The Haas Socially Responsible Investment (HSRI) Fund, launched this past September, will soon start trading thanks to a $1 million donation made earlier this month by Haas alumnus Al Johnson (BS 62 and MBA 69) and his wife, Marguerite.
Having now met the $500,000 minimum required before investing could begin, the student team that manages the fund is finalizing an investment strategy and consulting with investment and faculty advisory committees in preparation for launching the fund.
The fund is the first student-run investment fund at Haas and the first fund devoted to socially responsible investment at a leading business school. Its members include four Berkeley MBA students and two Master’s in Finance Education (MFE) students. The students are required as part of participation in the fund’s management to enroll in Haas’s socially responsible investment techniques class, an elective offered for the first time this past fall.
“The Haas Socially Responsible Investment Fund struck me as a very interesting approach to investing because it’s not just about the bottom line,” says Johnson, a general partner with WTI Ventures in Menlo Park, California. “The fund also looks at companies’ social responsibility in addition to financial characteristics. In many respects, the fund combines Marguerite’s passion for social welfare and my passion of business.”
The Johnson’s donation augments an initial $250,000 gift, which established the fund, made by alumnus Charlie Michaels (BS 78) and his wife, Doris.
The fund’s goal is to achieve long-term, positive absolute returns through investments that adhere to social and environmental responsibility guidelines, according to Michael Pearce, MBA 08, one of the fund’s student managers. “Investment decisions will be made based on both traditional financial and business evaluation criteria as well as detailed socially responsible investment criteria,” he says.
“It is my fervent desire to invest in companies that improve the lives of the world’s poor, the so-called bottom-of-the-pyramid,” says Lance Durham, MFE 08, another fund manager. “Through the Haas Socially Responsible Investment Fund, I can investigate and invest in firms that serve these people. I am extraordinarily enthusiastic about it,” he continued.
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