Report Identifies Key Characteristics of Best PracticesInnovest Strategic Value Advisors, Inc., a global leader in environmental and social investment research, announced today that it had been named by MISTRA, The Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research, as one of the top Socially Responsible Investment research organizations in the world.
The study itself, which covered 142 SRI products/services from 77 fund managers and 24 analysis/screening organizations, defined six best-practice characteristics for SRI. These were:
· A Triple Bottom Line approach that includes the evaluation of the three sustainability platforms — environmental, social, and financial performance.
· A focus on both best-in-class and pioneers/innovator companies. This methodology allows investing in both leading “blue chip” companies as well as new companies engaged in sustainable “new profit” opportunities.
· An evaluation of sustainability opportunities and sustainability risks that requires analysis to look beyond environmental and social risks, and extend to business opportunities aligned with sustainability.
· An intelligent screening model combining qualitative and quantitative analysis.
· A qualified research team.
· Openness and transparency on screening procedures.
“We are extremely pleased to have been named by MISTRA in this study, “ said Dr. Matthew Kiernan, founder of Innovest. “They have been, and continue to be, internationally recognized as one of the global leaders in this field.”
Innovest Strategic Value Advisors is an internationally recognized investment research and advisory firm specializing in analyzing companies’ environmental and social performance and their impact on competitiveness, profitability, and share price performance. The firm currently has over $US 900-million under direct sub-advisory mandates with partners including ABN-AMRO, Mellon Capital, Brown Brothers Harriman, Glenmede Trust Company, and T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc.
Innovest’s chairman, Jim Martin, was the chief investment officer for TIAA-CREF, North America’s largest pension fund for over fifteen years, and the firm’s other directors and principals include former senior executives from several of the world’s leading financial companies. Innovest’s flagship product is the EcoValue’21 investment analytics platform. The firm is headquartered in New York with offices in Toronto and London.
