PROFILEAOF
NOONE
Europeans (effete liberals!) love it. Public pensions and foundations (goody-two-shoes!) like it.
Yet historically, to American corporate defined benefit plans, socially
responsible investing—bearded hippies!—has been anathema to their very existence.
Will this ever change?
ai5000 Editor-in-Chief Kip McDaniel reports.
Corporate Pension Fund X, Anywhere, USA, 2010…
The first order of business is to convince him you’re not a Marxist hippie. This is not
easy. When he takes a gander at his schedule for the morning and sees you on it, you
and your commie-sounding imprimatur (some label like “Blue Heron Capital” or
the “Forum for a Sustainable Future”), he automatically assumes you’re pitching an
alpha-crushing dream of green pastures and butterflies. Then—you actually step into
his office. If you have any sense about you, you’re sporting a somber tie and a close-cropped hairstyle, blending in as best you can with this foreign world. Helloooo?, he says,
elongating the vowel to signal a hint of suspicion. What can I help you with today?
