This is why we can't have nice things...
I work for a non-profit that takes it's ethical reputation very seriously.
I recently attended a mandatory meeting where our voluntary retirement package was explained...diversified portfolio packages broken out by risk, with younger people encouraged to take more risk and those closer to retirement encouraged to invest in less risky ventures. All very user friendly, allowing everyone to sign up for a package based on year to retirement, without going into any detail regarding the investments, themselves.
So I asked: "Do you offer a package of ethical investment based on long term sustainability, for example green energy, over short term profits?"
Crickets.
So I follow up: "I'm not interested in investing in oil futures, mortgage defaults, clean coal or blood diamonds. Do you have a packaged based on ethical, long term resource management that focuses on projected fiscal solvency and longevity?"
There was a great deal of hemming and hawing, but the short answer is "No, we don't even track that."
A manager approached me later and teased me for giving the presenter a bad time. Sadly, I wasn't joking.
See, this is why we can't have nice things...
An entire industry within our culture is geared toward investing in our futures, and those investments are so short sighted that they undermine the likelihood of our having a future.
I recently attended a mandatory meeting where our voluntary retirement package was explained...diversified portfolio packages broken out by risk, with younger people encouraged to take more risk and those closer to retirement encouraged to invest in less risky ventures. All very user friendly, allowing everyone to sign up for a package based on year to retirement, without going into any detail regarding the investments, themselves.
So I asked: "Do you offer a package of ethical investment based on long term sustainability, for example green energy, over short term profits?"
Crickets.
So I follow up: "I'm not interested in investing in oil futures, mortgage defaults, clean coal or blood diamonds. Do you have a packaged based on ethical, long term resource management that focuses on projected fiscal solvency and longevity?"
There was a great deal of hemming and hawing, but the short answer is "No, we don't even track that."
A manager approached me later and teased me for giving the presenter a bad time. Sadly, I wasn't joking.
See, this is why we can't have nice things...
An entire industry within our culture is geared toward investing in our futures, and those investments are so short sighted that they undermine the likelihood of our having a future.