Ryan Colwell's blog

It’s the question on everyone’s mind so we asked two of our fund companies, NEI Investments and Desjardins, about their positions in Russia and here is what they have to say:

Many of us were happy to wave good-bye to 2021 for so many reasons. The news was always grim with Covid infection numbers, and heat domes, wild fires, and atmospheric rivers in Western Canada. We have had an exhausting year dealing with the effects of climate change and the inequalities of the Covid pandemic.

Recently an elderly client fell the victim to financial abuse. This client lives alone and gets confused when conversations move too quickly.  So, it was no surprise that when a phone scammer contacted him with an elaborate story asking for money, he was a target for financial elder abuse.

The environmental and social risks associated with the palm oil and palm kernel industry are an emerging topic in socially responsible investment portfolios. Palm oil is the most popular vegetable oil on the planet. Chances are you have probably consumed several variations of palm oil in your favorite snack foods or cosmetics this past week alone.

What would you do if, for whatever reason, you discovered the water coming out of your tap or flowing in your local river was undrinkable or contaminated?  That’s the question posed in the Netflix documentary “Brave Blue World: Racing to Solve our Water Crisis” featuring Liam Neeson, Matt Damon, and Jaden Smith. Brave Blue world was one of the movies chosen by the virtual EcoFilm Festival.

With the headline “Canadian ESG Assets Surge to $3.2 Trillion” it’s no surprise responsible investments have come of age in 2020.

Anyone who owns Socially Responsible Investments has probably heard the term “shareholder engagement”. Shareholder engagement encourage companies to do better on an environmental, social, and governance basis and it’s sometimes easier to influence a company’s behaviour through shareholder voting rather than as a protester.