I was disappointed to learn about the Gates Foundation blind-investment policy in our last class. In light of what we’ve learned about the movement towards socially-responsible investing and the advent of new ways to recognize and rate the social impact of companies, I don’t think it’s naive or idealistic to expect Gates to adopt a stricter investment policy.
I’m including the link to the LA Times series that drew a lot of heat regarding this issue below. I’m also including a link to the Gates Foundation website page that discusses their investment policy and seems to dance around the issue, only specifically citing tobacco stocks as an off-limits investment.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-gatesx07jan07,0,4205044,full.story?coll=la-home-headlines
http://www.gatesfoundation.org/about/Pages/our-investment-philosophy.aspx
As the LA Times article mentions, “Major foundations that make social justice, corporate governance and environmental stewardship key considerations in their investment strategies include the Ford Foundation, worth $11.6 billion, the nation's second-largest private philanthropy; the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; the Rockefeller Foundation; and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.” I would think/hope that Gates would want to join this group sooner rather than later. Otherwise, how can the foundation’s true net impact really be measured? Thoughts?
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agree with you Katie on that Gates Foundation should not be investing in corporation that are causing social/environmental/health related determents to any communities. The justification that Gates Foundation later provides assistance to these communities is no longer a valid justification for continuous investment in Exxon Mobil,Eni etc. I understand that Gates Foundation needs to invest money and that no corporation is perfect, however, Gates Foundation need to take the responsibility to assess the corporations past and present actions and only invest in companies that are changing there practices and are including corporate social responsibility in their mission as defined by Hollender or Schwab.
ReplyDeleteGates Foundation should consider investing in for-profit social enterprises that can provide returns on investment along with advancing social/environmental mission. The returns on investment will not high as Exxon Mobil but are still sufficient. Plus from our reading we know that for-profit social enterprise are struggling in initial and expansion stages, especially the non-profit organization so if Gates Foundation has the money why is it not investing in these social enterprise to make sure that they become profitable while continuing there mission? Gates Foundation being the largest foundation in the world can change its own investment practice, and pioneer investment into social enterprise and non-profit organization and etc.