05/06: California Dreamin'?
Category: General
Reply To: benbingham
The Investors' Circle and Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) were conveniently set in the calendar so that I could take a few days on the Lost Coast north of San Francisco in between. This part of the world is spoiled with conservation easements, open sky and extraordinary beauty which lends itself to a liberal view and a tendency to "build castles in the sky." As Paul Hawken underlined in his new book, "Blessed Unrest," Thoreau reminds us that "that is where the (castles) should be. Now put the foundations under them." So after two inspiring conferences: one with social investors and entrepreneurs that want to change the world, and the other with business owners focused on creating more vibrant local economies, I return to work inspired and with an aching need for foundation building.
There seemed to me to be a lack of clear direction in the choice of investment opportunities at the semi-annual Investor's Circle. Benchmark's High Impact Portfolio, as you know, looks at diverse industries with differentiated principals for each. The panels that chose winning companies to present to this eager gathering of idealistic investors had no such guidelines, so there were several that I felt missed the mark. Since Wellness is what I want to invest in if looking at Healthcare, for example, I would not promote companies that are using the established aleopathic paradigm (eg vaccines for Africa), but might rather look for companies that promote health and prevent illness (e.g. innovative fitness programs, mosquito nets or natural supplements).
The important thing in social investing is to promote those companies that you as an investor think will benefit the world, and this requires some guiding principals.
At the BALLE conference this approach was supported by the public "coming out" of B Lab, a non-profit led by Benchmark investor, Jay Coen Gilbert, whose goal is to differentiate good companies from good marketers by providing a self regulated but transparent rating system online. By taking a survey companies publicly commit to principals in their practices, knowing that even if they are not audited, consumers can check out if they are following through with what they have submitted. The second piece of this initiative is to assist companies to amend by-laws so that all investors are given notice that, as a "B" or "For Benefit" Corporation, decisions will be made for the good of all, and not just to benefit shareholders financially in the short run.
As a founding member of B Lab, I was able to speak to the 500 or so assembled on behalf of Benchmark Asset Managers, along with 12 other pioneers, from Seventh Generation to Indigeonous Design. Our reason for supporting this initiative is to be part of the healing of a world economy fractured by competition. As more companies commit to benefitting society, and more cities commit to local living economies, we can gradually change the paradigm from dog eat dog to a mutual licking of wounds! I'm convinced that there are already many beneficial companies; what we need to do is to continue our research process to find such companies, then help create a market for them, because only a few of these are followed by analysts. There are others who want to join this effort...more on this later.
G. Benjamin Bingham
June 2007
There seemed to me to be a lack of clear direction in the choice of investment opportunities at the semi-annual Investor's Circle. Benchmark's High Impact Portfolio, as you know, looks at diverse industries with differentiated principals for each. The panels that chose winning companies to present to this eager gathering of idealistic investors had no such guidelines, so there were several that I felt missed the mark. Since Wellness is what I want to invest in if looking at Healthcare, for example, I would not promote companies that are using the established aleopathic paradigm (eg vaccines for Africa), but might rather look for companies that promote health and prevent illness (e.g. innovative fitness programs, mosquito nets or natural supplements).
The important thing in social investing is to promote those companies that you as an investor think will benefit the world, and this requires some guiding principals.
At the BALLE conference this approach was supported by the public "coming out" of B Lab, a non-profit led by Benchmark investor, Jay Coen Gilbert, whose goal is to differentiate good companies from good marketers by providing a self regulated but transparent rating system online. By taking a survey companies publicly commit to principals in their practices, knowing that even if they are not audited, consumers can check out if they are following through with what they have submitted. The second piece of this initiative is to assist companies to amend by-laws so that all investors are given notice that, as a "B" or "For Benefit" Corporation, decisions will be made for the good of all, and not just to benefit shareholders financially in the short run.
As a founding member of B Lab, I was able to speak to the 500 or so assembled on behalf of Benchmark Asset Managers, along with 12 other pioneers, from Seventh Generation to Indigeonous Design. Our reason for supporting this initiative is to be part of the healing of a world economy fractured by competition. As more companies commit to benefitting society, and more cities commit to local living economies, we can gradually change the paradigm from dog eat dog to a mutual licking of wounds! I'm convinced that there are already many beneficial companies; what we need to do is to continue our research process to find such companies, then help create a market for them, because only a few of these are followed by analysts. There are others who want to join this effort...more on this later.
G. Benjamin Bingham
June 2007
