StakeHolders Capital invests a portion of client money in “community investing.” This term incorporates ventures such as: agricultural cooperatives; micro-finance lending (both U.S. and international), whereby bank loans are made available to those in poverty for whom a simple tool would let them start a profitable enterprise; and low-income housing loans rooted in close community contact that teaches bankers which struggling families are trustworthy to receive a mortgage even if they are not creditworthy on paper. The high payback rate of these loans marks a stark contrast to the comparably high default rate of impersonal sub-prime mortgages.
Common Good Corporations
StakeHolders is proud to be the founder of “the common good corporation.” Ten percent of our profits are invested in socially responsible companies for whom the highest priority is the common good, and the second in priority is making profits to be able to continue serving society.
Ironically and perhaps counter to intutition, research indicates that companies meeting this standard accumulate such deep customer and employee loyalty that they are usually more profitable than their competitors. We believe common good investing is the next stage in the evolution of socially responsible investing.
We Practice What We Preach
Not only do we put client holdings in investments that pro-actively promote enterprises to create a safer, cleaner, more humane future; we also put part of the company’s own profits into innovative “common good investments,” a designation of which we are the proud founders.
