This Week in ESG and Impact Investing

William Michael Cunningham last week submitted a revised "Friend of the Court" brief in a case currently pending before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The case concerns the rejection, by a Federal Judge, of a settlement agreed to by the United States Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) and Citigroup Global Markets Inc. (Citigroup), the latter accused of securities fraud. As a friend to the Court, Mr. Cunningham provides an independent, objective and unbiased view in support of broad public interests. His education and experience have uniquely positioned him to provide objective, independent research and opinions concerning the issues central to the case. The "Friend of the Court" brief notes that the negative impact of the fraud was $5.5 billion dollars, calculated, using the Fully Adjusted Return® Methodology, as the sum of the loss of all invested funds and the monetary value of societal impacts. The SEC settled the case for $2...

In an effort to get the word out, yesterday the White House sponsored a conference call with small business owners to describe the "Fiscal Cliff" bill, signed into law by President Obama on January 3rd in a successful effort to avoid a government shutdown. ( For a detailed, highly technical summary of the new law, see:  http://tax.cchgroup.com/ downloads/files/pdfs/ legislation/ATPR.pdf ) The law extends the Bush tax cuts for those making less than $250,000.  It keeps the earned income tax credit, tax credits for child care, and  something called the American Opportunity Tax Credit : college tuition  tax breaks. The law also fixes a problem with the Alternative Minimum  Tax (AMT), in the sense that those in the middle class will not be  faced with a $2,500 increase in taxes due to the AMT. The White House called this a balanced approach, meaning that upper  income persons will face higher taxes. The law reinstates a 39.6% tax  rate on tho...

Author William Michael Cunningham will discuss his new book at the HUB on February 14th from 5-7pm. About the Book: On April 5, 2012, President Barack Obama signed the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, better known as the JOBS Act. The act is designed to “reopen American capital markets to small companies,” defined in the act as Emerging Growth Companies. This is one of the most significant legislative initiatives in finance since the Securities and Exchange Acts of 1933 and 1934, and it opens up fund ing to a slew of companies previously shut out of the capital markets. How can you get in on the new funding opportunities? That’s what The JOBS Act: Crowdfunding for Small Businesses and Startups is all about. Investment expert William Michael Cunningham shows how the new law will enable you to use the internet to raise significant amounts of capital funding for your startup. RSVP: http://tweetvite.com/event/JOBSAct

The Black Male Achievement (BMA) Fellowship is a new fellowship program established by Open Society Foundations and Echoing Green dedicated to improve the life outcomes of black men and boys in the U.S. It is the first fellowship program of its kind that targets social entrepreneurs who are starting up new and innovative organizations in the field of black male achievement. The application for the 2013 BMA Fellowship will be available online from December 4th 2012-January 7th 2013. http://www.echoinggreen.org/bma-fellowship#Assessment

(Photo from: The JOBS Act: Crowdfunding Guide to Small Businesses and Startups by William ... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MT104U1/ ) Since President Obama signed the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act last spring, the most successful crowdfunding campaign — for an e-paper wristwatch called Pebble Watch — raised $10 million. Another campaign — this one for a video game, raised $6.3 million from 90,000 fans online — shows that companies with innovative products and services can raise significant amounts of money online. In about six months, the beleaguered Securities and Exchange Commission will put forward rules that will govern how companies can raise equity capital using crowdfunding. It has been slow going. The SEC, staggered by its role in the financial crisis, is extraordinarily cautious now. The agency remains under the influence of the industry it regulates, which is frightened by crowdfunding. Industry officials have built obstacles in the SEC’s path to creating crowd...

I thought we would post, from 2008 and 2009, some of the first infographics  we created: Global Market Turmoil Graphic and Financial Crisis Calendar Graphic , by Creative Investment Research, Inc., December, 2008 and November, 2009.

A recent announcement by a very large private equity/venture capital firm stated as follows: "In 2006 affiliates of Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. made a financial investment in Freedom Group." Freedom Group manufactures the Bushmaster Rifle. The Bushmaster was used to kill 26 people in Newtown, Ct., including twenty 6 and 7 year old children. As the firms' press statement noted, "established in 1992, Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. is one of the world's leading private investment firms. Cerberus has more than US $20 billion under management invested in four primary strategies: distressed securities & assets; control and non-control private equity; commercial mid-market lending and real estate-related investments." In seeking social credit for moving quickly to sell its investment in Freedom (Firearms) Group, Cerberus makes a number of spurious and disingenuous claims. Among these are the following: "As a Firm, we are investors, not s...