Unleashing the Potential of US Foundation Endowments: Using Responsible Investment to Strengthen Endowment Oversight and Enhance Impact

A small but growing number of US foundations are investigating or pursuing sustainable and responsible investing approaches -- often employing such terms as mission-related investing or impact investing. They are embracing the notion that in addition to making grants, they can employ investment and shareowner strategies across their assets to help achieve positive societal outcomes and targeted financial returns. This report is designed for foundation staff and trustees who are interested in encouraging their institutions to align a broader portion of their assets under management with their programmatic goals or to factor environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) issues into their investment decisions to help fulfill fiduciary duties. Practitioners in the sustainable and responsible investment industry who serve foundations, including consultants, research providers, financial advisors, and investment managers, can also benefit from the information and resources in this paper.Using extensive data from primary and secondary resources, this paper presents the current range and state of involvement by foundations in sustainable and responsible investing (SRI) and profiles a number of foundations whose approaches to SRI have resulted in meaningful environmental, social or corporate governance outcomes. It demonstrates that it is feasible for foundations to invest their endowments in alignment with their mission and ESG issues of concern, while at the same time achieving their overall financial goals. This report also details a range of resources, including many that have emerged just in the past few years, available to foundations in their efforts to explore SRI. Last, the report offers recommendations and ideas for foundation officers and trustees to enable them to guide their institutions into this space

A conceptual model of foreign investment : a forestry internationalization case between New Zealand and Korea : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Agricultural Economics at Massey University

The purpose of this thesis is to explore comprehensive, strategic investment structure by examining the factor interactions revolving around the current issues which confront New Zealand forestry internationalisation in the global economic perspectives. This thesis presents the prototype of a conceptual model of international forestry as a modified joint venture\ trust system by examining the existing institutional and legal structure. Considering the global, conceptual nature of this thesis, macro-theoretical and institutional approach were adopted instead of statistical, micro analysis. In order to derive a micro, realistic solution from the macro, global issues, the flow of basic logic and scope of this research has been advanced progressively such as Worldwide (global) --- Asia Pacific Rim (multilateral) Bilateral (eg., New Zealand versus Korea) --- Bilateral arrangement (eg., modified joint venture \ Trust system). Also, basic components and scenarios which are useful to seek out alternatives were proposed to solve the current problems which face New Zealand forestry. The conceptual model which is proposed in this thesis could be tested and applied not only in bilateral but also in multilateral trade and investment relationships by modifying it to adjust to specific circumstances. In this way, the credibility gap between the conceptual model and real world is greatly diminished. Ultimately, the conceptual model could contribute as a useful mechanism to analyse international factor mobility between resource-demanding and supplying countries

Strategies for sustainable socio-economic development and mechanisms their implementation in the global dimension

The authors of the book have come to the conclusion that it is necessary to effectively use modern approaches to developing and implementation strategies of sustainable socio-economic development in order to increase efficiency and competitiveness of economic entities. Basic research focuses on economic diagnostics of socio-economic potential and financial results of economic entities, transition period in the economy of individual countries and ensuring their competitiveness, assessment of educational processes and knowledge management. The research results have been implemented in the different models and strategies of supply and logistics management, development of non-profit organizations, competitiveness of tourism and transport, financing strategies for small and medium-sized enterprises, cross-border cooperation. The results of the study can be used in decision-making at the level the economic entities in different areas of activity and organizational-legal forms of ownership, ministries and departments that promote of development the economic entities on the basis of models and strategies for sustainable socio-economic development. The results can also be used by students and young scientists in modern concepts and mechanisms for management of sustainable socio-economic development of economic entities in the condition of global economic transformations and challenges

From SRI to ESG: The Changing World of Responsible Investing

The terms socially-responsible investing (SRI), mission-related investing, impact investing and environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing -- all frequently grouped under the heading of responsible investing -- have become a familiar part of the vocabulary of institutional and retail investors. Just what these terms mean in practice, however, and how their practitioners' claims can be impartially assessed, has been less clear. Responsible investing can be broken into three main categories: Socially-responsible investing (SRI) A portfolio construction process that attempts to avoid investments in certain stocks or industries through negative screening according to defined ethical guidelines. Impact investing Investing in projects, companies, fund or organizations with the express goal of generating and measuring effecting mission-related social, environmental or economic change alongside financial returns. Environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing Integrating the three ESG factors into fundamental investment analysis to the extent that they are material to investment performance. While these terms may all be gathered under the term responsible investing, these approaches serve very different purposes. SRI and impact investing use funding and investment activities to express institutional values or advance the institution's mission. In contrast, ESG investing aims to improve investment performance, thereby making additional resources available for mission support. For a long time, SRI was by far the most widely-used of the three approaches. In recent years, however, it has been argued that, although negative screening can be a useful tool for institutions desiring to express ethical, religious or moral values through their investment portfolio, for many it may prove too restrictive. ESG analysis, on the other hand, takes a broader view, examining whether environmental, social and governance issues may be material to a company's performance, and therefore to the investment performance of a long-term portfolio. Thus, while not every institution will choose to engage in SRI or impact investing, fiduciaries of long-term institutional investors should seek to develop a well-reasoned view on their institution's approach to ES

Information technology and electronics firms from Taiwan Province of China in the United Kingdom: Emerging trends and implications

This article examines the modal choices, key activities and motivations of non-dominant information technology and electronics firms from Taiwan Province of China in the United Kingdom, against the backdrop of recent trends in the global economy. Its main findings include the limited prospects of the sample firms' evolution into manufacturing activity in the United Kingdom and the increasing importance of inter-firm logistics collaboration. Among the key policy implications discussed in the article are: the need for appropriate measures to support the United Kingdom's positioning as a gateway to, and a preferred base for intelligence gathering on, other European markets; the need for "high-wage" advanced economies to capitalize upon their not-easily-replicable location-specific advantages (e.g. reputable research-anddevelopment clusters; substantial domestic market) in targeting foreign direct investment in the research and development, design and sales-related areas; and the importance of a more balanced investment attraction strategy that actively targets major global players (and their capacity to attract secondary inward investment) without compromising support for indigenous growth companies. Future research should pay greater attention to the intra-regional, rather than intra-country, context of firms' evolution in international markets

Construction IT in 2030: a scenario planning approach

Summary: This paper presents a scenario planning effort carried out in order to identify the possible futures that construction industry and construction IT might face. The paper provides a review of previous research in the area and introduces the scenario planning approach. It then describes the adopted research methodology. The driving forces of change and main trends, issues and factors determined by focusing on factors related to society, technology, environment, economy and politics are discussed. Four future scenarios developed for the year 2030 are described. These scenarios start from the global view and present the images of the future world. They then focus on the construction industry and the ICT implications. Finally, the preferred scenario determined by the participants of a prospective workshop is presented

STRUCTURAL CHANGES IN THE WORLD SOCIAL PRODUCTION UNDER THE CONDITIONS OF THE GLOBAL TRANSFORMATION

The article considers interdependency between two important economic processes at the present stage which are foreign investments and structural shifts in the economy. These processes have been acquiring new trends and attributes in recent years. The foreign investments are gaining in greater importance in the economic development and the structural shifts are becoming more precisely directed and intensive. Due to the dynamics intensification and nature alteration of these processes at the present stage, the research of the mentioned phenomena in the world economy is gaining in particular topicality