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When Matt Christensen moved to Europe from the US 25 years ago, he hoped to build the business of the US financial portal Motley Fool in Germany.
But the dot-com crash changed everything for the California-born Danish father of three, who soon realized that companies should be evaluated based on more than just their financial health.
"ESG and sustainability have become huge topics," he tells Bloomberg.
"Twenty years ago, people laughed at ESG investments, and Germans, in particular, were very skeptical," he says.
"That has changed since then."
Now, Christensen is the Global Head of Sustainable and Impact Investing at Allianz Global Investors, one of the biggest asset managers in Europe.
His job is to make sure that companies adhere to environmental, social, and economic (ESG) principles when investing in their own assets.
"The objective is to ensure the effective implementation of ESG and sustainability principles within the organization," he says.
"Equally important is looking ahead, with impact investing playing an increasingly significant role in shaping the next phase of this agenda."
Christensen's work has led him to create the European Sustainable Investment Forum, an organization promoting ethical investment based in Brussels.
He founded it in 2002, and it received funding from the European Commission, among others.
In the
Selected Grant News Headlines
A customized collection of grant news from foundations and the federal government from around the Web.
Britain's housing crisis is so bad that the government has come up with a novel way to fix it: It's putting $1 billion toward new construction, reports the Telegraph. The money will come from...more
The UK's housing crisis is so bad that the government has come up with a novel way to fix it: It's putting $1 billion toward building 100,000 new homes over the next five years, reports the...more
The world's longest-serving member of the House of Representatives is stepping down from his post at the end of the year, the AP reports. Rep. Manny Pacquiao has announced that he will not...more
A new report from accounting and consulting firm BDO USA finds that US nonprofits are stronger and more effective than they were just a few years ago. The report, which surveyed 250 nonprofit...more
When it comes to assessing the risks of climate change, Standard & Poor's has a new metric to look atand it's a pretty good one. The company's Global Climate Center of Excellence on Tuesday...more
Starbucks is investing in two " innovation farms" in Central America in an effort to protect its coffee supply from the effects of climate change, CNBC reports. The farms in Costa Rica and...more
Foundation: Gates Foundation, Global Fund for Women
Bill and Melinda Gates are putting their money where their mouth is to help people in Sudan. The two are among nine donors who have pledged $4.5 million to help local aid groups in the country,...more
A new report from the European Central Bank is out, and it calls for price controls on prescription drugs to cut down on drug costs and spur innovation, the Wall Street Journal reports. The...more
Good news for Italy: Its consumer confidence index rose to 98.3 in September from an eight-month low of 96.1 in August, reports the Wall Street Journal. The sub-index of personal confidence rose...more
When Amit Bhatia quit his corporate job in 2007 to work on social and environmental issues, he created Aspire Impact and Aspire Circle. Now he's created Impact Ratings, and he wants to make it...more
Social Entrepreneurship
Spotlight
Rwanda as Social Entrepreneur Fund Beneficiary
The Republic of Rwanda has been picked as one of the six African countries as beneficiaries for a new fellowship fund program designed at supporting social entrepreneurs in tackling issues on food security.
