Press Release
Faith in Capitalism Conference Held at the London
Central Mosque
17 June 2009
In a rare collaboration between faith institutions
and investment managers, the Three Faiths Forum and The
International Interfaith Investment Group-3iG teamed up
with CCLA Investment Management and the Fortune Group
and an audience of over 100 City professionals to work
out new paradigms for responsible investment.
“In the post-crisis world, the balance of economic
power will slowly shift from the secular West to become
more widely shared, geographically and culturally, with
one major consequence being that principles of faith and
social exigencies will play a much bigger role in
investment management,” said Mark Ebert, Executive
Director of the Three Faiths Forum and, at the same
time, Chairman of the Fortune Group. Exploring the
direction of the new demands of “thoughtful investors”
was the focus of the conference, entitled, “Faith in
Capitalism”.
The venue itself, the Islamic Cultural Centre of the
London Central Mosque, was highly symbolic as the
participants debated new paradigms for investment in the
post crisis world. They looked toward faith-based
institutions for guidance in establishing thoughtful
criteria for investing, searching for better,
longer-term solutions in the wake of the poor
performance of traditional and even “alternative”
investments during the crisis. Five expert investment
advisers, each with a strong religious focus, provided
their insight from practical experience. They included
Mufti Abdul Kadir Bakatullah, Senior Imam of Finchley
Mosque, Mr John Reynolds, Head of the Ethical Investment
Advisory Group Church of England, Dr Prem Sharma, Patron
of South Asian Development Partnerships, Rabbi Mark
Goldsmith, Principal Rabbi of the North Western Reform
Synagogue and Katinka C. van Cranenburgh, Secretary
General of 3iG. As Katinka van Cranenburgh concluded:
“Clearly there exists a wide consensus amongst the
faiths that faith consistent investing is a powerful
tool in reaching a more sustainable world. Therefore,
more dialogue and cooperation between the faiths is
key.”
Another five expert investment advisers then provided
new insights into sustainable and socially responsible
investment strategies. They included Mr Mark Campanale,
Director, Four Elements Capital, Mr Adam Ognall, Deputy
Chief Executive, UKSIF -the Sustainable Investment and
Finance Association, Helen Wildsmith, Head of Ethical &
Responsible Investment, CCLA Investment Management,
Naveen Raza, an Independent Consultant in Islamic
Finance, and Miles Litvinoff, Co-ordinator, Ecumenical
Council for Corporate Responsibility.
With over 50,000 clients, CCLA Investment Management
made it clear that there is unprecedented demand for
faith-based and sustainable investment strategies. Mr.
Campanale challenged investors: “With 450 sustainable
investment and SRI funds to chose from, socially
responsible investment is now clearly mainstream”.
Ms. Raza advanced the idea that “The risk adjusted
rate of return associated with SRI strategies has been
superior to the that of the more mainstream investment
products that have managed to bring the world financial
system to the brink”.
The keynote address was delivered by The Right
Honourable Stephen Timms MP, Financial Secretary to the
UK Treasury, who said, “More and more people, many
motivated by faith – want to know their money is making
a positive contribution to the world as well. They want
to know that their investments, as well as delivering
financial returns to them, will have a positive impact
on the world – helping to solve problems like world
poverty, climate change, deforestation, human rights and
child labour, or at least not making them worse”.
Other speakers included Geoge W. Mallinckrodt, KBE,
President, Schroders plc, and Saadia Zahidi, Head of
Constituents at the World Economic Forum.
For enquiries please contact:
Mark Ebert
Executive Director, Three Faiths Forum
Chairman, The Fortune Group
+44.207.482.9531
mark.ebert@sunrise.ch
Katinka C. van Cranenburgh
Secretary General of 3iG, the International Interfaith
Investment Group
+34 655 1313 25
katinka.vancranenburgh@3ignet.org |
