Impact Investing in the News

Here are some recent articles about Environmental, Social, Governance Investing – Impact Investing.

Iroquois Valley Farms (a farmland REIT) has added the 50th farm to their portfolio. The company purchases farmland and rents it to farmers with a long-term lease and provide mortgage financing to help farmers purchase the land themselves. All of the farmland is organic and beyond, or in transition to organic. Link to 50 Iroquois Valley Farms article.

Scotland announced that it has put a new wind farm into operation. This new Aberdeen Bay wind farm is special because it is the centerpiece of EOWDC, the country’s new European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre. Link to Scotland’s New Offshore Wind Farm article.

Incarcerated people in US government and private prisons perform labor during their sentences, with few exceptions. Some labor is for the prison itself (cooking, laundry, maintenance), while others make goods or provide services for the government or private companies. Link to Prison Labor for Sale article.

Automakers urge the president to cooperate with California officials in the rewriting of the vehicle efficiency standards, saying “climate change is real.” Carmakers tell White House Climate Change is Real article.

Discusses the challenges with impact investing. There has been great progress with mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and private investments but everyone has a different defination of impact investing. Three goals are to have the intention to have impact, measurement of results and transparency. How to Invest With a Conscience article.

Investor members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) have been working with companies and through shareholder resolutions process to pressure weapons manufacturers and to stop selling military- and assault-style weapons and accessories to civilians, make guns safer, and support gun-safety policies. Link to Investing In Common-Sense Gun Safety article.

Marathon Petroleum’s CEO made 935 times more than its median worker salary. Honeywell’s CEO made 333 times more than its median worker. Del Monte’s CEO earns more than 1,465 times the median worker. Many have suggested ratios more along the lines of 20:1. The largest fund managers were most reluctant to vote against pay packages. Link to Elegy to the Absurd: How Executive Compensation Got Ridiculous article.