Zevin Asset Management President Sonia Kowal and Director of Sustainable Investing Marcela Pinilla break down the investor response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine:
The Investor Response to the Russian War in Ukraine
As another needless war unfolds, it’s important to consider how investors have enabled Putin over the years and the lessons to be learned from burying one’s head in the sand.
His invasion of Georgia in 2008 and then of Crimea in 2014 should have been early warning signs for asset owners and managers. Yet many responded with yawns and shrugs over the years, prioritizing profit over values by choosing to stay invested. I understand this more than most, as an ex-Russian equity analyst who saw up close the potential for making gobs of money by investing in Russian-owned businesses. On Feb. 24, when Putin invaded Ukraine again, those that remained invested had no excuse.
Top Tier Impact: Interview With Sonia Kowal
Net Zero Cannot Be a Net Disappointment: The Social Cost of Carbon Offsets
When oil companies announce net-zero greenhouse gas emissions goals but provide no details on how they plan to reduce that in the short term or whether their largest source of emissions — in this case, emissions from the use of products of oil and gas — is included, it’s clear that the term “net zero” can be co-opted. While the growth in corporate net-zero targets is an important signal of increased ambition to fight climate change and is required to move us towards warming below 1.5 degrees C, there is little ability to keep companies accountable to these goals.
Audiocast: Introduction to Marcela Pinilla, Director of Sustainable Investing
We invite you to listen to this audiocast from Marcela Pinilla, our Director of Sustainable Investing, and hear about the issues she sees as the primary focus for Zevin Asset Management, including:
Racial equity
Climate change
Corporate governance
On the Front Lines of Shareholder Advocacy
What a year this has been for shareholder advocacy.
This season we reached a new peak in investor support for ESG (environmental, social, and governance)-related issues. Most of these majority votes during company annual meetings have been for shareholder proposals asking companies to evaluate and describe the rationale for their spending on direct and indirect lobbying activities.
How Can Investors Help Confront Racial Injustice?
Download a PDF of this Impact Brief
Here is an update of our 2017 paper on racial justice and investing, renewed to reflect more recent events, engagements, and developments that we are trying to press in our field.
Inequality and injustice based on race were founding economic realities of American life. Two centuries later, inequality, abuse, and discrimination are still present in every sector — in education, housing, healthcare, and policing. In spite of halting progress, our economy, and our capital markets specifically, are still systematic in failing BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) communities, continuing to extract value from them, and profiting — and thereby contributing to — their further marginalization and carceration. Not surprisingly, those conditions shape businesses’ risks and opportunities. This paper discusses integrating racial justice into investment — both with an analytical lens and an economic reality. Doing so helps us protect the value of our portfolios and channel our clients’ voices to help create positive change.
To read more download a PDF of this Impact Brief.