Dear Honeybees, Here comes the spring! Everywhere seeds are sprouting, finding the sun at long last… sometimes after years of preparation. Attached please find our “state of the field” research report, which provides an overview of developments in the ESG investing landscape. And with all that is emerging, it seems only fitting that this is […]
On Dinosaurs and Investing. No, I don’t mean that guy down the hall — I mean actual dinosaurs. It’s not often that a long-horizon field like paleontology produces a bumper crop of shocking research, but the dinosaur world has been full of surprises recently. First, all of your dino-toys and sci-fi models might be total misrepresentations: it’s […]
9.7% Fewer than 10 percent of mutual funds and ETF’s in the US have a female fund manager, down from a measly 11.4% in 2008. And the US is not alone… only five countries worldwide are over 20% (Singapore is highest, at 30%). Are we under-counting? Probably not – this data is from Morningstar, which […]
One. You only need to own one share of a company to attend the annual shareholders’ meeting – technically, less than one share will do, though partial shares are usually hard to come by. I was reminded of this fundamental right this week by none other than Mike Mayo, legendary bank analyst. Mayo’s firm, CLSA, […]
89% of asset managers report that they are familiar with sustainable investing. 59% of those who don’t currently offer products in this area say that they will do so within a year. Of course, the levels of commitment vary, and the “how” of sustainable investing is increasingly more important than the “whether.” But hey, these […]
Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago. – Warren Buffett Everyone thinks businesses (and investment portfolios) should be managed for the long term…. until there’s a bad quarter. The pressures of short termism have been widely noted, but now there is some empirical proof that […]
Lessons from Hans Rosling It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so. * Hans Rosling passed away this week, and the world is already missing his insightful, impassioned analysis. I spent a wistful evening reviewing my favorite Rosling talks and exploring the terrific […]
“Okay, maybe I’ll sell a little.” These innocuous words helped to make me a much better investor. When I was a Very Young Analyst at a Very Big Firm, a Brand New Fund Manager, Will Danoff, was one of the first people who listened to my ideas. He bought the very first stock I recommended, and […]
Who do you trust? Increasingly, the answer is “myself, and no one else.” The new Edelman Trust survey shows global declines in trust across the board – government, business, NGO’s, and media – a result which has not been seen since these surveys began in 2001. It doesn’t matter how you slice the data – rich people […]
4.1 million acres. That’s the total organic farmland in the US now, up 11 percent over the past 2 years. One of the most striking increases has been in Montana, up 30%, bringing this state to #2 in total acreage behind California. Grains are still by far the biggest land use for cultivated crops, yet […]