Greenmoney Journal interviewed Robert Rubenstein, founder of Brooklyn Bridge’s Triple Bottom Line Investing (TBLI) conference, held in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Now in its sixth year, here is a preview of the conference and how Robert sees the field of socially responsible investing progresses in Europe.
GMJ: The TBLI conference, which began in 1998, is the largest international SRI event, attended by over 500 people each fall. Can you tell us some of the highlights of the event over the last 6 years?
RR: Each year the number of attendees and the quality of the attendance has increased. By quality, I mean the number of attendees from the mainstream financial community. The message that SRI, at worse doesn’t under-perform as compared to traditional investments, and sometimes even out-performs those investments is getting through. It is becoming more and more difficult to find major financial institutions that don’t already have several SRI products, departments, research units, or more. If they don’t have any of the above, then they are probably planning on establishing them within the next 12 months.
GMJ: This year’s TBLI (Triple Bottom Line Investing) conference occurs November 11-12 in Amsterdam, at the Beurs van Berlage. Who are some of speakers and what are the themes?
RR: This year we have tried very hard to further attract mainstream investors by offering them subjects that clearly impact their business or offer opportunities. We have a Roundtable on the Equator Principles, with the leading banks (WestLB, Barclays, ABNAMRO, IFC and Banktrack, an NGO). This is the first time that the leading banks have agreed to come together to discuss this unique initiative. For those unfamiliar with this initiative, Equator Principles is an agreement by leading lenders to adhere to international social and environmental safeguards.
We will also have a roundtable on the SRI Pension Funds that are taking a strong leadership in SRI institutionalization. In that session, we will have the Norwegian Petroleum Fund, and the new French Pension System (FRR), which issued its first mandate, with 20 percent committed fully to SRI. In addition, the global advisor for Mercer Tim Gardener will be joining this roundtable. Our third Roundtable, which includes participants from business, trade unions, research, finance, and NGO’s, will discuss the value of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI).
The four keynotes will be Pasqaule Pistorio CEO of STMicroelectronics, Pat Flaherty of Citigroup, Jeff Leonard of Global Environment Fund, and David Blood former CEO of Goldman Sachs Asset Management.
Among the workshops subjects that will be covered include: Carbon Finance with the head of the EU trading system, Certification and Verification of screening process, Role of Change Agents, Institutionalizing SRI within a bank, Corporate Governance, Economic Value of Ecosytems, Fund Performance and Strategy, two sessions on Sustainable Private Equity, Microfinance, Social Return on Investment, TBLI Research, Geographic Focus of SRI-France, FDI, Climate Change initiatives by financial sector, Public Policy and SRI.
GMJ: What are some of the main reasons for the growth of SRI and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Europe and the UK? What do you see as the main differences between that of Europe and that of the US?
RR: I think that regulation and research have helped stimulate SRI. The UK Pension Fund disclosure law forced pension funds to disclose their policy on SRI. It didn’t require them to invest according to SRI, but funds had to state their policy. This created a dramatic increase in SRI, but mostly in engagement. With respect to the rest of Europe, I think the growth has been a cultural issue. As the story of SRI is becoming a professional way of screening portfolios, particularly the best-in-class approach of Europeans, appealed to institutional investors. In addition, more and more transparency pressure increased on foundations, churches, and pension funds to invest their money in a responsible manner. That combined with the new pension systems that needed to be created were a natural breeding ground for SRI. I am particularly enthusiastic about the French SRI market, which has become the most dynamic SRI market in Europe. If present trends continue, French SRI could even overtake the UK’s.
GMJ: Who do you think has the most innovative solutions to the current social and environmental crises and to finding socially just economic alternatives to globalization?
RR: I think that the Equator Principles and the Carbon Disclosure Project are helping to herd the financial community, which usually follows the rest of the pack, toward TBLI. It is important to create that sense of size. These two projects were simple, inexpensive, and practical, had clear impacts, and were implemented by a small organization. For those that don’t know, the Carbon Disclosure Project was a letter sent to the 500 largest corporations. It asked seven questions related to the greenhouse gas footprint of the corporation. The signatories of the letter were the mainstream financial institutions. We assisted the first letter in getting the largest asset managers to sign, which created the herd. There were nearly 12 trillion dollars in assets that signed. That will get the attention of large publicly traded companies.
GMJ: Where do you see TBLI in 10 years?
RR: I see that it is the way investments are done, and hopefully it won’t be just a segment of the investment spectrum. As the message gets out, with companies integrating the GRI while investors study the whole story, it will become mainstream. At present, people see it as a niche. It’s not a niche. It is similar to a party. The party is great: wonderful music, excellent ambience, and fantastic food. We are just early.
For full details of the program, visit- http://www.tbli.org
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Excerpted from GreenMoney Journal, a SustainableBusiness.com Content Partner
Triple Bottom Line Investing Conference: November 11-12Interview with founder Robert Rubinstein
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