THE WI$DOM PATH: MONEY, SPIRIT, AND LIFE
A Tapestry of Faith Program for Adults
WORKSHOP 11: FAITHFUL INVESTING
BY PATRICIA HALL INFANTE AND DAVID H. MESSNER; DEVELOPMENTAL EDITOR: GAIL FORSYTH-VAIL
© Copyright 2013 Unitarian Universalist Association.
Published to the Web on 9/30/2014 12:11:26 AM PST.
This program and additional resources are available on the UUA.org web site at
www.uua.org/religiouseducation/curricula/tapestryfaith.
WORKSHOP OVERVIEW
INTRODUCTION
It is only by following your deepest instinct that you can lead a rich life, and if you let your fear of consequence prevent you from following your deepest instinct, then your life will be safe, expedient and thin. — Katharine Butler Hathaway, 20th-century U.S. American writer
This workshop looks at implications of entrusting our surplus financial resources—our investable capital—to others in exchange for the promise of future financial benefit. Through investing we can create opportunities for others to produce things of value and yield an economic return, in a manner—we hope—that aligns with both our moral values and worldly objectives. At its best, investment connects people in a way that creates and enhances possibilities for all concerned. The workshop explores investing our resources toward such an end, in a meaningful and mindful way. The workshop introduces Socially Responsible Investing, defined on the Unitarian Universalist Association website as "making money and making a difference."
This workshop introduces the basics of investment and invites participants to bring moral and spiritual values to bear on the information presented. Be prepared to offer resources for people who wish to find out more about investment and/or about Socially Responsible Investing (SRI). For investment basics, a good place to start is the "university (at www.investopedia.com/university/)" page of investopedia.com, which offers a variety of tutorials or the Financial Education Clearinghouse (at dfi.wa.gov/financial-education/resources-investing.htm) of the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions. The UUA website has excellent resources on SRI (at www.uua.org/finance/investment/sri). Explore these sites before leading the workshop so you will be comfortable recommending them.
Review the Accessibility guidelines in the program Introduction under Integrating All Participants.
GOALS
This workshop will:
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Participants will:
WORKSHOP-AT-A-GLANCE
Activity | Minutes |
Opening | 10 |
Activity 1: Investing Fundamentals | 10 |
Activity 2: Personal Investment Philosophies and Experiences | 15 |
Activity 3: Socially Responsible Investing | 25 |
Activity 4: Investment Analysis and Decision Making | 25 |
Faith in Action: Congregational/Organizational Investment Philosophy | |
Closing | 5 |
Alternative Activity 1: Shareholder Advocacy | 20 |
SPIRITUAL PREPARATION
How aware are you of your attitudes and practices regarding investment? Reflect on these questions. Make time to share with your co-facilitator before the workshop:
WORKSHOP PLAN
OPENING (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Welcome participants. Sound the chime and invite participants into a moment of quiet reflection as you prepare to enter into a time of centering and sharing. Invite a volunteer to light the chalice as you share these words:
We light this chalice in the spirit of growing abundance,
for the commitment to make difficult decisions in our lives,
and in the hope that we may act with both integrity and wisdom in growing the future for which today we plant the seeds.
Go around the circle, passing the talking stick if you have chosen to use one. Invite each participant to say their name, and check in with a few words about a personal experience of spending money in a mindful way since the last workshop.
Sound the chime to signal the end of the centering time.
Now, say:
This workshop is about the issues and implications of putting our surplus financial resources—our investable capital—to work by entrusting money to others in exchange for the promise of future financial benefit. By providing capital, investment can create opportunities for others to produce things of value, while yielding an economic return for the investor. At its best, investment connects people to one another in a way that creates and enhances possibilities for all concerned.
ACTIVITY 1: INVESTING FUNDAMENTALS (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Share this reading from "What Investment is Not" on investopedia.com:
Investing is not gambling. Gambling is putting money at risk by betting on an uncertain outcome with the hope that you might win money. Part of the confusion between investing and gambling, however, may come from the way some people use investment vehicles. For example, it could be argued that buying a stock based on a "hot tip" you heard at the water cooler is essentially the same as placing a bet at a casino.
True investing doesn't happen without some action on your part. A "real" investor does not simply throw his or her money at any random investment; [an investor] performs thorough analysis and commits capital (at www.investopedia.com/terms/c/capital.asp) only when there is a reasonable expectation of profit. Yes, there still is risk (at www.investopedia.com/terms/r/risk.asp), and there are no guarantees, but investing is more than simply hoping Lady Luck is on your side.
To make sure that all participants understand the basic concepts and terminology you will use in this workshop, introduce the information from Leader Resource 1, Key Investment Concepts and Definitions. You likely have participants with varying degrees of familiarity with the information; some may have no experience at all with investment. Invite comments and additions to the definitions you present, but urge participants to keep additional information simple and brief. If needed, remind the group that this workshop's topic is faithful investing, and there will not be time for a full investment tutorial. Suggest resources where participants can find out more.
Once the group appears comfortable with the information you have presented on investment basics, lead a discussion using one or more of these questions. Use your judgment to determine whether particular questions are appropriate, given participants' familiarity with financial investment:
ACTIVITY 2: PERSONAL INVESTMENT PHILOSOPHIES AND EXPERIENCES (15 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Distribute Handout 1, Personal Investment History Questions, paper, and pens. Invite participants to choose one or two questions from the handout and to respond by writing, drawing, or making notes, explaining that they will be sharing their thoughts with others. Allow five minutes for writing or drawing. Then, ask participants to form pairs to share reflections with one another. Explain that each partner will have three minutes to speak. (If you need to form a triad, its members will have two minutes each); sound a chime at each two-minute point as well as at the three-minute point, for pairs.)
Then, gather the larger group, and ask for comments, observations, and insights about the role spirituality and values play in financial investing.
Invite participants to save their reflections, which may be helpful in the creation of a financial credo in Workshop 12.
ACTIVITY 3: SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE INVESTING (25 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Say:
Socially Responsible Investing, or SRI, is one way some UU congregations, groups, and individuals bring spiritual and religious values into investment. SRI pays attention to the idea that investment is fundamentally a relationship between the one providing capital through investment and the one creating something of value. A socially responsible approach to investing requires an investor to make determinations about value beyond financial return and to act on those decisions. In effect, there is a "double bottom line," where both financial performance and social effects are important, often supporting one another.
Explain that your purpose in this activity is to unpack SRI so that participants can explore if and how it might be part of personal and/or congregational financial practices. This workshop is not the place to debate SRI in congregational investment policies. Suggest appropriate congregational leaders with whom interested participants might study and discuss the issues in more depth after the workshop.
Distribute Handout 2, Ten Things All UUs Should Know About Socially Responsible Investing. Explain that the handout is an abbreviated version of a page on the UUA website. Invite volunteers to read each of the ten items. Ask if participants have any knowledge or experience with SRI. Invite them to briefly share their experiences.
Distribute Handout 3, Fossil Fuel Divestment Debate. Explain that there are two main positions in the current debate: Some believe the UUA should completely eliminate from our stock portfolio companies that extract, refine, and distribute fossil fuels; this is called divestment. Others believe we should use the UUA's position as shareholder to pressure such companies to adopt more environmentally friendly policies and practices. Invite participants to read the handout. Tell them the Summer 2013 issue of UU World (in print or online) has the full essays.
Ask for comment and discussion about the fossil fuel debate. After about five minutes, explain that although you could spend a great deal of time debating, the issues are complex, and engaging this debate is not the focus of this workshop. Invite participants instead to focus more closely on SRI, using the fossil fuel debate as a case study to help understand how SRI works. Lead a discussion using these questions:
ACTIVITY 4: INVESTMENT DECISION MAKING (25 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Tell participants they will practice a bit of investment analysis and decision-making, taking into account the principles of socially responsible investing. Say:
You are the newly formed Investment committee of a mid-sized Unitarian Universalist congregation. Upon recently receiving an unexpected $1 million bequest from a member, the Board has resolved to institute an endowment for the congregation's long-term financial health. Your committee has been convened and is now charged to invest the $1 million in a way that creates maximum economic return and is in line with the social justice objectives of the congregation, particularly with the "inherent worth and dignity of each person" and "the interdependent web" as guiding principles.
Before the Investment committee meets, you need to do your pre-meeting "homework."
Form pairs and give each pair a sheet with one of the examples you prepared from Leader Resource 2. Explain that each pair has an excerpt from an annual report of a publicly traded company. There are ten different business sectors represented, for example, agriculture, financial services, pharmaceutical.
Invite them to review the excerpt from a company's annual. Acknowledge that the information they have is limited. Ask them to pull out one or two key goals or strategies of the company that impress them and be ready to articulate the values those goals or strategies represent.
Post newsprint sheets while participants examine the annual report examples in pairs. After five minutes, ask each pair to write the company name and values/strategies declared on one of the sheets of newsprint.
Then, gather participants and ask them to agree on an allocation of the $1M among the investment options they have been provided. You may suggest that they begin with an agreement on the investing approach they will take, e.g., screening out undesirable stocks, choosing to take positions in order gain a voice with influential companies on important matters, or providing funding for an underdeveloped sector. Use the newsprint to record any decisions made. Stop the role play after 15 minutes, even in the likely event that they have not completed the process. Ask:
CLOSING (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Distribute Taking It Home.
Invite everyone to form a circle and join hands. Ask participants to share a word or phrase that describes one insight or take-away from this workshop.
Share Reading 687, by John W. Brigham, in Singing the Living Tradition.
Extinguish the chalice.
FAITH IN ACTION: CONGREGATIONAL/ORGANIZATIONAL INVESTMENT PHILOSOPHY
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Interview investment decision-makers in your congregation or organization to gain an understanding of key factors in making investment decisions. Then, examine an itemized overview of your current investment portfolio.
Convene an interested study group from your congregation.to research the fundamentals, strategies, and activities of the companies in the portfolio. Include current investment decision makers as well interested workshop participants and others suggested by your congregation's leaders. Have the group discuss these questions about your investments:
LEADER REFLECTION AND PLANNING
Make a time for individual reflection and discussion with your co-facilitator after the workshop. Consider these questions:
TAKING IT HOME
It is only by following your deepest instinct that you can lead a rich life, and if you let your fear of consequence prevent you from following your deepest instinct, then your life will be safe, expedient and thin. — Katharine Butler Hathaway, 20th-century U.S. American writer
Examine your own stock investments including both direct investments and those made through retirement accounts or by way of mutual funds. Select one holding of a large size relative to your whole portfolio. Research the profile and performance of the company. Identify those elements that are consistent with your religious values and aspirations and those that are not. Use your imagination to identify constructive opportunities and directions for the company. List what you consider the positives and negatives for the company's profile and performance, taking into account the "double bottom line," financial performance and positive social effects. What opportunities do you see for shareholder advocacy? Community engagement? Do the financial prospects and social value seem to align or are they in opposition?
Engage in a shareholder advocacy action, using suggestions from the SRI page (at www.uua.org/finance/investment/sri) on uua.org. Write a letter to the company's management; attend the Annual Meeting; attempt to advance a shareholder resolution; or take another appropriate action.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 1: SHAREHOLDER ADVOCACY (20 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Read the story aloud. Then lead a discussion using these questions:
THE WI$DOM PATH: MONEY, SPIRIT, AND LIFE: WORKSHOP 11:
STORY: UUA PERSUADES VERIZON TO PROTECT TRANSGENDER WORKERS
By Michelle Bates Deacon. Published in UU World online, February 27, 2012.
For each of the last five years, the Unitarian Universalist Association has filed shareholder resolutions with Verizon Communications to urge the corporation to add "gender identity or expression" to its non-discrimination policy.
In mid-February, Verizon notified the UUA that it has agreed to adopt the policy, which provides protection to transgender people and those in transition.
"This is a significant victory for the UUA's shareholder advocacy program," said Tim Brennan, UUA treasurer and chief financial officer.
Verizon is the latest in a string of major corporations that the UUA has worked to persuade to add gender identity protection to its workplace policies. Over the past five years, the UUA has filed or co-filed shareholder resolutions at multiple companies that resulted in gender identity protection for more than 2.9 million employees, according to Brennan.
The UUA has made a concerted effort to target companies that protect employees against discrimination based on their sexual orientation but do not have policies protecting people based on gender identity or expression. "That group is particularly vulnerable because it is largely unprotected by the legal system," Brennan said. "There has been tremendous violence against them and a lot of evidence of job discrimination."
Verizon's decision follows another significant victory for the UUA's socially responsible investing team. In November 2011, it learned that Walmart, the nation's largest employer, was adding gender identity or expression to its non-discrimination policy. As it had with Verizon, the UUA had been filing shareholder resolutions urging Walmart to add the policy for five years.
The UUA has been part of successful campaigns to push other companies to adopt non-discrimination language, including The Home Depot, Travelers Insurance, Procter & Gamble, Family Dollar, Lowe's, and Dr. Pepper Snapple Group. The UUA either filed or co-filed a shareholder resolution with each of those companies. Often, the UUA works in concert with the New York City Employees' Pension Funds.
In 2008, after the UUA began filing gender-identity shareholder resolutions at Verizon, the company sent a representative to meet with Brennan. "We triggered a conversation inside the company," Brennan said. At the same time, employees began pushing the company to change.
"Inside pressure and outside pressure gets companies to pay attention to issues they otherwise wouldn't," Brennan said.
The Unitarian Universalist Common Endowment Fund (at www.uua.org/uucef/index.shtml) had a market value of $128 million as of Dec. 31, 2011. The UUA purchases funds in some companies that otherwise would not pass its screens so that it can participate in shareholder activism. The UUA owned 2,276 shares in Verizon Communications and 70 shares in Walmart.
THE WI$DOM PATH: MONEY, SPIRIT, AND LIFE: WORKSHOP 11:
HANDOUT 1: PERSONAL INVESTMENT HISTORY QUESTIONS
THE WI$DOM PATH: MONEY, SPIRIT, AND LIFE: WORKSHOP 11:
HANDOUT 2: TEN THINGS ALL UUS SHOULD KNOW ABOUT SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE INVESTING
From the Unitarian Universalist Association's (UUA's) Committee on Socially Responsible Investing (CSRI). Find full text on the UUA website.
1) Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) means making money and making a difference.
2) SRI is much more than just avoiding bad companies.
3) "Investment selection" in SRI means using social, environmental and governance (ESG) criteria as you choose your investments.
4) "Engagement" means working to improve the ESG performance of the companies whose securities you own.
5) "Community investing" means directing a portion of your investments in a way that helps to ameliorate poverty and social inequality.
6) SRI is compatible with strong financial performance.
7) SRI is a growing movement.
8) The UUA is a well-known leader in SRI.
9) Every UU congregation can do SRI.
10) Every individual can do SRI.
THE WI$DOM PATH: MONEY, SPIRIT, AND LIFE: WORKSHOP 11:
HANDOUT 3: FOSSIL FUEL DIVESTMENT DEBATE
Excerpted from essays published in UU World, Summer 2013. Used with permission.
The UUA's Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, Tim Brennan, and Rev. Fred Small of First Parish, Cambridge, MA, debated fossil fuel divestment in companion essays published in the UU World. Here are excerpts:
Tim Brennan
The world is hurtling toward climate change disaster, and we must act. The Unitarian Universalist Association's 2006 Statement of Conscience, "Threat of Global Warming/Climate Change (at www.uua.org/statements/statements/8061.shtml)," calls us to use "the ownership rights of the denomination's financial resources to positively ad?dress the global warming/climate change crisis."
There is a vigorous debate under way about exactly which tactics investors concerned about climate change should be employing. Author and activist Bill McKibben has called on investors to divest their portfolios of securities in the two hundred publicly traded companies with the largest proven coal, oil, and gas reserves. Other investors, including the UUA and most socially responsible investment (SRI) firms, have taken a different approach—using their leverage as shareowners to pressure the companies to address the crisis.
In advocating for divestment McKibben presents a stark, either/or choice: divest, or side with those who turn their backs. This is both simplistic and unfair to those who have dedicated years of their lives to seeking justice through shareholder advocacy...
The UUA's Committee on Socially Responsible Investing and Investment Committee have been studying the issue and consulting with leaders in the SRI field. They all agree that more needs to be done. Here are some of the steps they are taking:
In the anti-apartheid movement, it was the multiplicity of actions by investors that contributed to a just outcome. And that is what we need now—a rising tide of pressure from many sources pushing government and companies to take the necessary steps towards a sustainable, low-carbon global energy future.
Rev. Fred Small
In the moral struggle against global warming, divestment isn't the only tactic. It may not be the best tactic. But it's a crucial tactic, because right now nothing is working...
The smart money is on the status quo. It always is. But the fossil fuel divestment campaign is telling the smart money to get smarter. It's reminding treasurers and trustees that fiduciary responsibility means attending not just to short-term security, but also to long-term sustainability. It's pointing out that there can be no economy without a livable planet. It's calling upon investors to transition to a fossil-free portfolio within five years.
The campaign is asking the fossil fuel industry to stop exploring for new hydrocarbons, to stop lobbying to preserve their special breaks, and to leave 80 percent of their current reserves in the ground. Given the norms of corporate capitalism, these are audacious, even preposterous demands. Given the climate crisis, they are modest, reasonable, and necessary.
Divestment activists aren't trying to bankrupt Big Oil and Big Coal financially. They're trying to bankrupt them morally—to isolate them as outlaws, just as anti-smoking activists stigmatized Big Tobacco. As 350.org's Jay Carmona explains (at e360.yale.edu/feature/can_a_divestment_campaign_move_the_fossil_fuel_industry/2629/), "Divestment is targeting the one thing that those companies can't buy, which is their reputation." The idea is to weaken the industry politically to the point where increasing the price of carbon becomes politically feasible...
Some will in good faith and conscience fight global warming through shareholder activism. I wish them every success...
Money is always an instrument of moral choice. We must each choose as wisely as we can. I choose divestment.
THE WI$DOM PATH: MONEY, SPIRIT, AND LIFE: WORKSHOP 11:
LEADER RESOURCE 1: KEY INVESTMENT CONCEPTS AND DEFINITIONS
Adapted from the website, Investopedia.
THE WI$DOM PATH: MONEY, SPIRIT, AND LIFE: WORKSHOP 11:
LEADER RESOURCE 2: ANNUAL REPORT RESOURCE EXAMPLES
Annual reports of publicly traded companies are available at AnnualReports.com.
AGRICULTURAL: Syngenta AG: "an agribusiness company, engages in the discovery, development, manufacture, and marketing of a range of products designed to enhance crop yields and food quality worldwide." Syngenta AG 2012 Annual Review (at www.annualreports.com/Click/12861).
CHEMICALS: FMC Corporation: "FMC Corporation is one of the world's foremost, diversified chemical companies with leading positions in agricultural, industrial and consumer markets." FMC Corporation 2011 Annual Report (at www.annualreports.com/Click/3132)
CONGLOMERATES: General Electric: "General Electric is a diversified services, technology, manufacturing, and financial services company with a commitment to achieving customer success and worldwide leadership in each of its businesses. GE's products and services range from aircraft engines, power generation, water processing, and household appliances to medical imaging, business and consumer financing and industrial products. It serves customers in more than 100 countries." General Electric 2011 Annual Report (at www.annualreports.com/Click/4918)
AUTOMOBILES: Ford Motor Company: "Ford Motor Company primarily develops, manufactures, distributes, and services vehicles and parts worldwide. It operates in two sectors, Automotive and Financial Services." Ford Motor Co. 2011 Annual Report (at www.annualreports.com/Click/3222)
BEVERAGES: Hansen Natural Corporation: "Hansen Natural Corporation engages in the development, marketing, sale, and distribution of beverages in the United States and internationally. The company principally offers natural sodas, fruit juices and juice drinks, energy drinks and energy sports drinks, fruit juice smoothies and functional drinks, non-carbonated ready-to-drink iced teas, children's multi-vitamin juice drinks, and flavored sparkling beverages under the Hansen's brand name." Hansen Natural Corporation 2011 Annual Report (at www.annualreports.com/Click/8536)
ENERGY: Primary Energy Recycling Corporation: "Primary Energy Recycling Corporation owns and operates combined heat and power (CHP), and recycled energy facilities in the United States." Primary Energy Recycling Corporation 2011 Annual Reporthttp://www.annualreports.com/Click/16310 (at www.annualreports.com/Click/16310)
FINANCIAL SERVICES: BNP Paribas S.A.: "BNP Paribas s is a leading European provider of financial services on a worldwide scale. Its three core activities: Retail Banking, Investment Solutions and Corporate & Investment Banking." BNP Paribas SA 2011 Annual Report (at www.annualreports.com/Click/12964)
PHARMACEUTICALS: Pfizer Inc. "Pfizer Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the discovery, development, manufacture, and sale of medicines for people and animals worldwide." Pfizer Inc. 2011 Annual Report (at www.annualreports.com/Click/3950)
INFORMATION SERVICES: Yahoo! "Yahoo! Inc. operates as a digital media company that delivers personalized digital content and experiences through various devices worldwide. It offers online properties and services to users; and a range of marketing services to businesses." Yahoo! 2011 Annual Report (at www.annualreports.com/Click/1429)
FIND OUT MORE
Investment basics and tutorials
Berkshire Hathaway Inc.: An Owner's Manual (at www.berkshirehathaway.com/owners.html), A Message from Warren E. Buffett, Chairman and CEO January 1999
"Investing 101 (at www.investopedia.com/university/beginner/)" on the Investopedia website
Malkiel, Burton G. A Random Walk Down Wall Street, New York: Norton, 1985.
"Investing your Money Basics (at money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/money101/lesson4/index.htm)" CNNMoney.
"Resources by Topic: Investing (at dfi.wa.gov/financial-education/resources-investing.htm)" Financial Education Clearinghouse, Washington State Department of Financial Institutions
Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) resources
Socially Responsible Investing (at www.uua.org/finance/investment/sri/) resources on the UUA website
Two views on the debate about fossil fuel investment on the website of UU World: "Fossil Fuel Divestment is Moral, Strategic (at www.uuworld.org/ideas/articles/285524.shtml)" by Fred Small, UU World, Summer 2013 and "Fossil Fuel Divestment is Not the Answer (at www.uuworld.org/ideas/articles/285525.shtml)" by Tim Brennan, UU World, Summer 2013.