Investors are increasingly asking that question.  You know the one that should be never raised at cocktail parties:       "Should I invest in companies that I know are wrecking the planet?" In simpler times, "serious investors" didn't worry with the social aspects of investing in tobacco or alcohol or defense contractors. Our pragmatism stated that legal products were acceptable investments in a free society.  That was prior to our knowledge of climate science... before the flooding of Pacific islands and Alaskan coastal towns... and well in advance of breaching 400ppm of CO2 in the atmosphere -- a level not seen in the totality of...

Out-of-control firestorms in Colorado and 100-degree heat index in the nation's capital served as an apt backdrop for an important court ruling on climate risk.   Earlier this week, the U.S.   The three-judge panel unanimously agreed with the Environmental Protection Agency's finding that carbon dioxide is a...

With an expanding and increasingly urban, meat-consuming world population, how will farming co-exist with climate change and water/energy/land scarcity? Agriculture already consumes 70% of the world's water supply.  And by 2030, farmers will need 45% more water to feed the almost 9 billion people on the planet...

Last month, global watchdog Ethisphere released its World's Most Ethical Companies list. This week research firm Maplecroft disclosed its Climate Innovation Index. In both cases, Boardwalk's model portfolio holdings were well represented. Among those considered most ethical, General Electric and Starbucks have made the grade for all six years of the study's existence. UPS, Cisco, Intel, Alcoa, and Pepsico were also among the domestic honorees in our models, while Accenture (Ireland), National Grid (UK) and Westpac Banking (Australia) were among the foreign holdings recognized. The Carbon Innovation Index recognizes companies who "successfully innovate and manage climate-related opportunities and risks and...

Pension plans, college endowments and charitable organizations are some of the largest and most astute investors in the world.  As individuals, should we take lessons from their actions? In recent years, institutions who manage trillions of dollars have begun to take a new approach to investing.  They have determined that resource scarcity, climate change, activist consumers and even the speed of social media have changed the investment landscape. Company reputations are damaged in an instant, and billions of dollars can be wiped away by reckless actions.  These institutional investors are increasingly employing a "Sustainable and Responsible Investment" model to help them...