Can Naughty Be Nice for Investors


Book Description

This article examines the return characteristics of a portfolio of US 'vice stocks', firms that manufacture and sell socially irresponsible products such as alcohol, tobacco, gaming services and national defense. First of all, I construct a portfolio using the daily returns of 41 vice stocks over the period October 2007 to October 2013 and find the Jensen's alpha (CAPM), Fama-French Three Factor and Carhart Four-Factor results for the entire portfolio, the entire portfolio during bear and bull markets, and each vice industry individually. Full-period results show a positive, yet insignificant alpha for the entire portfolio and each vice industry. Bear market results show a positive and significant alpha for the entire portfolio as well as for all industry portfolios except the tobacco industry. Bull market results for the portfolio are less conclusive with a significant alpha only in the three and four-factor models.




Why Love Will Always Be a Poor Investment


Book Description

"Marriage is intimate. Marriage is hard": sober thoughts for a time when movies and television tell us that love is supposed to be romantic and fun. In this eclectic blend of playful and earnest storytelling, social commentary, and fierce argument, Kurt Armstrong offers an up-close look at real-life marriage and the countless ways it differs from what the advertisers tell us it should be. With wisdom, wit, and profound honesty, he explores the aching beauty of love, the ongoing struggle to maintain vows, and the reality of death as the finishing line of covenant. "Even if love one day fills my heart full of grief," says Armstrong, "it is still the only thing worth living for." This moving, honest, heartfelt look at real-life marriage will strike a chord with single men and women, young couples, and seasoned veterans of married life.




Ethics and Socially Responsible Investment


Book Description

This volume breaks new ground by approaching Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) as an explicitly ethical practice in financial markets. The work explains the philosophical and practical shortcomings of ’long term shareholder value’ and the origins and conceptual structure of SRI, and links its pursuit to both its deeper philosophical foundations and the broader, multi-dimensional global movement towards greater social responsibility in global markets. Interviews with fund managers in the Australian SRI sector generate recommendations for better integrating ethics into SRI practice via ethically informed engagement with invested companies, and an in-depth discussion of the central practical SRI issue of fiduciary responsibility strengthens the case in favour of SRI. The practical and ethical theoretical perspectives are then brought together to sketch out an achievable ideal for SRI worldwide, in which those who are involved in investment and business decisions become part of an ’ethical chain’ of decision makers linking the ultimate owners of capital with the business executives who frame, advocate and implement business strategies. In between there are investment advisors, fund managers, business analysts and boards. The problem lies in the fact that the ultimate owners are discouraged from considering their own values, or even their own long term interests, whilst the others often look only to short term interests. The solution lies in the latter recognising themselves as links in the ethical chain.




The Race to Zero


Book Description

"Paul Tice delivers a body-blow to the predations of the ESG-industrial-complex." —Mark P. Mills, Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute Over the past few years, sustainable investing—which is based on the theory that subjective environmental, social and governance or ESG factors should drive corporate policy and investment decisions—has swept across Wall Street, spurred on by the United Nations, sovereign governments and financial regulators and cheered on by academics, environmental activists, social justice warriors and the media. To date, there has been little public resistance or analytical pushback as the ESG orthodoxy has integrated itself into almost every corner of the financial markets. By 2030, the iron curtain of sustainability will have fully descended across Wall Street. Race to Zero is meant to provide a detailed rebuttal to the case for sustainable investing from the perspective of a long-time Wall Street analyst and investor and latter-day finance professor. Sustainable investing is a scam because it is not about generating excess returns for investors or furthering ethical goals such as improving society or saving the planet; rather, it is about controlling the world’s financial system and determining the allocation of capital and investment flows across the markets. It is liberal progressive politics masquerading as finance whose objective is to create a compliant corporate sector that serves as both Greek chorus and funding source for the environmental and social causes championed by government and the elite class. This book is designed to expose this truth in plain-spoken language—free of financial jargon—to reach the widest possible audience, including the silent majority on Wall Street now afraid to speak up about ESG.




Socially Responsible Investment in a Global Environment


Book Description

The authors have done an excellent job explaining the development and practice of Socially Responsible Investment (SRI). Under the recent recognition of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Asia and its strong emphasis by US and European corporations, this book provides important guidance to students and professionals who are interested in the effects and implications of SRI. This book is truly informative and should be on the reading list of all fund managers and CFOs of international corporations which are serious about CSR. Louis T.W. Cheng, Hong Kong Polytechnic University Individual investors and corporate heads have the responsibility to keep abreast of major changes in the marketplace. Socially responsible investment is one of those changes. Fung, Law and Yau provide, in a single source, a great opportunity to get up to date on an area that will be a force for years to come. I encourage any thoughtful investor or manager to read this book. Thomas Schneeweis, University of Massachusetts Amherst, US Socially responsible investment (SRI) is becoming increasingly popular and can be potentially rewarding to all parties concerned. This book discusses the opportunities, challenges, and practices of SRI in a global financial environment in a consistent and integrated framework of risk management. It also covers a wide variety of environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) issues related to various participants, such as values-based retail, institutional investors, corporations, banks, supranational agencies, and non-governmental organizations. Readers are provided with the perspectives of SRI from various players in the financial community from values-based investors to fiduciaries to supranational agencies. The authors analyse the incorporation of ESG issues into investment practices within a regulatory, legal, reputational, and operational risk management framework. Academics, corporate executives, government regulators and policymakers, bankers, and non-governmental organizations involved with sustainable development will find much of interest in this book.




Stranded Assets


Book Description

The topic of ‘stranded assets’ created by environment-related risk factors has risen up the agenda dramatically, influencing many pressing topics in relation to global environmental change. For example: how best to manage the exposure of investments to environment-related risks so that financial institutions can avoid stranded assets; the financial stability implications of stranded assets and what this means for macroprudential regulation, microprudential regulation, and financial conduct; reducing the negative consequences of stranded assets by finding ways to address unemployment, lost profits, and reduced tax income; internalising the risk of stranded assets in corporate strategy and decision-making, particularly in carbon intensive sectors susceptible to the effects of societal action on climate change; underpinning arguments by civil society campaigns attempting to secure rapid decarbonisation to reduce the scale of anthropogenic climate change; and designing decarbonisation plans developed by governments, as well as companies and investors. Taken as a whole, this book provides some of the latest thinking on how stranded assets are relevant to investor strategy and decision-making, as well as those seeking to understand and influence financial institutions. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Sustainable Finance and Investment.




Green Issues and Debates


Book Description

Colorful bracelets, funky brooches, and beautiful handmade beads: young crafters learn to make all these and much more with this fantastic step-by-step guide. In 12 exciting projects with simple steps and detailed instructions, budding fashionistas create their own stylish accessories to give as gifts or add a touch of personal flair to any ensemble. Following the successful "Art Smart" series, "Craft Smart" presents a fresh, fun approach to four creative skills: knitting, jewelry-making, papercrafting, and crafting with recycled objects. Each book contains 12 original projects to make, using a range of readily available materials. There are projects for boys and girls, carefully chosen to appeal to readers of all abilities. A special "techniques and materials" section encourages young crafters to try out their own ideas while learning valuable practical skills.




Cambridge Handbook of Institutional Investment and Fiduciary Duty


Book Description

The Cambridge Handbook of Institutional Investment and Fiduciary Duty is a comprehensive reference work exploring recent changes and future trends in the principles that govern institutional investors and fiduciaries. A wide range of contributors offer new perspectives on the dynamics that drive the current emphasis on short-term investment returns. Moreover, they analyze the forces at work in markets around the world which are bringing into sharper focus the systemic effects that investment practices have on the long-term stability of the economy and the interests of beneficiaries in financial, social and environmental sustainability. This volume provides a global and multi-faceted commentary on the evolving standards governing institutional investment, offering guidance for students, researchers and policy-makers interested in finance, governance and other aspects of the contemporary investment world. It also provides investment, business, financial media and legal professionals with the tools they need to better understand and respond to the new financial market challenges of the twenty-first century.




The Ground Between


Book Description

There is a deep dysfunction in the way we talk about oil and mining. Battles over oil and mining developments in New Zealand are fierce and polarised. Often presented as a simple trade-off between conservation or quick profit, the debate leaves little space for discussion across ideological divides. The Ground Between provides a rare account from someone who has worked within this contested arena. Drawing on his experience with local and international mining companies, governments and NGOs, Sefton Darby reflects frankly on the state of resource extraction in New Zealand. Seeking to reset the debate within a global context, this book is ultimately about how we – as a country – make decisions around contentious issues.




Natural Resource Investment and Africa's Development


Book Description

'This book makes a significant contribution to the literature on natural resource law and governance by engaging specifically with the issues arising in the African region. It covers a wide spectrum of issues that are key to the sustainable use of natural resources in the region, thus making it an important resource for anyone interested in natural resource governance and economic development in the African region.' – Philippe Cullet, University of London, UK This well-researched book covers a wide spectrum of important issues that are central to investment in natural resources and ultimately, economic development of Africa. Francis Botchway and the expert contributors analyse the relationships between good governance and resource management, as well as the existing commercial and financial agreements. The environmental implication of resource exploitation and the international dimensions of the industry are also explored in this insightful study. Each comprehensive and concise contribution highlights the importance of transparency and equity in investment and management of natural resources. Natural Resource Investment and Africa's Development is essential material for scholars and students of development, environmental law, international economic law and dispute resolution, as well as any international investor in natural resources.