Quarterly Market Update & Outlook: Light at the End of a Dark Q1?
Executive Summary: As we look ahead to 2021, we see a continuation of many of the themes that drove the markets in 2020, but with different implications: The pace of vaccine rollout…
Quarterly Market Update and Outlook: Many Moving Parts
Fourth Quarter 2020 Executive Summary: Volatility in financial markets could well rebound as Q4 progresses, given the combination of a potential resurgence of Covid-19 and the upcoming election, which may be…
Climate Determinants — Human Health
The climate crisis is fueling a human health emergency. Numerous climate-sensitive health risks are scientifically established: Heat waves can cause illness and death; Smog, ozone, and allergenic pollen cause respiratory…
Climate Determinants — Financial Services
Climate change is everything. This is the first in a planned series highlighting the pervasive impacts of climate change across all facets of our global society. Not only is climate change…
Investing to Advance Racial Equity: Second Edition
Since we published the first edition of this report in 2018, there has been a widespread increase in the general public’s awareness about structural racism and the many ways people of color have been systematically…
Quarterly Market Update and Outlook: Incrementally More Positive
Third Quarter 2020 Executive Summary: With most asset classes having recovered from the intense volatility that occurred in financial markets at the onset of the COVID-19 virus, we see select opportunities…
Women Entrepreneurs: Foundational to Economic Recovery
Executive Summary The creation of small businesses boosts economic growth by introducing new products, services, and technologies into the economy. Most importantly, it provides new job opportunities, challenges existing firms,…
Investing in the Future of Work
The future is specialized. The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) is affecting the professional job market in much the same way automation and robotics impacted production and service jobs over the past…
Implications of COVID-19 for the U.S. Economy and Capital Markets
The COVID-19 pandemic and the corresponding uncertainty in the financial markets necessitate a different approach to our Quarterly Market Update and Outlook. Importantly, COVID-19 is a health issue first and an economic issue second.…
Quarterly Market Update and Outlook: 2020 – Many Moving Parts
The combination of (i) a phase one trade agreement with China, (ii) the enactment of the USMCA trade agreement, (iii) an accommodative Fed, and (iv) possible fiscal stimulus ahead of the 2020 election has the…
Fighting the Sixth Mass Extinction
Human activities are causing a climate crisis, which is increasingly responsible for pushing various species of animals and plants closer to the edge of global extinction. These include “keystone species” that have disproportionately…
Intentional Design: Embracing the Circular Economy
The economic model of our current era is linear. We take resources from nature, make them into a product and then throw the item away when we’re done with it. The result? Overflowing…
Quarterly Market Update and Outlook: Slowing Global Growth to Sway Asset Prices
Global GDP growth continues to slow, with trade and tariff issues being a major contributory factor. The deteriorating macroeconomic outlook has been impacting investors’ decisions. The prices of perceived “safe haven” assets, such…
No Place to Hide? Climate Change and Systemic Financial Risk
Much has been written about the physical impacts of climate change on the planet: heatwaves, droughts, rising sea levels, etc. There is less mainstream discussion of the potential impacts of climate change on …
Scaling Climate Action: Aligning Investments to Sustainable Development Goal 13
A growing global population and economy leads to more demand for food, water, transportation, housing and the fuel to supply these essentials to the world’s populace. Growing food, providing transportation and supplying the energy…
Sacrifice Nothing: A fresh look at investment performance of sustainable and impact strategies by asset class
Despite decades of competitive returns, a “myth” persists that sustainable and impact investment strategies financially underperform conventional strategies. The myth should be dead. We recently conducted a fresh review of the academic…
Advancing “Access” in Gender Lens Investing
Gender lens investment approaches have expanded in recent years. All asset classes have seen a tremendous increase in the number of funds and assets under management since 2014. Fund strategies range from empowering…
Quarterly Market Update and Outlook: Rates-Driven Markets
Global central banks have been key to supporting financial markets. The stimulus has offset weak economic growth and a poor corporate earnings environment. There is no reason to believe this monetary stimulus will…
Two Lenses, One Vision: Investing for LGBTQI and Gender Equity
In the absence of clear and consistent government regulation, corporate policies have been pivotal to the provision of legal protections for LGBTQI workers. For companies, greater inclusion is associated with improved brand reputation, reduced turnover, and increased…
Quarterly Market Update and Outlook: Range-Bound
With the U. S. yield curve not far from inversion, global GDP growth slowing, and earnings estimates continuing to decline, it seems the risks to stocks are on the downside from current levels. …
