“Ethical Markets congratulates TIIP for all the progress reported below. We have always urged our responsible investing friends and colleagues to take ESG beyond its reliance on conventional GDP and all our dominant price-system metrics toward the wider lens of real-world science-based investing, as in our Green Transition Scoreboard ® annual reports since 2009. These are all free and downloadable as a public service, including our “Transitioning to Science-Based Investing“ 2020) at www.ethicalmarkets.com.
We are also grateful for Calvert and its Advisory Council’s early leadership with me, in launching the Calvert-Henderson Quality of Life Indicators, launched at the US National Press Club in 2000, and which I also presented at the European Parliament’s Beyond GDP conference in 2007 (www.beyond-gdp.eu), as an early alternative to GDP, with its 12 aspects of Quality of Life, with most measured in science-based statistics, beyond money.
Prices, as I have always reiterated, are a function of human ignorance! We emphasized this shortcoming in our “Ending Externalities: Toward Full-Spectrum Accounting“ (2016). At last, with the support of 193 member countries of the United Nations, we also have the Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs) as a system guide to our common human future.
Happy Holidays to All,
~Hazel Henderson, Editor”
System-level Investing in 2021
Happy holidays from everyone at TIIP! 2021 was a watershed year for system-level investing: The second year of the Covid-19 pandemic, an on-going dialogue about racial inequities, and heightened urgency about climate change further made the case that investors can and should mitigate systemic risks within their portfolios. More and more we are seeing investors of all types using the principles of system-level investing to create long-term value and improve the underlying social and environmental systems on which the financial industry relies for returns across all asset classes.
| Happy holidays from everyone at TIIP! 2021 was a watershed year for system-level investing: The second year of the Covid-19 pandemic, an on-going dialogue about racial inequities, and heightened urgency about climate change further made the case that investors can and should mitigate systemic risks within their portfolios. More and more we are seeing investors of all types using the principles of system-level investing to create long-term value and improve the underlying social and environmental systems on which the financial industry relies for returns across all asset classes.
We are grateful for the support of friends and allies in the field while we build the market for system-level investing. As we look ahead to opportunities for reconnection and renewal in 2022, we wanted to also reflect on what was achieved.
Here are some highlights from the past year that illustrate how system-level investing is taking hold across the industry:
21st Century Investing offers path forward for investors In April, the publication of 21st Century Investing: Redirecting Financial Strategies to Drive Systems Change, co-authored by William Burckart and Steve Lydenberg, gave institutions and individuals the guidance and tools they need to go beyond conventional and sustainable investing to address complex problems. The book was featured in a variety of outlets and publications, including Barron’s, Forbes, and the UN PRI.
Income inequality emerges as a key systemic issue In June, TIIP released a new report that highlights income inequality as a key systemic challenge of our time, and outlines how investors can confront income inequality and take actions that enhance their current policies and practices. The report represents TIIP’s continued focus on income inequality as a major risk to investor performance.
TIIP creates advisory council with 11 industry experts In September, TIIP launched its strategic Advisory Council, with inaugural members including asset owners and managers who represent a wide variety of investor segments. The Advisory Council is a “learning community” of leaders that will help determine TIIP’s future and potentially inform the system-level investment decisions of other asset owners and managers.
CFA Institute and CFA Societies of Boston, New York, and Philadelphia bring system-level investing to its members In October, the CFA Institute recognized the importance of system-level investing education and strategies and partnered with TIIP to bring its expertise to its members. We were interviewed for Market Integrity Insights, co-hosted a webinar series with the CFA Societies of Boston, New York, and Philadelphia as well as recently joined them on their podcast.
Bloomberg profiles the system-level investing movement as the next phase of ESG Also in October, Bloomberg Markets Magazine profiled the career and legacy of Steve Lydenberg, TIIP’s founder, discussing how he is building on the successes of the ESG movement he helped pioneer to encourage investors to think more holistically about their investments.
The Industry Needs Project assesses system-level investing readiness In November, as a part of our Build the Market initiative, TIIP launched an Industry Needs Project to examine whether asset owners, intermediaries, and other financial industry stakeholders understand system-level investing, and whether they are ready to adopt system-level investing approaches. A recent two and a half minute video featuring TIIP’s Director of Research, Jessica Ziegler, explains the project in more detail.
TIIP extends its network In December, TIIP joined both the Intentional Endowments Network (IEN) and Pensions for Purpose. Monique Aiken, TIIP’s Managing Director, became a Steering Committee member of the IEN, and TIIP became a member of Pensions for Purpose in order to further its work bringing system-level investing to pension funds and asset managers. |
Here are some highlights from the past year that illustrate how system-level investing is taking hold across the industry: