Sustainability Investing

About two years ago Linda and I began wondering out loud about using our investment dollars to support sustainable development. The leveraging of our investment dollars in support of companies that contribute to the well being of society and the planet as well as providing good investment return -- the goal.

Individually we had identified the DJSI or Dow Jones Sustainability Index as a tool to identify companies that fit our goals. The DJSI employs a rigorous score card to measure the sustainability of the world's largest companies across sixty sectors. Every year a list of "best in class" companies is published.

When we sought the counsel of brokers and financial experts to see how we could use this tool to guide our investments, we found, much to our surprise and chagrin, that no one in the US currently licenses this index. Some tried to convince us to go the SRI or Socially Responsible Investment route -- but to our way of thinking, the selection criteria for these kinds of investments lacked the rigor and methodology we sought.

We are now working with two investment professionals, a financial advisor and a portfolio manager, from two major financial institutions who understand the sustainable development concepts and are ready to move forward. Our challenge now is to identify an interested pool of investors who, in aggregate represent $100 million. At this level we can create a private investment strategy for each participant that leverages the DJSI.

The type of investor for this strategy can either be individuals or representatives from non profit institutions who are seeking returns equal to their current investments and the knowledge that their investment is incenting the type of corporate behavior that takes the people and the planet into account.

The good news is that we've found a lead investor and will be identifying others who are interested in pursuing this sustainability investment strategy.