Few moments have made me pause like reading Wendell Berry’s latest essay… Wendell’s latest essay just came out in Christian Century: https://www.christiancentury.org/features/against-killing-children One of his lines got me thinking: war is the business of business He awakens us to the reality that 60,000 nuclear bombs have been built. A huge percentage of each tax dollar […]
Every few years, an investor or Finance Committee may rewrite their Investment Policy Statement (IPS). It can be a way to express your values. For example, it’s where many have chosen to divest from fossil fuels. It’s also often where you set “the mandate” for your Investment Advisor / Consultant / OCIO. Key Components might […]
An area of significant learning for me this year was my work supporting an Investment Committee through a significant decision around their endowment. What I didn’t realize, was that the leader of the committee had a certain point of view and as a result was uninterested in taking the time to ask the committee to […]
One of the highlights of 2023 for me was spending time and getting to know the Catholic Impact Investing Collaborative (CIIC). CIIC has a beautiful story in John and Jake coming to know each other and building a relationship and inviting others “on fire” with impact investing to join together. I loved learning the stories […]
In 2023, I was introduced to Adrienne Buller’s The Value of a Whale: On the Illusions of Green Capitalism. It’s an extraordinary take down of the dominant ways we are approaching climate change and ecological crisis. Since I worked as a consultant for oil & gas companies in 2009, I’ve been looking for somebody who […]
I got depressed when I first started reading Janelle Orsi’s analysis about tax-advantaged retirement plans (401(k)s, 403(b)s, Individual Retirement Accounts (Roth IRAs and Traditional)). But, in 2023, I wanted to set up a retirement benefit for myself and my colleagues at Francesco Collaborative, so I was pushed to figure out what our options were. After […]
I love the ruthless critique Scott Galloway levels against ESG investing. The clarity pierces. When capital and ideals clash, capital smothers ideals in their sleep. Prof. Scott Galloway – from “Mammon” – posted December 1, 2023 Here are a few excerpts: We are always ready, and want, to believe that this time it’s different, we […]
Being a person of faith and investing has been largely reduced to screening out bad things in your portfolio (ie producers of weapons, assault rifles, and others). Some of the more creative and thoughtful faith-based investors have pushed for more positive screening. I’m two years into learning the landscape and I’m struck by how few […]
Investing with a consciousness of what your money is doing pushes us to ask a few questions. Where does money most commonly get invested? What is the structure of the relationship between invested money and other things I care about? If I don’t like the conventional investing options, what are my alternatives? If I believe […]
I learned a new word last week from Luke: pleonexia. So I thought I would share the discussion that ensued. In philanthropy and investing, I often hear family/board members carry the weight of: I need to invest our assets so the mission (grant-making) can continue into perpetuity Too often, what’s crouching right alongside that desire […]