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Socially Responsible Investment - Here and Abroad Conference June 26, 2009

Building a Global Standard with the United Nations Global Compact and Principles for Responsible Investment. Socially Responsible Investment - Here and Abroad Conference June 26, 2009

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Socially Responsible Investment - Here and Abroad Conference June 26, 2009

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  1. Building a Global Standard with the United Nations Global Compact and Principles for Responsible Investment Socially Responsible Investment - Here and Abroad Conference June 26, 2009 Progressive Asset Management (PAM) is the socially responsible division of Financial West Group (FWG). Securities offered through Registered Representatives of Financial West Group,  Member FINRA, SIPC

  2. Progressive Asset Management, Inc. (PAM) is the first independent full-service investment brokerage in the US to specialize in socially responsible investing (SRI). Since 1987, we have used our ownership in public companies as a powerful vehicle for economic, social, and environmental transformation. When many investors act in concert, the power of the share can make itself felt on a global scale. PAM puts the power of the share to work by offering clients the opportunity to invest for both social progress and financial return.

  3. About the United Nations Global Compact Launched in 2000, the United Nations Global Compact is a both a policy platform and a practical framework for companies that are committed to sustainability and responsible business practices. As a multi-stakeholder leadership initiative, it seeks to align business operations and strategies with ten universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption and to catalyze actions in support of broader UN goals. It is the world’s largest voluntary corporate citizenship initiative, with over 6,500 signatories based in more than 130 countries.

  4. The Global Compact’s Ten Principles Human Rights • Principle 1: Support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights • Principle 2: Not be complicit in human rights abuses Labor Standards • Principle 3: Uphold the freedom of association and recognize the right to collective bargaining • Principle 4: Eliminate all forms of forced and compulsory labor • Principle 5: Effectively abolish child labor • Principle 6: Eliminate discrimination in respect to employment and occupation

  5. The Global Compact’s Ten Principles Environment • Principle 7: Support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges • Principle 8: Undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility • Principle 9: Encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies Anti-Corruption • Principle 10: Work against all forms of corruption, including extortion and bribery

  6. The UN Global Compact Network Source: Goldman Sachs, 2007 GS Sustain Report

  7. Social Vetting The Global Compact requires business participants on an annual basis to publicly disclose their actions to advance the Ten Principles through a Communications on Progress report. In addition, the Global Compact is concerned with “ESG” and what companies are doing to address these factors.

  8. What is ESG? • (E)nvironmental Factors • (S)ocial Factors • (G)overnance Factors

  9. As business is adjusting to new economic and global realities, there is an opportunity to reorient towards sustainability. Today’s confluence of global threats provides the most compelling and rational case in recent memory for companies to: • Proactively embrace an expanded view of risk and opportunity management to include ESG factors; • Increase focus on long-term value creation; and • Emphasize the role of responsibility and ethics in driving confidence and trust.

  10. Investment Community is Key in Driving Corporate Responsibility Work in recent years by a committed community of institutional investors to consider ESG issues in their investment decisions – through the UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) – has played a critical role in strengthening the business proposition of the Global Compact. In 2008, a number of campaigns were undertaken by PRI – now comprised of 470 signatories representing $18 trillion in assets under management – to encourage thousands of businesses to either join or improve performance in the Global Compact, emphasizing the important linkages between the investment community and corporate responsibility.

  11. Efforts by governments in 2008 to encourage business to implement the Global Compact helped bring increased attention and scale to corporate responsibility, including in China, Denmark, Ghana, Norway and Sweden. One such example was the adoption of a law in Denmark requiring the country’s publicly-listed companies, state-owned companies and institutional investors to include ESG information in their annual financial reports. Governments are Active…kind of

  12. 1 Incorporate ESG issues into investment analysis and decision-making processes. • 2 Be active owners and incorporate ESG issues into our ownership policies and practices. • 3 Seek appropriate disclosure on ESG issues by the entities in which we invest. • 4 Promote acceptance and implementation of the Principles within the investment industry. • 5 Work together to enhance our effectiveness in implementing the Principles. • 6 Report on our activities and progress towards implementing the Principles.

  13. The Credit Suisse Social Awareness Index has outperformed other indices

  14. Index Risk/Return Profile 1Compounded Annual Return from 14th March 2003 to 31st March 2008 2Annualised realized volatility from from 14th March 2003 to 31st March 2008 Source: Bloomberg

  15. CEO Water Mandate Launched by the UN Secretary-General in July 2007, the Global Compact’s CEO Water Mandate is focused on developing corporate strategies and solutions to contribute positively to global water issues. The global water crisis is expected to intensify in coming years as a result of a number of factors, including climate change, population growth and urbanization.

  16. The Mandate is a call-to-action to business everywhere, and provides a strategic management framework covering six areas: • direct operations; • supply chain and watershed management; • collective action; • public policy; • community engagement; and • transparency.

  17. Sustainable Business = Long-Term Success • Competitive advantages • Regulatory foresight • Potentially higher market valuation • Deal with global issues through communication and cooperation

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