2015 Year of Reflection and Balance

I wish everyone a balanced 2015, and that we all take some time for reflection. It seems the transition from one year to the next has gotten blurred in this 24/7 life. Let’s think about how we can all work to bring back some harmony in our lives and enrich the lives of people around us. Follow your hearts and your dreams. 

“A pile of rocks ceases to be a rock when somebody contemplates it with the idea of a cathedral in mind.“

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

In Memory of some of the great ones we lost in 2014:

Robin Williams•Philip Seymour Hoffman• Maya Angelou•Mike Nichols• Lauren Bacall•Mickey Rooney.Joe Cocker•Phil Everly•Pete Seeger•Harold Ramis•Sid Caeser•Antony Hopkins•Rik Mayall•Eli Wallach• James Garner•Nadine Gordimer•Richard Attenborough•Joan Rivers•Raymond F. Magliozzi

They and many, many others will all be missed, as they all enriched our lives. One person, who I was close to was Raymond Jablonka, who was my uncle. He was a great man and a real mensch. He didn’t cure cancer or create another social media site that went public. He was just a wonderful human being who loved his family, worked hard, enjoyed his life, and enriched other people’s live. I will miss him dearly, but his spirit, as the spirit of all those who passed this year will live in our memories. Their spirit will manifest itself in many ways. Just pay attention.

Robert Rubinstein
TBLI Foundation

December 31, 2014 2014, Impact Investing, Sustainability, TBLI Conference 1 Comment on 2015 Year of Reflection and Balance

TBLI Foundation and How to use Impact Investing to engage wealth holders.

How can Impact Investing help engagement with Wealth Holders? I recently wrote this for Huffington Post. Hope you enjoy it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-rubinstein/impact-investing-offers-o_b_6313524.html

TBLI Foundation

As you plan your year-end giving, I would like to ask for your support. TBLI CONFERENCE has achieved a great deal in educating asset owners and managers about ESG and Impact Investing. With your contribution to our Foundation, we could do much more.

We launched TBLI Foundation in 2014, to help us scale up our educational outreach on ESG and Impact Investing. I want to thank all of you who have made a donation to TBLI Foundation, some of whom want to remain anonymous. With these contributions, we have been able to double the number of events, partner with business schools and start preparing for further dissemination of our content to a wider audience.

Founders Level

Warmth Asset Management
De Pury Pictet Turrettini & Cie
Golden Bottle Trust
Ms. N. B. Moghaddam

Patron Level
River Star Foundation
URMAT

Support Level
ASN BANK
SNS Bank
Rapaport USA Inc.
US Tax & Financial Services Sàrl
ValleyRoad Capital SA
Goodwell Investments
Shawn Lesser
Robert Temple

Friend Level
Newforesight Consultancy
Impact First Investments
Glen MacDonald
Laura Giadorou-Koch
Rufo Quintavalle
Tevan B.V.
Phenix Capital
Sylvie Giscaro
Peter Koenig Consulting

Support TBLI Foundation

Those who make a donation will be clearly recognized as TBLI Founder, TBLI Patron, TBLI Supporter, or TBLI Friend.

Levels of Giving:

• TBLI Founder- Euros 5000+
• TBLI Patron- Euros 2500+ up to 5000
• TBLI Supporter-Euros 1000+ up to 2500
• TBLI Friend- Euros 250 up to 1000
 
–Donations accepted via paypal, here

-Donations via Bank Transfer:

Stichting TBLI
Herengracht 450
1017 CA Amsterdam
ING Iban : NL58 INGB 0006 3272 56
Bank nr 6327256

If you require a tax efficient channel, TBLI has partnered with the global donor-advised fund SharedImpact to offer individual supporters of TBLI in the United Kingdom and the United States a tax-efficient channel through which they can make donations to TBLI.  For more information visit Shared Impact

Thank you.

We are extremely grateful for your support.

Robert Rubinstein
TBLI Foundation

December 22, 2014 2014, Impact Investing, Sustainability, TBLI Conference 1 Comment on TBLI Foundation and How to use Impact Investing to engage wealth holders.

TBLI New Years Wishes- Be a Mensch!

To paraphrase Simon and Garfunkel’s song Mrs. Robinson, “where have you gone Joe Dimagio…” Where have all the leaders gone, who have that rare quality of being a mensch (Yiddish word that means “a person of integrity.”).

Take a look at FDR’s proposed second Bill of Rights that was filmed after he delivered his State of the Union Address via radio on January 11, 1944. Inspiring, visionary and way ahead of his time.

I wish you great joy and integrity for the New Year.

“Integrity has no need of rules.”
Albert Camus

TBLI Foundation

We launched TBLI Foundation in 2014, to help us scale up our educational outreach on ESG and Impact Investing. I want to thank all of you who have made a donation to TBLI Foundation, some of whom want to remain anonymous. With these contributions, we have been able to double the number of events, partner with business schools and start preparing for further dissemination of our content to a wider audience.

As you plan your year-end giving, I would like to ask for your support. TBLI CONFERENCE has achieved a great deal in educating asset owners and managers about ESG and Impact Investing. With your contribution, we could do much more.

Founders Level
Warmth Asset Management
De Pury Pictet Turrettini & Cie
Golden Bottle Trust
Ms. N. B. Moghaddam

Patron Level
River Star Foundation
URMAT

Support Level
ASN BANK
SNS Bank
Rapaport USA Inc.
US Tax & Financial Services Sàrl
ValleyRoad Capital SA
Goodwell Investments
Shawn Lesser
Robert Temple

Friend Level
Newforesight Consultancy
Impact First Investments
Glen MacDonald
Laura Giadorou-Koch
Rufo Quintavalle
Tevan B.V.
Phenix Capital
Sylvie Giscaro
Peter Koenig Consulting

Support TBLI Foundation

Those who make a donation will be clearly recognized as TBLI Founder, TBLI Patron, TBLI Supporter, or TBLI Friend.

Levels of Giving:

• TBLI Founder- Euros 5000+
• TBLI Patron- Euros 2500+ up to 5000
• TBLI Supporter-Euros 1000+ up to 2500
• TBLI Friend- Euros 250 up to 1000
 
–Donations accepted via paypal, here

-Donations via Bank Transfer:

Stichting TBLI
Knsmlaan 53
1019 LB Amsterdam
ING Iban : NL58 INGB 0006 3272 56
Bank nr 6327256

If you require a tax efficient channel, TBLI has partnered with the global donor-advised fund SharedImpact to offer individual supporters of TBLI in the United Kingdom and the United States a tax-efficient channel through which they can make donations to TBLI.  For more information visit Shared Impact

Thank you.

We are extremely grateful for your support.

Robert Rubinstein
TBLI Foundation

December 16, 2014 2014, Impact Investing, Sustainability, TBLI Conference 1 Comment on TBLI New Years Wishes- Be a Mensch!

Impact Investor and Social Entrepreneur

Recently I was invited by one of our keynote speakers, Arvind Narula, to visit his company in Changrai, Thailand. Arvind is a successful social entrepreneur who has clearly shown you can do large scale for profit Impact Investing projects and have a clear, measurable positive impact on society and the environment. One of his companies, Urmatt, is the largest, contract farming, organic rice producer in Thailand. Urmatt also develops the value add, branding, and distribution of the end product. Arvind has also started Hill Tribe Organics for organic egg production and expanded Urmat’s product line through nutritionally enhanced rice noodle production.

It was a great inspiration visiting the production facility of  Hill Tribe Organics and also seeing his brand new rice noodle factory. His team were all engaged, passionate, and committed. They, like Arvind were working at the coal face, as they say, to improve people’s live and achieve market rate returns for the investors.  Arvind’s passion and commitment in alleviating poverty for the Hill Tribes and his rice farmers through sustainable livelihood (organic egg production, organic rice production) was a great inspiration. The amount of work to achieve his goal is overwhelming. Best part was meeting the chickens who seemed to enjoy picking at our feet(see photo below) and were extremely friendly. What was even more thrilling was that an investment from one of the TBLI Conference Europe sponsors came through the week we were visiting.

Arvind clearly stands out as a successful social entrepreneur. He takes a very pragmatic, simple, low key solution to a significant problem, and just gets on with the job. No fanfare. He focusses on digging holes and avoids cutting ribbons. I asked him what is his big vision. Without hesitation he said “ExpandTribe Organics to all the Hill Tribes in Asia and Latin America”. Go Arvind. We look forward to hosting a TBLI gathering in Changrai.

IMG_0529

Arvind Narula’S Keynote Speech TBLI CONFERENCE EUROPE 2014.

TBLI Conference Series 2015 

If you weren’t able to attend TBLI CONFERENCE EUROPE 2014, in Amsterdam, you can access the videos and presentations here

Our ESG and Impact Investing educational outreach continues in 2015 with conferences in Chicago, Singapore, Copenhagen and Zurich. I would like to ask for your help  by sponsoring, attending or speaking  For further information on programs, speaking opportunities and past events, visit TBLI Website .

TBLI CONFERENCE @BOOTH/KELLOGG 2015
23 January 2015- Chicago / USA
Hosted by Kellogg School of Management & Booth School of Business
TBLI CONFERENCE ASIA 2015
29 & 30 April 2015-Singapore
Hosted by Insead
TBLI CONFERENCE NORDIC 2015
15 & 16 June 2015-Copenhagen / Denmark
Hosted by Copenhagen Business School
TBLI CONFERENCE USA 2015
September (dates to be confirmed)
New York, New York
TBLI CONFERENCE EUROPE 2015
November (to be held in Zurich)
December 4, 2014 2014, Impact Investing, Sustainability, TBLI Conference 1 Comment on Impact Investor and Social Entrepreneur