Zevin Asset Management and the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) today welcomed the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) passage of a ban on non-compete agreements (noncompetes), after having submitted a comment letter last year to the FTC, backed by investors representing $436B in assets, in support of the proposed ban back in April of 2023.
Japan: False Dawn or Land of the Rising Sun?
“Fall down seven times, get up eight” is a Japanese saying of resilience and perseverance. It also succinctly describes the pattern of the Japanese economy over the last 35 years. The Japanese real estate and equity bubble burst in December 1989, and since then the domestic economy has fluctuated between deflation and reflation with 45% of monthly inflation readings indicating falling prices. This situation is unique to Japan, which has been one of the weakest economies among the G7 countries over this timeframe. Japan has repeatedly experienced “false dawns” over the last 35 years where its economy appeared to be escaping the cycle, only to have economic recoveries fizzle out.
Unleashing Impact Through Gender Lens Investing
Gender lens investing offers investors a process for identifying and weighing issues pertaining to gender-based issues — pay equity, gender diversity, and career advancement, to name a few. We integrate these findings into our investment decision-making with the goal of mitigating risk, identifying opportunities, and creating positive social impact.
Gender equity, while an important aspect of Zevin Asset Management’s research and impact process, is a part rather than the sum of our approach. Given the overlap between the issues we work on in addition to gender equity, such as racial equity and climate change mitigation, we do not view these issues in isolation. Instead, we employ multiple lenses in our investment approach and look for intersectionality between these areas to help us better understand and address inequities in our systems and institutions.
Q1 2024 Impact Update
This quarter, investors grappled with the long-awaited, but ultimately underwhelming, climate disclosure rule adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The watered-down rule comes to the relief of corporate management and their trade associations, who lobbied to weaken it. The rule is not the last word on climate disclosure, as standards evolve, but the impacts of delayed action also bear a social and environmental cost.
Q4 2023 Market Outlook
A lot can change in a year. A year ago, investors were mourning the worst performing year for equities since 2008 and the worst year for bonds in recorded history. There were convincing arguments from notable investors about the end of a decade of easy money, low rates, and a strong global economy. Certainly, the era of low rates may be over or taking a long pause, but it’s clear that we continue to wait for a much-anticipated recession, a recession we could characterize as “chatted up” based on sentiment and past precedence (an inverted yield curve, rising rates, high energy prices, and high inflation). This is reminiscent of the old joke that economists have predicted nine of the last five recessions. Talk of a certain recession has been slowly replaced with talk of the probability of an actual recession, a soft landing, or even no recession at all.