Sustainable, Responsible, Impact Investing Conference

I recently attended the 28th annual Sustainable, Responsible, Impact Investing Conference. There were about 800 participants. It was great to see how large the conference has grown over the past 28 years. #AllinForImpact was the hashtag for the conference this year.

It is an annual three day conference. First Affirmative holds its annual meeting for advisors immediately after for another three days. First Affirmative is a network of fee-only (fiduciary) financial planners who provide asset management and financial consulting services to individuals and organizations who want to align their investments with their personal values and/or institutional missions.

There were about 40 presentations at each conference. One could get about 8 continues educations credits for CFP, CFA, and CIMA. The sessions I attended included:

• The Purpose of Capital
• Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) Integration Across Asset Classes: Equity Indexes, Green Bonds, and Private Equity
• The Convergence of U.S. / Mexico Trade and Demand for Organic Products
• The Cost of a Climate Change Comb-Over
• Investment Research and Management: A Tool for Change
• Integrity Is How You Behave When No One Is Looking
• Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Roadmap to a Truly Sustainable Future”
• Viva the Revolution! What Women and Millennials Want!
• Engaging Conservatives on Climate: Completing the Puzzle for Climate Activism
• ESG Data / Ratings: New Kids on the Block
• Global Thematic Investing
• Five Things Every Advisor Should Know About Mutual Fund SRI/ESG Rating
• Investing for a Better World: From Vision to Impact to Disruption
• Beware the Major Carbon Polluters! Science for a Healthy Planet and a Safer World
• Active and Passive, International and Domestic: ESG Integration at the Portfolio Level
• Responsible Investment Research: The Latest and Greatest
• Re-paving the Brazil, Russia, India, China (BRICS): How ESG Unlocks End-Market Growth in Emerging Markets
• California’s Leadership in the Low Carbon Economy
• The Inevitable: Earthquakes, Tsunamis & the Future of the Capital Markets
• Mapping the Future of Responsible Investing
• Investing for a Better World: How the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Are Reshaping Companies and Investing
• Know What You Own: Truth Beyond the Facade
• Economic Forcast
• The Future of Wealth Management
• Health Savings Accounts with Social Impact
• Share owner Advocacy and impact
• Folio Inovations SRI Robo

There was a show room for sponsors which included: First Affirmative, Folio, Calvert, Parnassus, Pax, Donimi, Eventide, JLL, Green Century, Praxis, Trillium, Boston Common, Green America, Iroquois Valley Farms, Jantz, Miller Howard, Serenity Shares, Tides, US SIF, Union of Concerned Scientists and others.

In a few blog posts that follow, I will summarize my notes on several of these presentations.