In the News
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Progressive Asset Management Aligns Corporate Mission
to United Nations Global Compact - PORTLAND, OR - FEBRUARY 18, 2009 –
Clackamas PAM Network investment advisor Celia Mueller, CFP® and PAM President, Richard Torgerson, announced today Progressive Asset Management's firm endorsement of the ten principles of the United Nations Global Compact. In a letter to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Torgerson and PAM CEO Todd Melillo affirmed that:
"Progressive Asset Management supports the ten principles of the Global Compact with respect to human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption. With this communication, we express our intent to advance those principles within our sphere of influence. We are committed to making the Global Compact and its principles part of the strategy, culture and day-to-day operations of our company, and to engaging in collaborative projects which advance the broader development goals of the United Nations, particularly the Millennium Development Goals."
PAM has long been a signatory to the Principles for Responsible Investment, a joint effort of the United Nations Environment Program and the Global Compact. The Principles challenge financial institutions to include environmental, social and governance issues in firm operations. However, "this initiative is much more than a statement of intentions," stated Torgerson. "This represents a major realignment of PAM's firm wide social research and shareholder advocacy efforts." Proprietary PAM investment programs such as the Progressive Track Portfolios will be screened according to the goals of the Compact. PAM's Proxy Voting Guidelines will be revised to ensure congruence with the goals of the Compact as well as the UN Millennium Development Goals. In addition, PAM's investment banking and private equity efforts will be guided by congruence with the Global Compact in all areas.
The multiple crises now facing all of us in 2009 formed the impetus for PAM's initiative. As Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus said recently, "What we see as a financial crisis is a part of many more crises, which are going on simultaneously...", identifying global environmental, energy, food and financial crises as emergencies that require immediate action.
The U.N. Global Compact is a strategic initiative organized as a public-private partnership between the United Nations and the private sector worldwide. The ten principles of the Compact represent universally accepted common goals of the international community and of the business sector: combating corruption, building healthy markets, safeguarding the environment and ensuring social and economic inclusion.
The U.N Millennium Development Goals are eight specific targets adopted by world leaders in September 2000 to end poverty and hunger, achieve universal education, gender equality, adequate maternal and children’s health, global environmental sustainability, combat HIV/AIDS and other global pandemics, and develop a global partnership for economic and social development.
With the change of political leadership in Washington there is new hope that the United States will now join with the rest of the world to meet and solve these crises head on. "The whole business sector, including financial services firms like PAM, need to be an integral part of that change. PAM has been a leader in the socially responsible investing movement since 1987, and we aren't about to slow down now," said Melillo.
"While the social concerns and the financial goals of individual clients remain the final word in our delivery of investment advisory and brokerage services, the Global Compact provides a well developed and widely accepted set of principles which many clients will find helpful as they seek to make informed investment decisions," said Mueller. “Our clients' financial futures will be healthy if our markets are healthy. Our markets can be healthy if our planet and people are healthy. It all ties together and together we'll make the difference. This is an important time to be a socially conscious investor."
ABOUT PAM
Progressive Asset Management, Inc. (http://www.progessiveassetmanagement.com) was the first
Independent, full-service investment brokerage in the US to specialize in socially responsible
investing (SRI). Since 1987, PAM has developed innovative investment initiatives and products in the SRI arena, including their proprietary Shareholder Alert Service™, which supports investors who wish to track upcoming proxy votes in which they may participate. PAM also provides social screening services to clients and third party money management firms. Progressive Asset Management is a FINRA/SIPC member. Securities offered through Financial West Group a member of FINRA/SIPC.
Any statements contained in this Report that relate to future plans, events, or performance are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These include, but are not limited to, changes in general economic conditions, political uncertainty because of the current election season, and the growing deficit because of the costs of the war against terrorism and rebuilding the Gulf Region. The ramifications of 9/11 continue to evolve. Potential conflicts with other nations such as Iran and North Korea, and instability in the Middle East, and political and trade disputes with other communities and countries such as the European Community and China, can also adversely affect the economy, including the financial markets, by creating uncertainty. More particularly for PAM, it is impossible to say whether the weather- and disease-related disasters will hurt the mood for socially-responsible investment, or increase interest in SRI because the damage was amplified as a result of ignoring past damage to the ecology and repairs to the ecology will be a necessary part of the recovery effort. Intense competition for customers, pressures on brokerage fees charged, the mood of the investing public and the changes in political and investors’ attitudes toward socially responsible investments affects the extent of PAM’s continued success. Additionally, the development and acceptance of new products and services and more extensive marketing efforts of PAM have been critical to its improved situation and will remain critical in the coming years. PAM cautions that the foregoing list of important facts is not exclusive. Developments in any of these areas could cause PAM’s results to differ materially from results that have been or may be projected by or on behalf of PAM. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this statement. PAM does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of PAM.
For more information:
Contact Celia Mueller, CFP®, 503 656-1644, cmueller@fwg.com, www.celiamueller.com
News Advisory
2008 SRI in the Rockies Conference Draws Record
Crowd and Focuses on the Future of Global Finance
Investment Professionals Consider Positive Impact of
Socially Conscious Investors on Global Financial Crisis
Clackamas, OR—November 12, 2008--Socially responsible investment industry leaders focused attention on the global financial crisis at the 19th annual SRI in the Rockies Conference October 26-28, 2008.
A record 700 participants, including Clackamas Financial Advisor, Celia M. Mueller, CFP ®, gathered for three days at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler, in Whistler, British Columbia to discuss sustainable finance, business ethics, and clean technology. The event, hosted by First Affirmative Financial Network and the nonprofit Social Investment Forum, featured several experts discussing how socially conscious investors can help to reshape the future of the global financial system around the principles of transparency, fairness, good governance, long-term thinking, and acting on behalf of the common good. These sessions included:
· A Special Session on the Global Financial Crisis,
· An Expert Panel on the Sub-Prime Mortgage Situation,
· A CEO Roundtable on Industry Trends,
· A Banking Sector Panel Focused on Sustainable Global Finance, and
· A Session on Philanthropy
Celia Mueller, CFP® was one of the investment professionals in attendance. "The Conference provides a stimulating and thoughtful context in which to explore the principles of socially and environmentally responsible investing,” said Ms. Mueller. “The need to integrate social principles, such as responsible corporate governance, into the nation's financial infrastructure has been needed for a long time. That need has never been more apparent.”
Celia Mueller, Certified Financial PlannerTM, has been helping clients link their environmental and social concerns with their investments since 1995. She is an Investment Advisor Representative with Financial West Group, a member of Progressive Asset Management, First Affirmative Financial Network, the Social Investment Forum and the Financial Planning Association.
SRI in the Rockies is the premier annual conference for the sustainable and responsible investment industry in North America. "The financial crisis has put a spotlight on some of the worst practices on Wall Street, many of which socially conscious investors have worked to remedy over the years," said George R. Gay, CEO of First Affirmative Financial Network and a Director of the Social Investment Forum. "We believe that a more socially responsible approach to investing can—and should—play a role in helping to transform the investing world."
This year’s Conference took place against the backdrop of an industry that continues to expand rapidly. According to the SIF's "2007 Trends Report," nearly one out of every nine dollars under professional management in the U.S. in 2007 was involved in SRI. From 2005-2007, SRI assets increased more than 18 percent while the broader universe of professionally managed assets expanded less than 3 percent.
ABOUT FIRST AFFIRMATIVE
First Affirmative Financial Network, LLC (www.FirstAffirmative.com) is an independent fee-only Registered Investment Advisor (SEC File #801-5687). The company, which manages about $700 million in client portfolios, offers consulting and asset management services through a nationwide network of investment professionals who specialize in serving socially conscious investors. First Affirmative produces the annual SRI in the Rockies Conference (www.SRIintheRockies.com), the premier conference for the sustainable and responsible investment industry in North America. ABOUT THE SOCIAL INVESTMENT FORUM (SIF)
SIF is the U.S. membership association dedicated to advancing the concept, practice, and growth of socially and environmentally responsible investing. SIF members integrate economic, environmental, social, and governance factors into their investment decisions. SIF membership includes more than 500 social investment practitioners and institutions, including financial professionals, analysts, portfolio managers, banks, mutual funds, researchers, foundations, community development organizations, and public educators. More information about the Forum, including the 2007 Report on Socially Responsible Investing Trends in the United States, is available at www.socialinvest.org. 20TH ANNUAL SRI IN THE ROCKIES CONFERENCE, OCTOBER 25-28, 2009
For more information or to make arrangements to attend the 2009 SRI in the Rockies Conference, please contact Conference Coordinator Krystala Kalil at 303-442-4463 / krystala@SRIintheRockies.com or First Affirmative president Steve Schueth at 303-442-8400 x101 / steveschueth@firstaffirmative.com. Corporate Social ResponsibilityNews  1.15.2008 - 10:00am ET CSR News from: Carbonfund.org
Celia Mueller, CFP (R) Partners with Carbonfund.org to go CarbonFree
(CSRwire) WEST LINN, OR, January 15, 2008 - Celia Mueller, CFP(R) of Progressive Asset Management, announced today that her business has offset its carbon emissions with Carbonfund.org, the country's leading carbon offset organization. This commitment places Celia Mueller, CFP(R) as an environmental leader in the investment community and demonstrates proactive steps being taken in the fight against global climate change. For more information please contact: Eric Carlson, Executive Director Ceila Mueller
For more CSR news and information from this organization:
Corporate Social Responsibility Profile for Carbonfund.org
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