News & Commentaries by Ron Robins

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Kiplinger Letter Lists Their 25 Stocks For A Cleaner World. – [COMMENTARY] These companies are often cited in sustainability indices as environmentally conscious major corporations. Whenever you review a list like this always get help with investing from a qualified investment advisor.
25 Stocks to Invest in a Cleaner World, by David Landis and Andrew Tanzer, December 2007, Kiplinger.com, USA.

Excellent UK Study On Climate Change Industries Investing Warns About Knock-On Effects. – [COMMENTARY] Deals with many issues green investors are faced with. “The report was prepared as part of the London Accord, a collaboration between investment banks and research houses to produce financial research on the investment opportunities from climate change.”
Climate change investments could backfire, investors warned, December 21, 2007, Environmental Finance, UK. See actual study at: Investments To Combat Climate Change – Exploding the sustainable solutions, 2007, UK.

Utilities Come Out On Top, Information Technology At Bottom, In New Sustainability Study. – [COMMENTARY] “The Washington DC-based research group [RiskMetrics] spent a year studying over 1,700 companies, drawing from companies found in the S&P 500, the Toronto Stock Exchange 300, and the Morgan Stanley EAFE index (excluding Japan.)” Another interesting fact revealed by this study is that industries with the most negative influence on climate change generally had the best governance and sustainability policies. Obviously companies are the seeing the obvious advantage of using corporate social responsibility policies.
Sustainability Issues All Over the Map at Large Cap Companies, by Anne Moore Odell, December 22, 2007. Source: SocialFunds.com but published at GreenBiz.com, USA.

DHL & USPS Rated Most Climate Conscious Shippers By Climate Counts. – [COMMENTARY] If you are looking for shipping stocks that are good to invest in, you might want to have a look at this report. Climate Counts rates over sixty shippers “… based on four benchmarks: measuring and tracking their carbon footprint, taking steps to minimize impact, their support or opposition to climate policies, and how they report their efforts to the public.”
DHL, U.S. Post Office Lead Climate-Friendly Survey, by Dan Shapley, December 15, 2007, The Daily Green, USA.

Karmayog Rates Largest 500 Indian Companies On Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Practices. – [COMMENTARY] This is the first time I have come across such a detailed examination of CSR among Indian companies. Many of the companies covered are multi-nationals. It is interesting for ethical investors to review how these companies actually operate in the developing world.
Corporate Social Responsibility, December 15, 2007, Karmayog, India.

Responsible Investing Handbook For Foundations Just Issued By Boston College. – [COMMENTARY] This handbook, funded by the FB Heron Foundation, is aimed at “… foundation asset managers interested in multiplying their organization′s impact on society through options that link mission with investments that create long-term value to society.” It is excellent reading for all ethical investors as it covers asset classes not often considered by them!
Article describing Handbook on Responsible Investment Across Asset Classes, download Responsible Investing Handbook, (PDF). Boston College, USA.

UK Churches Launch Own Ethical Investing Website. – [COMMENTARY] This is an interesting project that combines and lists reports by major UK church groups concerning their thinking in regard to their ethical investing policies. Spiritual and ethical investors might find some of these reports worthwhile.
Church Investors Group, December 12, 2007, UK.

One World Trust Announces Its 2007 Global Accountability Report Results. – [COMMENTARY] Read it’s findings on some of the world’s largest companies — The Coca-Cola Company, DynCorp International, General Electric Company (GE), GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Google, HSBC Holdings, Petrobras, PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited (PwCIL), Suez, and TATA Group.
2007 Global Accountability Report, December 4, 2007, One World Trust, UK.