Public Endorsement of SRI from Israeli Ambassador

March 16th, 2008 | Tags: , , , , , , ,

Following Bibi Netanyahu’s lead, Salai Meridor is now the latest Israeli government official proposing divestment from companies who are doing business with Iran. As reported first by JTA in an article titled: “What can you do about Iran? Use the phone, Meridor says“, March 11th, 2008, the Israeli Ambassador to the US, Salai Meridor is proposing that Israelis and Americans alike contact their pension fund managers to ensure that none of the companies they invest in are doing business with Iran. It boggles the mind why such a simple, yet effective step against the genocidal regime in Iran is not being taken by more public figures in Israel. The only reason I can think of for the slow uptake of Iran Divestment lobbying is that politicians and the public in Israel are not fully aware of the tremendous impact their investments have on our world. The phrase “if you can’t see, it it doesn’t exist” is particularly applicable to the silent world of the capital markets. While its the major financial institutions like Goldman Sachs, CitiGroup and others who take the limelight, its the ordinary Joe whose money they are playing with. Isn’t it about time all the Joe’s in the world stand up and take a stand?

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Investment in Israel’s Pythagoras Solar Marks Turning Point for Cleantech

February 22nd, 2008 | Tags: , , ,

Over the past twelve months there have been several Israeli Cleantech deals, however the recent $10M investment in Israel’s Pythagros Solar marks a landmark in the Israeli Cleantech investment arena. Several characteristics of this investment and company are indications of this:

1. Size: The size of the deal is significant enough to demonstrate a major commitment of local VCs to Cleantech. Some of Israel’s leading VC firms are involved in this investment, including Israel Cleantech Ventures, Pitango Venture Capital and Evergreen Venture Partners.

2. Management: The management team is made up of experienced entrepreneurs from leading Israeli hi-tech companies, like Checkpoint Software Technologies Ltd.

3. Technology: The science on which the company’s technology is based has received international recognition from Scientific American as one of the top 50 most significant science breakthroughs in 2007.

4. Multi-disciplinary approach: The company seems to be taking an integrated approach, combining various disciplines such as optic design, semiconductor processes, materials science, and mass manufacturing techniques to come up with a solution rather than one product.

With energy crises riddling the world from South Africa and Brazil to Europe and the US, there are many opportunities for companies such as Pythagoras Solar and Infinia Corporation - who recently raised $50M - to achieve massive scale.

The word out on the street is unclear: some say solar is over crowded and valuations are sky high,while others say that solar is the one area that has been historically under-invested and has the most potential for major gains in efficiency and to compete with conventional energy sources, so that the current valuations are still quite reasonable. Time will only tell who is right.

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A Review of Israel Ministry of Finance SRI Position Paper

February 10th, 2008 | Tags: , , , ,

Last week, I received an email from the Israeli Ministry of Finance of great significance. The email announced the publishing of a policy paper by a division within the Ministry to consider the implications of Socially Responsible Investing. This email quietly has the potential to change the way Israeli society views the capital markets. Currently the capital markets are viewed by Israelis as the unbridled ability to maximize profits with little concern for society’s well being or ethical standards. Little debate has taken place on this topic and sadly many efforts to raise the topic has resulted in the hijacking of the debate by corporate interests rather than an open balanced debate by all sectors of the Israeli public. I propose that people who have any concern for the well being of Israeli society ought to turn their attention to SRI as a tool for moderating values in Israeli society. As this paper proposes, having legislation enacted that allow ethical and moral considerations to be considered by a fund manager is the foundation on which our society’s economy shall reflect our desire for a just and good society. Without this legislative foundation we are very close to economic anarchy.

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Journal Publishes Paper on Jewish Ethical Investing

June 2nd, 2007 | Tags: , ,

Earlier this year the “Business and Society Review” published a groundbreaking paper outlining Judaism’s approach to ethical investing. The article, titled “Ethical Investing from a Jewish Perspective” was written by Dr Meir Tamari, Dr Mark Schwartz and Daniel Schwab, Founder of Kayema Investments Ltd. The article provides insights into Judaism’s perspective on Ethical Investing. Due to the growing importance of investing activity in Israeli and Jewish society, this articles provides basic knowledge on a topic that is rarely understood.

The article may be downloaded at http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?a…
or at http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs… .

The article was published in Business and Society Review, Vol. 112, Issue 1, pp. 137-161, March 2007.

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Kayema Partner in Global Infrastructure Mutual Fund

January 30th, 2007 | Tags: none

Kayema have partnered with Israeli infrastructure expert, Nissan Caspi, in providing research services to UBank Mutual Funds Ltd. for recently launched Global Infrastructure and Engineering Mutual Fund. Click here for UBank press release (Hebrew): UBank Infrastructure & Engineering Fund

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Introducing Israel’s First Sustainability Index

January 1st, 2007 | Tags: none

Press Release - Introducing Israel’s first Sustainability Index

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