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Investing In A Sustainable World
Investing In A Sustainable World
Why Green Is The New Color Of Money On Wall Street
This book was a tough read for me. I'm not really a money guy, so a lot of what Kiernan was talking about went over my head. However, I found his premise fascinating:
"Companies capable of managing ES [Environmental and Social] challenges better than their competitors are quite likely to be better-managed companies."
That's something that makes sense on the face of it, for a change.
Now, you've probably heard about "socially responsible investing," but Kiernan makes it clear that's not the kind of investment he's talking about,
The differences between the two approaches are, in fact, quite stark and fundamental. Traditional SRI is primarily driven by values. Investors view companies through the prisms of their own personal values: for or against contraception, alcohol, genetically modified foods, pornography, animal testing, company involvement in Sudan or Myanmar, and so on. Historically, financial returns have been only a secondary consideration; expressing one's personal values through investment practices has been paramount ... Sustainability investing, on the other hand, is ... all about investment risk and return and simply uses the analysis of the performance and positioning of companies on ES and other "nontraditional" issues as proxies to help identify better-managed, more nimble companies.
The one thing I found really interesting was that several energy companies and mining companies were on Kiernan's good buy list, so he's not whistling Dixie when he says that ES investing is "all about investment risk and return."
So far, so good. But the one thing that really bugged me about the book was the fact that it seemed almost like an infomercial for Kiernan's company, Innovest Strategic Value Advisors. It seemed like every chapter had an example drawn from Innovest Strategic Value Advisors. Did I mention that Kiernen is the founder and chief executive of Innovest Strategic Value Advisors?
That quibble aside, I found the premise plausible and Kiernan's arguments for ES-based investing were highly compelling. And the chart at the end of the book showing Innovest Strategic Value Advisors' picks of companies that are best managing ES issues is reason enough alone to by this book.
Although, it would be interesting to go through the list and find out how well those companies are dealing with the present financial crisis. I recommend this book for people who who are interested in investing and money matters -- which, unfortunately, is not me.