This Week in ESG and Impact Investing

On July 28, 2021, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce held  a webinar titled “Equality of Opportunity in Action: Addressing Maternal Healthcare Disparities”, discussing racial gaps in maternal health outcomes and the proposed Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act.  Maternal mortality rates are critically high in the United States, and problematically, higher for minority groups due to various social and structural inequities. Research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that Black women are much more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than white women. In fact, if childbirth as a Black woman were an occupation, it would be the 5th deadliest job in America.  The first part of the webinar featured Congresswoman Lauren Underwood, a nurse instructor and Representative with a background in healthcare policy. She emphasized that the majority of maternal deaths are preventable, but that this persistent and withstanding crisis has been problematically ...

On Friday, July 9, 2021, "President Biden signed a sweeping executive order..intended to increase competition within the nation’s economy and to limit corporate dominance, factors the White House says have led to higher prices and fewer choices for consumers while dampening pay and restricting the freedom to change jobs." Mr. Biden noted that “What we’ve seen over the past few decades is less competition and more concentration that holds our economy back..rather than competing for consumers, they are consuming their competitors. Rather than competing for workers, they’re finding ways to gain the upper hand on labor.” This order synchs to several issues we identified in Amicus Briefs filed in Federal appeals and lower courts: September, 2018 - Amicus Brief in Net Neutrality Case (18-cv-1051) https://www.prlog.org/12729944-william-michael-cunningham-files-amicus-brief-in-net-neutrality-case-18-cv-1051.html As we noted in that brief, eliminating net neutrality lowers income for ...

At the beginning of 2020, $16.6 trillion in US-domiciled ESG assets were held by 530 institutional investors, 384 money managers and 1,204 community investment institutions. Since 1995, the US SIF Foundation finds that sustainable investments have increased at a compound annual growth rate of 14 percent. This data proves that the financial landscape is rapidly moving toward impact investing. As a student of finance curious about the markets and how I can make a difference, I turned to the US SIF FORUM 2021 to learn more.  Over the week of June 14th - 18th, 2021, I attended the US SIF FORUM 2021 as a Peter DeSimone Scholar. The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment conference brings together leaders of the sustainable and impact investing community to learn about approaches, trends and policy developments in the field.  This year’s conference featured 60+ speakers in 25+ sessions with topics ranging from racial justice to ESG disclosure. Additionally, the event inclu...

On June 23rd, the NSU Broward Center for Innovation held a webinar titled “Blue Economy: Trends, Challenges, Opportunities, Strategies” to discuss the advancement of sustainability and innovation in developing the human economy around ocean resources.  Moderated by John Wensveen, the Executive Director of the NSU Broward Center for Innovation, the panel included Shelby Thomas, CEO of Ocean Rescue Alliance, Daniel Kleinman, CEO of Seaworthy Collective, Sean O’Hanlon, Principal at Tierra Verde, and Alec Bogdanoff, Principal at Brizaga.  The Blue Economy , according to the World Bank is defined as as “the sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods and jobs, and ocean ecosystem health.” Through the webinar, the panelists discussed the current state of the Blue Economy, its various sectors and applications, and what to expect moving forward. The panelists could not overstate the economic magnanimity of this growing industry, citing an overall mark...

On June 17th, 2021, the Biden Administration announced the Child Tax Credit (part of the American Rescue Plan) in order to combat child poverty. To be eligible for this program, individuals must file taxes and have income no greater than $50,000. This program gives $3,000 to parents with children between the ages 6-17 and $3,600 to those who have children under the age of 6. The Biden Administration believes that it is a moral imperative to make sure this tax credit reaches parents struggling to take care of their children. In a critical modification not seen before, this programs gives parents who have not filed taxes the ability to receive tax credit through a simple non-tax-filer tool specifically for this child tax credit.  This program has several distinctive features:  First-time payments will be distributed in monthly $500 increments.  Furthermore, parents who have not filed taxes are encouraged to file immediately, since this tax credit program allows them to rece...

A recent webinar titled  ESG Integration Across Asset Classes displayed Bloomberg’s focus on recognizing the need for data centered, environmental, social and governance (ESG) metrics within every investor’s portfolio. Bloomberg is a privately held financial, software, data, and media company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. As a part of Bloomberg’s Portfolio & Index Research Conference, the webinar provided technical details on the firm's efforts to measure ESG. ( Creative Investment Research has been measuring ESG impacts since 1989 .) A three-pronged approach—analyzing the carbon transition, power sector transition, and climate policies—underlies Bloomberg’s climate scores.  With a focus on climate impact and commodities, Bloomberg presented two approaches to measuring carbon emissions—the number one priority of the Paris Climate Agreement benchmarks.  First, Bloomberg experts used company level data and Bloomberg Industry Classification St...