Month: May 2017

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UN PRI turns ten

Rather than just celebrate the tenth anniversary of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment, it seemed more appropriate to focus instead on the work not yet done. The last decade has been critical in terms of socializing the Principles and gaining signatories. The uptake has been dramatic. From a cold start the PRI is now at roughly 1,500 signatories representing more than US$60 Trillion.

Now the question is what are those signatories doing with the Principles. The mission states: “The PRI will work to achieve this sustainable global financial system by encouraging adoption of the Principles and collaboration on their implementation; by fostering good governance, integrity and accountability; and by addressing obstacles to a sustainable financial system that lie within market practices, structures and regulation.”

The numbers do not yet add. Continue reading “UN PRI turns ten”

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Advisors — discount the views of women at your peril

I was actually even a little more direct than that and it seems to have made it into print. To quote myself:  “That (dismissing the views of female clients on issues of ethics) is not only inexcusable, it is short-sighted. Women are becoming dominant in household financial decision-making. To discount the views and priorities of women is misogynistic and foreclosing half the market opportunity to build an advisory business.”

Tim Cooper wrote an excellent piece in CityWire USA’s ESG supplement this month [follow the link] calling on advisors to “brush up on their ESG knowledge to communicate with clients.” Thank you Tim for the call to arms, and also for putting my comments forward without rubbing vaseline on the lens.