Green Building Professional’s Guide to Investing with Impact
- Define Investing with Impact
- Relate Wellness to Investing with Impact
- Identify Synergies between Investing with Impact and Green Buildings
Green buildings are designed with the end in mind. So why don’t green building professionals demand the same our financial investments?
Active Learning Opportunity:
- Write down 3 values or passions you desire to improve in the world
- As you watch the webinar replay, assess your current type of impact
- Look for opportunities to align your investments with your values
History of Investing with Impact… It’s over 100 years old!
- 1898 Quakers Friends Fiduciary Corporation founded and adopts no weapons, alcohol or tobacco investment policy
- 1977 Congress passes Community Reinvestment Act to reduce discriminatory credit practices against low-income neighborhoods
- 1993 $625 billion screened to exclude investment in South Africa as a result of apartheid
- 2006 Rockefeller Foundation launches major Impact Investing approach and the term emerges globally; UN Principles for Responsible Investment launched
- 2018 $5.2 billion publicly pledged institutions divesting from fossil fuels
In short, people have been practicing Investing with Impact for over a century. However, most of us still have trouble accessing the types of investments that actually align with our values. Maybe it’s because we’re not calling it by the right name.
Evolution of the Impact Investing Terminology:
- SRI (Socially Responsible Investing)
- Community Investing
- Ethical Investing
- Green Investing
- Mission Investing
- Values Investing
- ESG Investing
- Impact Investing
Have an old 401k plan or investment account that you would like to align?
Contact Fuller Callaway, Financial Advisor
404-264-4288 / fu*************@mo***********.com fa.morganstanley.com/theindigogroup
Types of Impact:
- Restriction
- Historical – South Africa divestment (see timeline above)
- Now – divestment away from fossil fuels – led by universities
- $5.2 trillion publicly pledged to divest from fossil fuels
- Reflection question: “how does value of in-ground, untapped resources affect value of company if they are no longer useful? Ie. is exxon mobile still a $392B company if consumers de-value coal in ground?
- ESG Integration
- ESG = environmental, social, governance
- Data disclosure and metrics
- E = source energy, pollution, etc. this information is found in CSRs
- S = management of employees (safety issues), suppliers (equity issues), community
- G = leadership, executive pay (via audits), shareholder rights
- Current topic in conversation is harassment in workplace, previously not reported or not transparently reported, now greater call for disclosure
- Thematic Exposure
- Climate Change
- Demographics
- Food Availability
- Health and Wellness
- Improving Lives
- Investing in Women
- Waste Management
- Water Scarcity
- Impact Investing
- Positive Social or Environmental Impacts
- Project Level Investment
Are you struggling to develop innovation strategies for WELL certification?
Want help developing an Innovation Feature about Impact Investing?
Click this link to email GBES Sustainability Maven, Alyson Laura
More Great Video Resources about Impact Investing Fundamentals:
Visit this MorganStanley.com article to hear Audrey Choi, head of Morgan Stanley’s Institute for Sustainable Investing, explain how anyone can vote with their dollars and invest in change.
Watch the World Economic Forum’s pitch about how to mainstream impact investing:
