Where have you been?

My apologies for such a long radio silence., TBLI has been on the road extensively this year, helping to build the infrastructure for TBLI (Triple Bottom Line Investing) in Asia. In addition, we have been expanding our outreach to Private Asset Owners (Single Family Offices, Multi Family Offices, and HNW). It has been quite a journey.

From January to May, I visited Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Bangkok, Dubai, Istanbul, Stockholm, Milan, Wiesbaden and then back to Shanghai. What was surprising was the hunger for information about ESG and Impact Investing. It was as if a paradigm shift had occurred among asset owners. They wanted to believe that Values Investing could work, but needed more convincing.  Most of the talk was dispelling the Myths that Impact was charity, money losing, philanthropy, no good management, etc. Those myths were easy to dispel. Almost as easy as dispelling the myths that all PE Funds and Hedge Funds achieve 30%+ year in year out. Or all fund managers always beat their benchmark.

Nearly all were keen to better understand what is Impact and how can they move large sums into investments that look at all risks and opportunities.

I always said TBLI was an overnight success after 20 years.

With that in mind, TBLI will be doing many more road shows, particularly in Asia to further help build the ESG and Impact eco system. If you would like to host a meeting with clients and staff, let us know and we will be happy to speak at your event.  Contact us 

Forbes Interview

Devin Thorpe of Forbes recently did an interview with me. Here it is. I hope you enjoy it.

TBLI CONFERENCE NORDIC 2018, Nasdaq, Stockholm Sweden Nov. 8-9

TBLI Conference Program is nearly finished. Hope you can join us. We anticipate a significantly larger turnout this year, from last year. The number of Early Bird Registrations is much higher. If you are planning on coming, the Early Bird Discount of SEK 2000, — ends May 31. So register soon. 

GDPR Private Policy

You’ve probably already seen quite a few emails about the GDPR. Europe’s landmark legislation on data protection.   We have updated our Privacy Policy  to comply with the new GDPR requirements. We kindly ask you to read them and get familiar with the updates.

TBLI Special Events

As part of our capacity building outreach on ESG and Impact Investing, TBLI will also be hosting small, intimate events as well as collaborating on larger events for Asset Owners. Asset Owners may attend all Conferences free of charge. Service providers may register to attend for a fee. Dinners and Retreats have a registration fee involved. If you would like to join one of these events, contact us.

Save the Dates:
• TBLI Inspiration Weekend Glen House Castle, near Edinburgh Sept. 21-24
• IMPACT INVESTING: EXPLORING THE PERSONAL JOURNEY  London, 18/9/2018, St. James Hotel Invitation only.
• TBLI Dinners Paris October 30.
• Family Office Event- San Francisco, 12-13th September 2018, The Cabernet Sauvignon Yacht, where 100+ N American Family Offices meet Invitation only.
• Family Office Event-London 9-10th October 2018, The Dorchester, where 140+ London based Family Offices gather Invitation only.
• Family Office Event-Zurich 13-14 November, 2018,  Dolder Grand Hotel, The meeting place for 100+ genuine* Family Offices from all over the world  Invitation only.
• Family Office Event-Dubai, 5-6 February, 2019, Palace Downtown Dubai Invitation only.
• Family Office Event-Singapore 5 – 6 March 2019 The Fullerton: The Asian Forum for 100+ genuine* Family Offices and UHNWI  Invitation only.
May 25, 2018 2018, Climate Change, Emerging Markets, ESG Investing, Impact Investing, Investment, Sustainability, TBLI Conference No Comments on Where have you been?

Awesome

I looked up the definition of a commonly used word. Awesome: extremely impressive or daunting; inspiring awe: the awesome power of the atomic bomb. In the informal extremely good; excellent: the band is truly awesome! Why then is everything awesome? “I will call you back later”. “Awesome”. “See you next week.” “Awesome”. “I am going for a run”. “Awesome”. Why don’t we start being a bit discerning in what is awesome and what is just “fine”.

Cap and Share

TBLI has been working for its entire history on scaling up zero-low carbon investments. The solution always seemed very clear, carbon has to be a cost but no one wants to pay for it. In addition, the consumer was not included in most of the discussion around cap and trade.

Why don’t we go to a cap and share and give everyone an equal carbon allowance? If you are carbon efficient, take public transport or the bike, you can earn credits. If you can’t live without your ferrari, you buy credits. This way consumers can earn money by reducing carbon emissions. With everything being captured by big data, public transport chip cards, green credit cards and other new sources, it is doable.

That is what I call Awesome.

That’s what we’re missing. We’re missing argument. We’re missing debate. We’re missing colloquy. We’re missing all sorts of things. Instead, we’re accepting.

Studs Terkel

TBLI CONFERENCE EUROPE will be held on Nov. 19-20 in Zurich. Come and meet truly AWESOME people doing AWESOME things.

Support TBLI Foundation

 

October 5, 2015 2015, Climate Change, Impact Investing, Sustainability, TBLI Conference 4 Comments on Awesome

Empty Gestures

I am a huge fan of the tv show Curb Your Enthusiasm. The star and writer, Larry David, is brilliant in his ability to be brutally honest, awkward,  and totally embarrassing with his social dysfunctionality. However, the show makes you laugh, which is essential, these days.  If you never watched it, start today. Every time I am watching a television interview or listening to a podcast interview about something that I find important, I think of Larry David.

Most people being interviewed always say “that is a very good question” even if the question is stupid, useless, empty or just a dead end. What drives me crazy is the standard  one-two punch in responding to the interviewer. First “that is a very good question” then you hear “You know. It is very interesting…”, even if nothing is interesting, which they often prove with their answer. I often think that media advisors or other “experts” on not being authentic, train people with these two repetitive statements. Larry David’s does a brilliant parody on these empty comments.

Let’s  have a real dialogue where people say what they really think and challenge the interviewer in a polite, educational, and engaging way. Empty gestures don’t cut it and just dumbs us down. The stakes are too high and we need to be inspirational, thought provoking and laugh.

A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Come to TBLI EUROPE 2015, Nov. 19-20 in Zurich. You will  be inspired and have your thoughts challenged, and have a great time.

Guest Post Jochen Wermuth

The first Dow Jones Industrial Index only had steam engine rail companies in it, there were only horses on the roads and horse-whip-makers were great investments. Just a few years later there were no more horses on the road, no rail company in the Dow Jones – a new industrial revolution based on the combustion engine wiped out the old economy companies, with many losers and winners like the Rockefellers and JP Morgans at the time. A similar new industrial revolution is under way now with similarly large risks and opportunities.
With solar power being offered at $4cent/kWh in Austin Texas, a price with which oil could only compete at $7/barrel, the fossil fuel economy is dead. There will be huge changes in the world economy with many losers (the old oil, gas, coal companies and their related industries ) and many winners, the new Rockefellers. We  can stand at the spearhead of this new industrial revolution, allowing us to earn outstanding profits and at the same time generating a sustainable future for our planet.
On the risk side, there will have to be write-offs of $21 trillion in oil, gas and coal reserves by listed companies, as they will no longer be profitable to burn because greater energy efficiency and competition from renewables will drive down long-term fossil fuel prices. This is huge and compares to $15 trillion write-offs in the mortgage bubble.
On the opportunity side, emerging markets still consume 4x as much energy as we do say in Germany or in the EU. Thus bringing state-of-art products there we can make a lot of money and have a huge impact. With solar and wind-power now costing less than power from the grid there are also ample business opportunities across the world. Few have realized this, just as few realized for a long time that smoking was bad for your health…
Great background reading in this regard is the book “My indecent proposal to the German Chancellor” which tells the great success story of a farmer’s boy becoming the owner-manager of a multibillion dollar company in the renewable energy space and sets out the plan for Germany to become 100% renewable powered by 2020. A model for a successful business leader in the new industrial revolution, winning against all odds, and a model for any country in the world (in particular those with more sun) to follow.
As missing this opportunity may not only cost each of us money but could destroy life on our plante, my wife Sasha and I have shared with many of you a hard-copy of the book already. Given continued interest we have gotten the author to make the book available electronically and free of charge for TBLI Blog readers in return for my father having edited and translated it to English.
To download your complimentary copy of the Book in different “eBook” formats for almost any common reading device like Kindle, Tablets ( IOS Android ) or Smartphones, please visit There is also a pdf version for PC-, Mac and Linux Users available. If everything else fails, you can also find an adobe flash based ePaper Version that you can read online with any flash enabled Browser. If you have Problems downloading or opening your copy, please contact helmut.zengerling@wermutham.com.
Please have a look and enjoy!

Jochen Wermuth
Founding Partner and CIO
Wermuth Asset Management GmbH
www.wermutham.com
jwermuth@wermutham.com

August 11, 2015 2015, Agriculture, Climate Change, Emerging Markets, Impact Investing, Investment, Personal Note, Sustainability, TBLI Conference 1 Comment on Empty Gestures

Donald Trump, Success and TBLI Hero

Alain de Botin gave a very good Ted Talk about success, particularly how it impacts Americans. Having grown up in Brooklyn, New York I always struggled with the incessant pressure to win and compete. It never motivated me, but always demotivated me. Alain’s description about how people are viewed as winners and losers, in America, was brilliant.  His talk, made in July 2009, resonated with me because of my own personal experiences and the current US Presidential election.

Donald Trump campaigning and his success in the polls is a joy,(entertainment) and depressing. Trump has offered no concrete solutions, insulted many, has been against most progressive initiatives that help many and he is very  proud of the fact that he fights very hard to pay as little taxes as possible. His tv show The Apprentice, which I really disliked, taught nothing of value. The focus was quick fix, short term, zero sum game, ego, winners and LOSERS, and no added value at all to the contestant or society. Trump is about  “success”. It is about the ribbon cutting, ego, cash, and no fulfilment and WINNERS and LOSERS. Unfortunately, we all become the losers with winners like that.

Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.

Albert Einstein

Come to TBLI CONFERENCE EUROPE 2015, November 19-20, in Zurich and meet the thought leaders of value.

TBLI Hero

I have known George Curuby for quite a long time. He was one of the few people who came from Japan for our inaugural launch of TBLI CONFERENCE in Rotterdam, in 1998. A quiet man who doesn’t push himself forward when everyone wants to be in the ribbon cutting photo. George never seeks to claim credit for great accomplishments or to pump up his ego. He just gets on with the work at hand. Theodore Roosevelt speech The Man in the Arena describes George.

George has always been extremely supportive of TBLI and our efforts. TBLI CONFERENCE ASIA 2011 was held in Tokyo. Due to the nuclear disaster at Fukushima, most sponsors and guests pulled out.  This created a huge problem for TBLI. George was the only one who came forward and helped TBLI making the Conference a success. His support for our work has continued to this day.

I was impressed with a recent revelation. He left Japan to move back to the USA to take care of his mother, as primary care giver.  I will never forget his kindness, generosity or authenticity, and neither should you.

He is a true mensch. Thank you George.

TBLI in the Press

Thanks to Family Office Magazine for publishing this article in their South East Asia Edition.

 

 

August 6, 2015 2015, Climate Change, Impact Investing, Personal Note, Sustainability, TBLI Conference 1 Comment on Donald Trump, Success and TBLI Hero