Investment

Public Bank: Time For Philadelphia To Invest In Philadelphia

January 19, 2018 By Tivoni Devor, Generocity.org Create! Investment, Philadelphia, Public Banking

From what magic bucket of money are we supposed to use to pay for all of this? The Philadelphia Municipal Pension Fund, which covers the pension costs of city workers. This $4 billion fund is entirely made up tax-payer dollars. It’s invested globally in all sorts of funds, stocks, bonds and securities to generate revenue for the city to cover its obligations, and it doesn’t always do that well: In 2016 fund had a net loss of $149 million (though 2017’s returns surpassed expectations). It’s one of the countries worst funded municipal funds. One of Philly’s biggest budget expenses is it’s annual contribution to this fund, which comes from tax revenues. A bulk of Philly’s tax revenue comes from wage taxes. If more people worked, and had higher wages for the jobs they did work, the city would have a higher tax revenues as well as increased savings on social safety net services, which would better position the city to cover its pension obligations.

Learn More About What Your Town Is Investing In

December 28, 2017 By Beryl Lipton, Muckrock.com Educate! Cities, Investment

Between government and private business, a lot of dollars exchange hands. This isn’t limited to the billions of dollars that get spent on government contracting - from purchasing bulk orders of toilet paper for daily office operations to outsourcing detention management to developing new war machines for global conflicts. It also involves direct investments in companies and funds, often via the use of investment or financial management firms like JP Morgan or Wells Fargo and not infrequently in association with an employee pension fund. The record of these investments should typically be of public record. In response to an ongoing request in Phoenix, MuckRock recently received a report of municipal security holdings.

Investors Finally Facing Up To Climate Change

December 14, 2017 Frank Jordans, apnews.com Create! Capital, Climate Change, Finance, Investment

Over 200 companies have pledged greater transparency on reporting climate-related risks in their businesses as part of a voluntary program led by U.S. billionaire Michael Bloomberg. The former New York mayor and Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England and chairman of the Financial Stability Board, said Tuesday that the number of companies supporting the program had more than doubled since its recommendations were first published in June. The 237 companies, with a combined value of over $6.3 trillion, include construction firms, energy companies and financial institutions from 29 countries. Carney said the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures plans to report on its efforts when leaders of the Group of 20 leading industrialized and emerging economies meet in Argentina in a year.

Exxon To Disclose Climate Risks Under Pressure From Investors

December 13, 2017 John H. Cushman Jr., insideclimatenews.org Resist! Climate Change, Exxon, Investment

Under pressure from investors, prosecutors and global regulators, ExxonMobil Corp. agreed on Monday to strengthen its analysis and disclosure of the risks its core oil business faces from climate change and from government efforts to rein in carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels. That will require Exxon to face squarely the implications of reduced oil demand if the world makes good on the pledges of the Paris climate agreement to cut carbon emissions practically to zero fast enough to avoid the worst effects of global warming. In a one-paragraph filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the oil giant said it would stop resisting motions filed by dissident shareholders seeking this kind of risk disclosure.

West Virginia Signs Investment Pact With China Energy

November 13, 2017 Staff, AP.org Educate! China, Energy, Investment, West Virginia

By Staff for Associated Press - West Virginia officials announced an agreement on Thursday with China Energy Investment Corp. Ltd. for the company to invest $83.7 billion in shale gas development and chemical manufacturing in West Virginia over 20 years. State Commerce Secretary Woody Thrasher and China Energy President Ling Wen signed the memorandum in Beijing as part of the U.S.-China trade mission and an overall $250 billion of planned Chinese investments in the U.S. It during President Trump's visit to Beijing. West Virginia commerce officials said project planning is already underway and will focus on power generation, chemical manufacturing and underground storage of natural gas liquids and derivatives. The state was chosen for its position as an energy producer and its large underground shale gas reserves. "West Virginia has actively sought direct foreign investment to strengthen and diversify our economy," Thrasher said. Toyota, Hino Motors, Gestamp, Sogefi and other corporations with international parent companies have created jobs and generated income in the state, and they expect China Energy to bring mutual benefits, he said. West Virginia University since 2002 has been jointly researching coal liquefaction with mining company Shenhua Group, which merged with energy company Guodian Group to form China Energy.

Norway Reviews Ethics Of Energy Investments

October 26, 2017 Staff, www.stopetp.org Resist! Environment, Fossil Fuels, Investment, Norway

By Staff of Stop ETP - The Council on Ethics for Norway’s sovereign wealth fund is assessing whether Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) violated the fund’s guidelines for responsible investment, reported Reuters today. Similar reviews in the past has led to divestments, such as the fund’s 2015 decision to sell off more than $8 billion of investments in coal and related industries. As of the end of 2016, the $1 trillion fund has held $248 million of ETP bonds. “This is good news, it shows that our voices are being heard,” said Dallas Goldtooth, Keep It In the Ground Campaigner with Indigenous Environmental Network. “We encourage all investors to question the Human and Indigenous rights impacts of their fossil fuel investments.”

Impact Investing And Employee Ownership

June 4, 2017 Mary Ann Beyster, www.democracycollaborative.org/ Create! Finance and the Economy, Investment, New Economy, Worker Rights and Jobs

By Mary Ann Beyster for the Democracy Collaborative. With income inequality in the United States at record high levels, employee ownership is increasingly being lauded as a potential solution to spreading wealth more broadly. Most recently, research from the National Center for Employee Ownership released in May shows that employee owners have a household net worth that is 92 percent higher than non-employee owners. They also make 33 percent higher wages, and are far less likely to be laid off. But employee ownership requires new investment in order to get to scale. A new report by Mary Ann Beyster, president and trustee of the Foundation for Enterprise Development (FED), published by the Fifty by Fifty initiative of The Democracy Collaborative, examines the investing landscape for potential opportunities in employee ownership.

Under Activist Pressure, Portland Agrees To End All Corporate Investments

April 14, 2017 Mike Ludwig, www.truth-out.org Create! Divestment, Investment, Portland

By Mike Ludwig for Truthout - In a sweeping move that follows a wave of divestment activism in Portland, Oregon, and across the country, the Portland City Council voted last week to pull all of the city's investments in corporate bonds and securities. The decision was a major victory for a broad coalition of activists who have pushed for the city to end its investments in corporations that have questionable records on the environment and human rights, including ties to the Dakota Access pipeline, the private prison industry and the Israeli occupation of Palestine. "As their decision stands now, it's permanent.… We can rest assured in Portland that our money won't be funding prisons, pipelines and the occupation of Palestine," said Amanda Aguilar Shank, an organizer with the racial justice group Enlace, in an interview with Truthout. Portland's City Council had originally considered adding Caterpillar, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase and six other companies identified by a volunteer committee on socially responsible investing to a so-called "Do Not Buy" list

Will Donald Trump Be Forced To Battle The Bond Vigilantes?

December 19, 2016 Tim Fernholz, www.qz.com Educate! Donald Trump, Investment

By Tim Fernholz for Quartz - There are men and women alive today who have never felt the cold touch of the bond vigilantes. These semi-mythical figures threatened to arise during the Obama administration, but never did. They haunted the first Clinton administration to the point of paranoia. They are, simply speaking, bond investors who turn from buyers to sellers when worried about the potential of rising inflation undercutting the value of their investment. Their selling, the threat of which is generally predicated on government spending plans with the power to trigger inflation, would put pressure on bond prices, and drive up yields.

Seattle Urged To Drop Wells Fargo Over DAPL

December 16, 2016 Amanda Froelich, www.trueactivist.com Resist! #NoDAPL, Investment, Seattle, Standing Rock

By Amanda Froelich for True Activist - A few weeks ago, actress and activist Susan Sarandon made headlines when she asked supporters of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe – who are protesting the four-state Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) – to pull their money out of the banks which are invested in its development. “Water protectors”, who have been camped out near Cannon Ball, ND, since April, argue that the controversial DAPL will uproot sacred burial ground and potentially contaminate the Missouri River. In addition, they maintain that the land is rightfully theirs due to an 1851 treaty which was never revoked.

US Arms Makers Invest In A New Cold War

September 2, 2016 Jonathan Marshall, www.consortiumnews.com Educate! Corporations, Investment, Wars and Militarism

By Jonathan Marshall for Consortium News - Exclusive: Behind the U.S. media-political clamor for a new Cold War with Russia is a massive investment by the Military-Industrial Complex in “think tanks” and other propaganda outlets, writes Jonathan Marshall. The U.S. military has won only a single major war since the end of World War II (the Gulf War of 1990-91). But U.S. military contractors continue to win major budget wars in Congress nearly every year, proving that no force on earth can resist their lobbying prowess and political clout.

Weapons Makers Tell Investors Russia Threat Great For Business

August 25, 2016 Lee Fang, www.theintercept.com Educate! Corporations, Defense, Investment, Russia

By Lee Fang for The Intercept - THE ESCALATING ANTI-RUSSIAN rhetoric in the U.S. presidential campaign comes in the midst of a major push by military contractors to position Moscow as a potent enemy that must be countered with a drastic increase in military spending by NATO countries. Weapon makers have told investors that they are relying on tensions with Russia to fuel new business in the wake of Russian’s annexation of Crimea and modest increases in its military budget.

Will Next Global Debt Crisis Come From Private Investors?

August 23, 2016 Staff, www.telesurtv.net Educate! Capitalism, Crisis, Debt, Investment

By Staff of Telesur - Private creditors have replaced the public sector as lead borrower to developing countries, which has contributed to a new borrowing and lending boom. Private financial institutions are responsible for prompting a potential “new wave” of debt crises among developing nations, according to a new report carried out by European Think Tank Eurodad. Public debt in developing countries is increasingly being borrowed from private lenders, which the authors argue has meant that an increasing portion of credit is not effectively monitored or regulated.

Fossil Fuel Investments Growing Riskier for Insurers

May 26, 2016 Zahra Hirji, www.insideclimatenews.org Educate! Fossil Fuels, Insurance, Investment

By Zahra Hirji for Inside Climate News - The 40 largest insurance companies in the United States have $237 billion invested in electric and gas utilities, $221 billion tied to oil and gas companies and nearly $2 billion locked into coal, a new report reveals. With nearly a half-trillion dollars in bonds, equity and other holdings tied to the fossil fuel industry, an analysis published Tuesday by the sustainability group Ceres says insurers should be evaluating their investment exposure to climate change risks.

Warren Buffett Faces Pressure To Invest For Climate, Not Just For Profit

April 27, 2016 Nicholas Kusnetz, www.insideclimatenews.org Resist! Climate Change, Investment

By Nicholas Kusnetz for Inside Climate News - Thousands of bankers, investors, business journalists and just plain fans will flock to Omaha, Neb., on Saturday in a yearly pilgrimage to glean insight from the world's most famous investor: Warren Buffett. What they are unlikely to get is any guiding wisdom on climate change, even though the world's most famous climate scientist, James Hansen, will be among the attendees pushing for it. The occasion is the annual shareholder meeting of Berkshire Hathaway...

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