Halloween investment: the undead and the living

Boo! It’s All Hallow’s Eve, Halloween. There’s a pumpkin shortage and miniature ghosts, zombies and vampires will soon rise. We asked John Fleetwood of 3D Investing to come up with some undead and living investments.

The undead:

The Ghosts – Tobacco companies.  Despite being proven purveyors of death, tobacco companies continue to flog their wares, and some of the biggest investors continue to support them.  Come on guys, do the decent thing and put these ghosts to rest.

The Zombies – Fossil fuels.  Its widely acknowledged that if we are to have any hope of avoiding catastrophic climate change we need to leave a lot of the proven carbon reserves in the ground.  It’s only a matter of time before the investment community finally acknowledges the risk.

The Vampires – Mining and big agri companies continue to suck the life out of communities and vulnerable environments.  Despite copious environmental and social impact studies, people are still being displaced, forests destroyed and resources extracted at unsustainable rates.

The living:

ArBolivia – a social enterprise that is reforesting the Bolivia Amazon with native hardwood trees and partnering with poor farmers to manage their land more sustainably and profitably.

3D funds – investment funds that are all about making a social impact as well as a good financial return.  Funds like the Threadneedle UK Social Bond fund that invests in social housing, urban regeneration and social care; funds like the WHEB Sustainability fund that focuses on environmental services, resource efficiency, sustainable transport, healthcare and water infrastructure; and funds like the the Foresight Solar Fund that funds the generation of solar power.

Triodos Microfinance  – an investment in finance institutions that make small loans to the unbankable poor, enabling them to break out of the cycle of poverty.

Let’s stop investing in ghosts, zombies and vampires and enter the dawn of a new era of investing that makes the world a better place for the living. Sleep well, and don’t have nightmares (in your portfolio).