Michael Jantzi, head of SRI research firm Jantzi-Sustainalytics, has been named the winner of the inaugural Canadian SRI Lifetime Achievement Award at this year's Canadian Responsible Investment Conference in Toronto.
Jantzi, 46, has been working in the SRI field since 1990, founded Jantzi Research, and is the co-author of “The 50 Best Ethical Stocks for Canadians.”
The other nominees were Peter Chapman, executive director of the Shareholder Association for Research and Education (SHARE), Bill Davis, a key member of the Taskforce on Churches and Corporate Responsibility, which actively campaigned against apartheid in South Africa and Moira Hutchinson, also of the Taskforce on Churches and Corporate Responsibility.
“Many have gone before me,” Jantzi said in his acceptance speech. “These issues have now gone mainstream but it's important to step back and honour those who laid the groundwork.”
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Canadian Responsible Investment Conference Update: Tips from the experts
The credit crisis has created lots of mistrust among investors. But advisors specializing in responsible investing can capitalize on that lack of trust, simply by explaining to clients that investing can be more than just about making money.
“That conversation is incredibly important,” says Steve Schueth, president of First Affirmative Financial Network in Colorado. “More so now than a few years ago. The general description [of our clients] is people who want to make money and make a difference. It's not either or and neither one takes priority, it's both.”
“I believe we can use money in a much more positive, healthy, life-affirming way,” Schueth said on the second day of the Canadian Responsible Investment Conference in Toronto. “As investors, we have an obligation to understand how our money is impacting the word and the legacy we will leave for future generations.”
“I'm passionate about the people I serve,” added Cara MacMillan, an investment advisor with BMO Nesbitt Burns in Ottawa. “And as advisors, we tend to attract people who are similar to us. So you have to have the values discussion. Link the conversation to where people are as individuals and make sure it honours where they are now.”
The BP oil spill has shocked and saddened people around the world, and although it may seem crass, it has also created the perfect opening for a discussion with clients who want their money to change the world in some way, says Schueth. “Think about this: this planet is a closed system. We screw this up, and we all die. More and more people get that. There's more opportunity for us to help people put their money to work in a more positive and transformative way.”
The panelists also agreed that many advisors are ignoring, though likely not purposefully, a huge under-served market receptive to responsible investing: women.
Long-time responsible investor Beth Jones noted that 1.2 million people work in Canada's non-profit sector. Seventy percent are women and their average is 43.
“Women are demanding more say in their investment portfolios,” said MacMillan.
Schueth agrees. “Targeting women is really smart and not that hard to do.”
“That conversation is incredibly important,” says Steve Schueth, president of First Affirmative Financial Network in Colorado. “More so now than a few years ago. The general description [of our clients] is people who want to make money and make a difference. It's not either or and neither one takes priority, it's both.”
“I believe we can use money in a much more positive, healthy, life-affirming way,” Schueth said on the second day of the Canadian Responsible Investment Conference in Toronto. “As investors, we have an obligation to understand how our money is impacting the word and the legacy we will leave for future generations.”
“I'm passionate about the people I serve,” added Cara MacMillan, an investment advisor with BMO Nesbitt Burns in Ottawa. “And as advisors, we tend to attract people who are similar to us. So you have to have the values discussion. Link the conversation to where people are as individuals and make sure it honours where they are now.”
The BP oil spill has shocked and saddened people around the world, and although it may seem crass, it has also created the perfect opening for a discussion with clients who want their money to change the world in some way, says Schueth. “Think about this: this planet is a closed system. We screw this up, and we all die. More and more people get that. There's more opportunity for us to help people put their money to work in a more positive and transformative way.”
The panelists also agreed that many advisors are ignoring, though likely not purposefully, a huge under-served market receptive to responsible investing: women.
Long-time responsible investor Beth Jones noted that 1.2 million people work in Canada's non-profit sector. Seventy percent are women and their average is 43.
“Women are demanding more say in their investment portfolios,” said MacMillan.
Schueth agrees. “Targeting women is really smart and not that hard to do.”
Monday, June 14, 2010
Canadian Responsible Investment Conference Update: Innovations in Cleantech Investing
It has often been said that necessity is the mother of invention, but Nicholas Parker of the Cleantech Venture Network says that proverb needs to be updated to reflect our changing world. These days, mother nature is the new necessity of innovation. Nicholas Parker spoke on Monday at the opening of the 2010 Canadian Responsible Investment Conference in Toronto.
Across the world we're facing environmental crises from every angle, ranging from soil degradation to water shortages to the serious risk of catastrophic climate change. These are symptoms of a greater problem that is built into our lives. Every day, we're consuming more resources than we need, wasting as much as we're using.
We've gone down a path of ecological overshoot that has us pretending that we have the resources of 1.5 planets rather than just the one, Parker says. While some are still heedlessly skipping down this path toward a cliff, others are waving their arms madly trying to communicate the error of our ways before it's too late.
Others still are pointing out the alternative path. The opportunities path.
Parker did not mince words in the description of the challenges that face us, but cleantech, he said, is about grasping the opportunities that are being presented by these challenges.
Cleantech is basically doing more with less, but it is also about adding value in order to ensure economic sustainability. It includes renewable energy as an important piece, but it's about more than that. It's about making the necessary changes in order to meet our needs in a way that is socially and environmentally responsible. In a nutshell, he said, it's the reformation and transformation of everything we do.
No small task.
It's a description that would overwhelm many, but Parker seems to maintain the energy of an entrepreneur who has spotted his market gap. Perhaps because the last five years have seen a shift and major growth in cleantech, garnering interest from huge players in the old economy like Walmart and GE. It's a shift which has made cleantech the largest venture capital category in the U.S. and has led to the establishment of policies with foresight, like the Green Energy Act in Ontario. But it's not enough to just make space for cleantech, the opportunities for developing cutting edge cleantech organizations also need to be seized. According to Parker, seizing opportunity has not been Canada's strong point.
The race to cleaner economies has become the new space race and Canada is being left behind. Parker pointed out that while countries like China and Korea directed huge portions of their "Great Recession" stimulus packages to green spending, Canada largely missed the opportunity to kick start its own clean economy.
Parker sent his audience away with these seeds of competition planted. While cleantech may be a nebulous bundle of innovation and transformation whose actual components are hard to nail down, the point remains that we urgently need to foster environmentally and socially responsible innovation in this opportunity to re-shape the way that we live.
Laura Tozer is Program Coordinator at the Community Energy Partnerships Program (www.communityenergyprogram.ca). The CEPP provides up to $200,000 grants to support community owned renewable energy projects in Ontario.
Subscribe to SRI Monitor for daily updates on the 2010 Canadian Responsible Investment Conference.
Across the world we're facing environmental crises from every angle, ranging from soil degradation to water shortages to the serious risk of catastrophic climate change. These are symptoms of a greater problem that is built into our lives. Every day, we're consuming more resources than we need, wasting as much as we're using.
We've gone down a path of ecological overshoot that has us pretending that we have the resources of 1.5 planets rather than just the one, Parker says. While some are still heedlessly skipping down this path toward a cliff, others are waving their arms madly trying to communicate the error of our ways before it's too late.
Others still are pointing out the alternative path. The opportunities path.
Parker did not mince words in the description of the challenges that face us, but cleantech, he said, is about grasping the opportunities that are being presented by these challenges.
Cleantech is basically doing more with less, but it is also about adding value in order to ensure economic sustainability. It includes renewable energy as an important piece, but it's about more than that. It's about making the necessary changes in order to meet our needs in a way that is socially and environmentally responsible. In a nutshell, he said, it's the reformation and transformation of everything we do.
No small task.
It's a description that would overwhelm many, but Parker seems to maintain the energy of an entrepreneur who has spotted his market gap. Perhaps because the last five years have seen a shift and major growth in cleantech, garnering interest from huge players in the old economy like Walmart and GE. It's a shift which has made cleantech the largest venture capital category in the U.S. and has led to the establishment of policies with foresight, like the Green Energy Act in Ontario. But it's not enough to just make space for cleantech, the opportunities for developing cutting edge cleantech organizations also need to be seized. According to Parker, seizing opportunity has not been Canada's strong point.
The race to cleaner economies has become the new space race and Canada is being left behind. Parker pointed out that while countries like China and Korea directed huge portions of their "Great Recession" stimulus packages to green spending, Canada largely missed the opportunity to kick start its own clean economy.
Parker sent his audience away with these seeds of competition planted. While cleantech may be a nebulous bundle of innovation and transformation whose actual components are hard to nail down, the point remains that we urgently need to foster environmentally and socially responsible innovation in this opportunity to re-shape the way that we live.
Laura Tozer is Program Coordinator at the Community Energy Partnerships Program (www.communityenergyprogram.ca). The CEPP provides up to $200,000 grants to support community owned renewable energy projects in Ontario.
Subscribe to SRI Monitor for daily updates on the 2010 Canadian Responsible Investment Conference.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Congrès canadien 2010 sur l’investissement responsable:Les attitudes du public et des investisseurs envers l’investissement socialement responsable
Par Benjamin Commerie, conseiller en recherche marketing, Mouvement Desjardins
Saviez-vous que les investisseurs âgés de 40 ans et moins démontrent un réel engouement envers les fonds d’investissement socialement responsable (ISR)? En effet, 44 % des détenteurs de fonds ISR du Mouvement Desjardins se situent dans cette tranche d’âge, alors que seulement 29 % d’entre eux s’intéressent habituellement à nos fonds traditionnels.
De plus, même si l’on sait que les fonds ISR et les fonds traditionnels génèrent des rendements similaires, les détenteurs de fonds ISR sont prêts, dans une certaine mesure, à sacrifier une partie de leur rendement en contrepartie des bénéfices sociaux et environnementaux apportés par la nature de leur placement. En effet, entre un fonds classique et un fonds ISR au rendement inférieur de 1 %, 85 % des détenteurs choisissent le fonds ISR. Et si l’on diminue le rendement de 3 %, 58 % d’entre eux choisissent toujours le fonds ISR!
Ce ne sont là que quelques-unes des données révélées dans l’étude « Les attitudes du public et des investisseurs envers l’investissement responsable » réalisée par la Direction recherche marketing et information de gestion, Gestion du patrimoine et Assurance de personnes du Mouvement Desjardins en avril 2010. Ce type de statistiques se fait plutôt rare dans l’industrie de l’investissement responsable au Québec et au Canada, industrie qui, bien qu’elle soit en plein essor, demeure relativement jeune.
Pionnier de l’ISR au Québec, Desjardins s’engageait sur cette voie dès 1990 en lançant le Fonds Desjardins Environnement. Cet engagement s’est réaffirmé lorsque nous avons mis en marché, en janvier 2009, les portefeuilles SociéTerre. Ainsi, Desjardins jouit maintenant d’un bassin de détenteurs de fonds ISR assez important pour être en mesure de les sonder et d’en retirer des résultats significatifs.
C’est donc avec plaisir que je présenterai les détails de cette étude le mardi 15 juin prochain, lors du Congrès canadien 2010 sur l’investissement responsable.
Détenteur d’un MBA, Benjamin Commerie est conseiller principal en recherche marketing chez Desjardins depuis 2005 et possède plus de 10 ans d’expérience dans ce domaine. Au cours des cinq dernières années, il a réalisé une cinquantaine d’études qualitatives et quantitatives afin de mieux comprendre l’épargnant québécois et, plus particulièrement, les détenteurs de fonds de placement. Adepte des techniques Web en recherche marketing, il a notamment mis sur pied le Panel Fonds Desjardins, outil permettant d’établir un lien privilégié, constant et rapide avec les détenteurs des Fonds Desjardins.
Ceci est le sixième dans une série d’articles au sujet du Congrès canadien 2010 sur l’investissement responsable. Veuillez souscrire au blog SRI Monitor pour les mise-à-dates durant le congrès.
Saviez-vous que les investisseurs âgés de 40 ans et moins démontrent un réel engouement envers les fonds d’investissement socialement responsable (ISR)? En effet, 44 % des détenteurs de fonds ISR du Mouvement Desjardins se situent dans cette tranche d’âge, alors que seulement 29 % d’entre eux s’intéressent habituellement à nos fonds traditionnels.
De plus, même si l’on sait que les fonds ISR et les fonds traditionnels génèrent des rendements similaires, les détenteurs de fonds ISR sont prêts, dans une certaine mesure, à sacrifier une partie de leur rendement en contrepartie des bénéfices sociaux et environnementaux apportés par la nature de leur placement. En effet, entre un fonds classique et un fonds ISR au rendement inférieur de 1 %, 85 % des détenteurs choisissent le fonds ISR. Et si l’on diminue le rendement de 3 %, 58 % d’entre eux choisissent toujours le fonds ISR!
Ce ne sont là que quelques-unes des données révélées dans l’étude « Les attitudes du public et des investisseurs envers l’investissement responsable » réalisée par la Direction recherche marketing et information de gestion, Gestion du patrimoine et Assurance de personnes du Mouvement Desjardins en avril 2010. Ce type de statistiques se fait plutôt rare dans l’industrie de l’investissement responsable au Québec et au Canada, industrie qui, bien qu’elle soit en plein essor, demeure relativement jeune.
Pionnier de l’ISR au Québec, Desjardins s’engageait sur cette voie dès 1990 en lançant le Fonds Desjardins Environnement. Cet engagement s’est réaffirmé lorsque nous avons mis en marché, en janvier 2009, les portefeuilles SociéTerre. Ainsi, Desjardins jouit maintenant d’un bassin de détenteurs de fonds ISR assez important pour être en mesure de les sonder et d’en retirer des résultats significatifs.
C’est donc avec plaisir que je présenterai les détails de cette étude le mardi 15 juin prochain, lors du Congrès canadien 2010 sur l’investissement responsable.
Détenteur d’un MBA, Benjamin Commerie est conseiller principal en recherche marketing chez Desjardins depuis 2005 et possède plus de 10 ans d’expérience dans ce domaine. Au cours des cinq dernières années, il a réalisé une cinquantaine d’études qualitatives et quantitatives afin de mieux comprendre l’épargnant québécois et, plus particulièrement, les détenteurs de fonds de placement. Adepte des techniques Web en recherche marketing, il a notamment mis sur pied le Panel Fonds Desjardins, outil permettant d’établir un lien privilégié, constant et rapide avec les détenteurs des Fonds Desjardins.
Ceci est le sixième dans une série d’articles au sujet du Congrès canadien 2010 sur l’investissement responsable. Veuillez souscrire au blog SRI Monitor pour les mise-à-dates durant le congrès.
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