Blog

Last week, we published the Women of CCM – a six-page report highlighting the members of our team who are women.  Coincidentally, this report was printed just at the start of a series of holidays honoring women, including National Girls and Women in Sports Day, International Women’s Day, and Harriet Tubman Day.  These days of national observance celebrate the extraordinary achievements of women and recognize the progress in gender equality across the globe.

According to a recent Fundfire interview with Chris Hyzy, CIO for U.S. Trust and Merrill Lynch, his firm’s most recent annual survey confirms that an increasing number of high net worth individuals are pairing their investments with their beliefs by allocating to impact/ESG investments.¹  Mr. Hyzy notes that the increase of interest in impact/ESG investing has been “a consistent trend over the years of the survey.. [with] the shift going up in all demographics, from boomers on down to millennials.” ² 

Today, many companies are producing goods and services with the mission of making the world a better place. Here are a few examples:

With the current partial government shutdown now holding the record as the longest one in American history, effects of the closure continue to build.  We’ve been hearing a lot about the consequences around employment – or lack of employment.  From the 53,000 TSA agents working without pay to the $3.65 billion owed to federal workers who are still showing up at work - these shutdowns have already affected over 800,000 Americans with deferred payment.  And as of Wednesday, there was $1.18 billion of labor lost due the shutdown.¹ 

In the wake of the #MeToo movement, awareness of gender inequality is becoming more widespread. An increasing number of people around the world are taking action and using a gender lens to consciously improve outcomes for women.

Happy New Year! 

It's hard to believe another year is in the books. Below we highlight our most popular blog posts from 2018. We hope you have enjoyed reading our blogs as much as we have enjoyed writing them for you. 

Warm wishes,

-The CCM Team

As we enter the final week of 2018, we reflect on this past year and feel grateful for our investors that provide us the opportunity to positively impact families and communities in need across the United States through their investments.  We are also thankful to be able to donate to many like-minded charitable organizations and also volunteer our time to give back to our local communities. 

We’re happy to announce that Hawthorne EcoVillage Apartments is the winner of the CCM Annual Impact Awards for 2018 and Project for Pride in Living (PPL), a nonprofit that built and manages the property, will receive a $10,000 donation. PPL builds the hope, assets, and self-reliance of individuals and families who have lower incomes by providing transformative affordable housing and employment readiness services. This year’s Impact Awards featured five impactful bond investments made during the calendar year, with participants voting for their favorite investment story. We are extremely proud of all the investments in the contest and their multiple positive environmental and social outcomes. 

Recognition that gender equality plays a pivotal role in the health of our economy and society continues to spur interest from advisors and investors.  Earlier this week, we had the pleasure in discussing this topic with many in the impact/ESG investment community at this year’s Financial Times (FT) Investing for Good USA Conference.  The event focused on gender equality and opportunities for investors to support women’s equality while also generating strong returns.

With what seems like a new holiday hashtag popping up every day, it can become overwhelming to scroll through social media.  While some of these holiday hashtags seem rather trivial - #PJDay which promotes wearing your pajamas to work or #uglychristmassweater – brands rely on hashtags to get people to engage, share content, promote a cause, or celebrate.  However, not all holiday hashtags have to be an excuse to eat a doughnut or wear a Christmas jumper – some can create positive impact throughout the world.