21st Century Investing: Redirecting Financial Strategies to Drive Systems Change

by William Burckart, Steve Lydenberg

Overview

Two experienced and visionary authors show how institutions and individuals can go beyond conventional and sustainable investing to address complex problems such as income inequality and climate change on a deep, systemic level.

It's time for a new way to think about investing, one that can contend with the complex challenges we face in the 21st century.

Investment today has evolved from the basic, conventional approach of the 1950s. Investors have since recognized the importance of sustainable investment and have begun considering environmental and social factors. Yet the complexity of the times forces us to recognize and transition to a third stage of investment practice: system-level investing.

In this paradigm-shifting book, William Burckart and Steve Lydenberg show how system-level investors support and enhance the health and stability of the social, financial, and environmental systems on which they depend for long-term returns. They preserve and strengthen these fundamental systems while still generating competitive or otherwise acceptable performance.

This book is for those investors who believe in that transition. They may be institutions, large or small, concerned about the long-term stability of the environment and society. They may be individual investors who want their children and grandchildren to inherit a just and sustainable world. Whoever they may be, Burckart and Lydenberg show them the what, why, and how of system-level investment in this book: what it means to manage system-level risks and rewards, why it is imperative to do so now, and how to integrate this new way of thinking into their current practice.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781523091072
Publisher:	Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Publication date:	04/13/2021
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

William Burckart leads the Investment Integration Project (TIIP). He is also a fellow of the High Meadows Institute and member of the advisory council of the Investments and Wealth Institute's WealthBoard 100. Burckart previously founded or cofounded two impact investment advisory firms, Burckart Consulting and Impact Economy North America.

Steve Lydenberg is the founder of TIIP and also serves as partner, strategic vision, of Domini Impact Investments. Lydenberg was a cofounder of KLD Research and Analytics Inc. and served as its research director from 1990 to 2001. From 1987 to 1989, he was an associate with Franklin Research and Development Corporation (now known as Trillium Asset Management).

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Introduction There's No Time to Lose 1

Chapter 1 Set Goals 23

Chapter 2 Decide Where to Focus 41

Chapter 3 Allocate Assets 53

Chapter 4 Apply Investment Tools 71

Chapter 5 Leverage Advanced Techniques 87

Chapter 6 Evaluate Results 113

Chapter 7 Case Example: Investing to Address Income Inequality 129

Chapter 8 Investors in Transition 149

Conclusion The Time to Act Is Now 169

Notes 175

Acknowledgments 197

Index 203

About the Authors 215

Editorial Reviews

All investing at the portfolio level is rapidly becoming sustainable investing. This lovely little book cogently argues that all investing must now become system-level investing. This is synonymous with socially responsible investing—moving it from its niche origins to the mainstream, thereby ensuring the sustainability of investing itself.” —Robert G. Eccles, Visiting Professor of Management Practice, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford; Founding Chairman, Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB)

“21st Century Investing has to be top of mind for any long-term capital allocator. Burckart and Lydenberg’s work is essential reading for any investor that is serious about enabling the transition to a more sustainable global economy.”  —Kirsty Jenkinson, Investment Director, Sustainable Investment & Stewardship Strategies, California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS)

“Burckart and Lydenberg are the Wayne Gretzkys of investing: Showing us not where investing is, but where it’s going: To system-level investing. Even more importantly, they show us how to get there.” —Jon Lukomnik, Managing Partner, Sinclair Capital; Senior Fellow, High Meadows Institute

“Burckart and Lydenberg set out to progress investor thinking about how they can manage their impact on the social and environmental systems in which they operate. It is an important and timely contribution to the investment canon.” —Luther M. Ragin Jr., Former President and CEO, Global Impact Investing Network; Former Chief Investment Officer, FB Heron Foundation

From the Publisher