my own.

215 of the biggest global companies report almost $1 trillion at risk from climate impacts, with many likely to hit within the next 5 years

5 years is not a long time, especially for clients nearing retirement. We believe we have a duty to manage these risks in our investment portfolios.

Companies report potential $250 billion in losses due to the write-offs of assets

These are assets on the books, that contribute to the current valuations (and therefore stock prices) of many of these companies. In addition to “stranded asset risk” from fossil fuel reserves that cannot be extracted or burned, this number includes the damaging impacts from severe weather and other impacts from climate change.

Climate business opportunities calculated at $2.1 trillion, nearly all of which are highly likely or virtually certain

THIS is the opportunity for sustainable investing. By investing through the lens of sustainability as we do, we hope to capture these opportunities in our portfolios while mitigating the risks from climate change.

Potential value of sustainable business opportunities almost 7x the cost of realizing them ($311 billion in costs, $2.1 trillion in opportunities)

There are more takeaways, which you can read a summery of at CDP’s Press Release on the report, (where these quotes were pulled from). They highlight the challenges that disclosure still faces, but as investment advisors, the message to us is clear:

  • Climate risk must be managed in investment portfolios.
  • These risks are not something that future generations alone will bear – we are feeling the impacts today, and business leaders expect these impacts to accelerate to the point where there are material effects on their bottom line within the next 5 years.
  • We have to act. Our firm is doing our part as much as we can – from building sustainable portfolios, to offering no-minumum fossil fuel free portfolios so anyone can join our movement.

I hope you’ll be motivated to join us. Click the link in the bottom right corner of this page to schedule an appointment with us to learn how you can join our community and use your investments to create change.

 

Common Interests has been awarded the 2019 Flourish Prize for Global Goal #8: Decent Work and Economic Growth!

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It is our great honor to share that Common Interests has been awarded the 2019 Flourish Prize for Global Goal #8: Decent Work and Economic Growth!

We were selected based on the AIM2Flourish story written about our organization: Investing for a Reason Beyond Money. Our firm is one of 17 Flourish Prize Honorees for 2019.

This award would not be possible without Professor Joseph Markert from Rutgers Business School, and the student authors who wrote the piece: Swetcha Ananthu, Silas Okoth, Matthew Hennessey, Jeffery Shen, and Paul No.

AIM2Flourish, a program housed at the Fowler Center, is used by professors around the world to facilitate student interviews with business leaders about positive and profitable business innovations that advance the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (Global Goals) established by the United Nations.

If you’d like to learn more, please visit the Fowler Center’s Facebook and Twitter pages to participate in the 2019 Flourish Prize Virtual Celebration where they are announcing all 17 Honorees. Check out the hashtag #FlourishPrizes2019 to see all of the reactions and related content!