This Week in ESG and Impact Investing

We coined the term " Effective Investing " to reflect a style of investing that does several things. First, it minimizes fees and costs. Your money should go toward your future, not to a broker or mutual fund company. There are only two ways to accomplish this, one in stock investing and the other in bond investing. Your money should be safe and  effective investing  means being able to sleep at night. This means managing and minimizing risk. There are a limited number of ways to accomplish this, too. Risk is a feature of investing. It is how you get to return. Still, you can rationally minimize risk by taking a few constructive steps.  In the bond or fixed income world, investing in US Government securities is the only way to accomplish this.  In the stock market, the strategy is the polar opposite and can be summarized as "don't put all of your eggs in one basket," in fact, put them in the biggest basket you can find. This means investing

We quickly and completely cover the basics of investing in only about 40 minutes. If you want honest, objective information about investing, this is your course. It's also geared to people who want to start investing now! We define what stocks, bonds and mutual funds are. In addition, we cover risk and return, two key investing concepts. We cover ethical/social/environmental investing, providing expert-level instruction on these topics. We show returns generated by various types of investments from 1801 to 2011. We show you how to use various techniques to invest in stocks and bonds at low or no cost. Finally, we describe some of the best mutual funds in the marketplace. Our lecture provides the rationale for both investing and for social investing. https://www.udemy.com/stock-bond-mutualfund-investing  

The 40 Best Books on Social Investing Compiled by Frank Hung, Jui-Kai Li, Interns. Winter, 2010. An updated listing of some of the best books on socially responsible investing.

On Aug 5th, the US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs held a hearing on Proposals to enhance the Regulation of Credit Rating Agencies. Testifying were Michael S. Barr-U.S. Department of the Treasury, Professor John C. Coffee, Jr.-Columbia University Law School, Dr. Lawrence J. White-New York University ,Mr. Stephen W. Joynt-Fitch Ratings, Mr. James Gellert-Rapid Ratings, Mr. Mark Froeba-PF2 Securities Evaluations, Inc. The testimony is summarized below and copies of the written statements are available at; http://banking.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Hearings.Hearing&Hearing_ID=89e91cf4-71e2-406d-a416-0e391f4f52b0 Credit Rating Agency blamed for Financial Stress In credit markets, borrowers often know more than lenders. While lenders may buy a portion of debt issued, borrowers often issue debt to many borrowers. Thus, rating agencies are traditionally assumed to address this information asymmetry. They help lenders evaluate the credit worthines

On July 29th, the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity held a hearing on Academic Perspectives on the Future of Public Housing. Testifying were Dr. Thomas D. Boston, Professor, School of Economics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Orlando Cabrera, Chief Executive Officer, National Community Renaissance and Nixon Peabody, Dr. James Fraser, Associate Professor, Department of Human and Organizational Development, Vanderbilt University, Dr. Edward Goetz, Director, Center for Urban and Regional Affairs, University of Minnesota, Dr. Laura Harris, Assistant Professor, School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy, University of Memphis, Mr. David R. Jones, President and Chief Executive Officer, Community Service Society of New York, Dr. Mark Joseph, Assistant Professor, Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, and Dr. Susan Popkin, Director, Program on Neighborhoods and Youth Development, The Urban Institute. In the opening

Chinese banks are growing so rapidly that they have attracted the attention of various organizations and institutions worldwide. Aside from their growth rate, Chinese banks are famous for their comparatively high asset values and for the backstory of a rising nation that is beginning to exert significant influence on the global economy. Recently, some social investing network and member groups such as BankTrak and Friends of the Earth have initiated campaigns focusing on the social aspects of these banks. We believe that very little research addressing the relationship between the financial performance and social responsibility or corporate citizenship of these banks has been conducted to date. We recently completed five summary reports covering the financial and social performance of the top five banks in China. We note that: * Bank of China has launched an equity fund which specializes in socially responsible investment. * Bank of Communication has made loans to small enter