Media Coverage of
Investing for the Soul

• Wall Street Journal
• MarketWatch
• BNN (Business News Network)
• The Financial Post
• Rogers Television's Money Line
• CBC One's Metro Morning
• 680 News Radio
• Environmental News Network
• The Catholic Register
• More...

Editorials

• Do-It-Yourself Ethical Investing Pays!
• How Ethics Benefits Corporate Profits
• Is Ethical Investment Failing To Keep Up?
• The Goldman Ethics Fuss
• Sustainability Profits Companies
• ESG Yields Profits
• Does Corporate Social Responsibility Increase Profits?
• Short Term Gain, Long Term Pain,
• India, Ancient Economic Behemoth, to Overtake China
• Frugality: A New Normal for Developed World Consumers
• Invest Ethically for ‘All Good’ Returns
• Investors Rush to Cash In on Climate Change
• Can US Bankers and Politicians be Truthful?
• Ethical Investors Successfully Engage Companies and Governments
• Religion: A Force in Ethical & Green Investing
• Unethical Investing By Charities
• Investing Ethically?
• The Rise of Islamic Finance
• US Government and Financial Elites Deceive Us
• The Ethics of Gold
• Unethical Statistics Lead Us Astray
• See all...

Shareholder Values

 
"Forty-five percent of U.S. households prefer an environmental, social and governance (ESG) approach to investing... Among those between the ages of 30 and 39, this increases to 64%, and for those younger than 30, it is 67%."
-- Cerulli Associates
   (USA)
    October 2018

"The vast majority of Canadian investors are interested in responsible investments (RI) that incorporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, and they would be more likely to choose responsible investments if their financial advisor suggested suitable RI options for them."
-- Responsible
    Investment
    Association (RIA)
    (Canada)
    June 2017

"70% of people [in UK] want to invest ethically but the financial services industry is failing to respond." Referencing research by Abundance.
-- Acquisition
    International
    (UK) June 2015

Press Kit - Investing for the Soul

• Mission

• Facts

• Ron Robins, MBA, Founder & Analyst, Investing for the Soul

• Media coverage associated with founder

• Editorials by Ron Robins for Investing for the Soul

Mission

Most investors want to engage in ethical investing but have difficulty in doing so. The mission of Investing for the Soul is to help these investors do that and to assist investment professionals in appropriately servicing clients with such interests.

Facts. Socially Responsible-Ethical Investing
Big, Profitable, Gaining Investor Acceptance

US Sustainable, Responsible and Impact Investing Trends 2016. "The total US-domiciled assets under management using SRI strategies grew to $8.72 trillion at the start of 2016, an increase of 33% since 2014."

Global Growth of SRI Assets. "At the start of 2016, global sustainable investment reached $22.89 trillion, compared with $18.28 trillion in 2014, an increase of 25 percent. Previously, global sustainable investment assets grew 61 percent from 2012 to 2014."

Canadian Responsible Investment Trends 2016  Report "According to survey responses and secondary research undertaken by the  RIA [Responsible Investment Association], assets in Canada being managed using one or more RI strategies increased from $1.01 trillion at the end of 2013 to $1.5 trillion as of December 31, 2015. This robust growth represents a 49% increase in RI assets under management over a two-year period. Canadian RI assets now account for 38% of total Canadian AUM (estimated at $3.986 trillion1), up from 31% two years earlier."

ESG and Financial Outperformance. "The results show that the business case for ESG investing is empirically very well-founded. Roughly 90% of (2,200 individual) studies find a non-negative ESG-CFP relation. More importantly, the large majority of studies reports positive findings."

                      Ron Robins, MBA

Founder & Analyst, Investing for the Soul
Publisher & Editor, The Soul Investor
Blog Author, Enlightened Economics
Past Columnist, alrroya.com
About My Writing  E-mail

Mission
His personal mission is to help investors bring their higher values into investing decisions. This arose out of discussions, beginning in the 1960s, with numerous investors seeking to bring their personal values into their investment selections. Mr. Robins is considered a pioneer in the concept of ethical investing.

Current Activities
Deeply concerned about America's economic and financial problems and believing to have some unique insights into how to fix them, Mr. Robins is writing a book explaining his ideas. The book's working title is, "Resolving America's Economic Quagmire," with a subtitle, "People gaining inner fulfillment is the key.”

Among other tasks and writings, Mr. Robins also continues to administer this site and provide services to investors such as the Creating A Profitable Personal Values-Based Portfolio and DIY Ethical-Sustainable Investing Pays tutorials.

Previous Activities
Mr. Robins conceived and created Investing for the Soul in 2002. By 2005, Investing for the Soul was offering Ethical Investing Workshops and Ethical Investing Services, talks, and enjoying widespread media coverage. The workshops and services show/assist investors and investment professionals in finding, researching, and evaluating investments according to a set of desired personal values.

In 2007, he added Ethical Investing News & Commentary to his website; an e-newsletter The Soul Investor; and the Enlightened Economics blog to create a discussion in formulating a practical economics that integrates consciousness, natural-law, and free-market theory.

In 2010, he became a financial and economics columnist for alrroya.com, a leading Middle Eastern business portal/publication.

Please note though, Mr. Robins is not an investment advisor, nor is he licensed with any professional investment related body, and thus is not able to, nor does he make, any investment recommendations.

Background/Education
Mr. Robins was born in London, England, and immigrated to Canada in 1967. His education includes business and spiritual studies at institutions of higher learning in the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Canada and the United States. Among his many qualifications are an MBA degree (joint major in finance and marketing), and Honours standing in the Canadian Securities Course. 

Prior Investment Industry Experience
Mr. Robins has held investment analyst positions at two leading investment firms. Firstly at Bongard Leslie & Co. Ltd.—now for many years part of BMO Nesbitt Burns, Canada. This was followed by a more senior analyst position at Babson Canadian Reports, a distinguished Canadian investment advisor/manager in the 1970s that had an arms-length relationship to the prestigious U.S. investment firm, David L. Babson & Co. Inc., of Cambridge, Massachusetts. At Babson’s, Mr. Robins also edited their weekly investment newsletter. 

In the late 1990s, Mr. Robins worked for five successful years in a small Toronto investment boutique in global private investment securities sales to wealthy Americans and Europeans.  

Teaching TM to Executives
Mr. Robins became a teacher of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's Transcendental Meditation (TM) programme in 1972 and taught it for almost thirty years. During the 1990s, he was regarded as North America’s most successful marketer and instructor of the programme to executives, having given over 2,000 TM sales presentations and seminars.

He taught TM at leading North American corporations such as the Toronto-Dominion Bank and The Bank of Nova Scotia; at elite health clubs such as the Granite Club and The Fitness Institute (both of Toronto); and have been a keynote speaker at functions of many organizations, Chambers of Commerce and Rotary Clubs.

His studies in spirituality have involved years in seclusion. It is his inner experiences that greatly motivates him on his present path.

Media Coverage
Mr. Robins has also achieved significant media successes by authoring, publishing and promoting numerous articles and media stories on investment related matters and the TM programme.

Additionally, his activities have been featured in many published media including MarketWatch, Financial Post, The Toronto Star, and in broadcast media that include the CBC and CFRB Toronto.

Published articles by, about, or quoting, Ron Robins of Investing for the Soul

• Investing ethically? Buy shares, not funds! - A guide, by Ron Robins, March 8, 2018, What Investment, UK.

• Do-It-Yourself Ethical Investing Pays," by Ron Robins, September 2017, Canadian MoneySaver, Canada.

• Impact Investing And The O'Reilly Factor, by William Baldwin, May 1, 2017, Forbes, USA.

• Faith-based investing is about more than avoiding sin stocks, by Guy Dixon, March 10, 2016, The Globe and Mail, Canada

• Young investors aim to make money responsibly, by Ruane, Remie, February 21, 2015, The Catholic Register, Canada

• War – a minefield for ethical investors, by David Israelson, October 6, 2014, The Globe and Mail, Canada

• The US has More Than $6.00 Of Debt For Every $1.00 Of Income, by Robert Lenzner, June 14, 2011, Streettalk, Forbes, USA.

• Socially Responsible Investing, by Ron Robins, September 2010, Benefits and Pensions Monitor, Canada.

• GETTING PERSONAL CANADA: Virtue May Now Trump Vice, by Monica Gutschi, August 11, 2010, The Wall Street Journal, USA.

• Ron Robins: Investing for the Soul, by Vita Sgardello, VITA Europe, November 5, 2008.

• The Ethics of Statistics, by Ron Robins, Canadian Treasurer, October-November, 2007.

• The Media & Government Statistics, by Ron Robins, The Corporate Ethics Monitor, September-October 2006.

• The passion of investing. Putting your beliefs to work for higher returns, by Thomas Kostigen, CBS MarketWatch, August 23, 2005.

• Investing using a 2,000-year-old strategy, by Michael Swan, The Catholic Register, August 15, 2005.

• Listen to this. Pension education can be an employee benefit, by Ron Robins, Canadian Treasurer, December 2005/ January 2006.

• Moral Investing: How pension education can be an employee benefit. by Ron Robins, HR Professional, April-May, 2005. Discusses the reasons why companies should offer socially and environmentally responsible investing workshops for their employees.

• Moral Investing: Employers should offer employees workshops on ethical investing for their RRSPs, by Ron Robins, Straight Goods, June 13, 2005.

• Soul man preaches 'values' investing, by William Hanley, Financial Post, FP Money, September 11, 2004. An article about Ron Robins and Investing for the Soul.

• Good for the soul, if not the wallet, by Jonathon Chevreau, Financial Post, FP Investing, September 14, 2004. An article about Ron Robins and the performance of Canadian socially responsible investing mutual funds.

• A Healthy Investment, by Ron Robins, New Directions, October/November,  2004, P. 32. An article relating our health to the health of our investments.

• Investing for the Soul Workshop, by Ron Robins, Vitality, September, 2004, P.134.

• Careful about your food, what about your investments? by Ron Robins, Lifelines (publication of the Toronto Vegetarian Association), September-October, 2004, front-page. (PDF)

• The Unfulfilled Investor, by Ron Robins, FORUM, Social Investment Organization, Canada, June 2003, P. 9.

TV & Radio interviews with Ron Robins discussing Investing for the Soul

• Investing for the Soul with Economist Ron Robins, America Meditating, BlogTalkRadio with Sister Jenna, October 7, 2014, USA
   

• SOP Radio's Judyth Piazza interviews Ron Robins about Sustainable-Green Country bonds and Green Jobs, November 27, 2011, USA
   

• Financial Impact Factor Radio. Hosts Paul Petillo and Dave Kittredge interview Ron Robins for 60 minutes on socially responsible investing, October 24, 2011. USA
   

• The Green Leader Radio Show host, Robert Thompson, interviews Ron Robins on green investing, July 25, 2011, USA
   

• SOP Radio's Judyth Piazza chats with Ron Robins, Financial and Economics Columnist for alrroya.com, June 1, 2011, USA
   

• Report on Business Television, Business Morning, with Jim O'Connell, June 21, 2005, at 11:15am, Canada
   

• CIUT Radio, Toronto, The First Word with host Wendy Baker, June 20, 2005, at 9:15am, Canada
   

• Rogers Television (Cable 10 & 63), Toronto, Money Line with host Linda Leatherdale, November 15, 2004, 7pm-8pm, Canada
   

• CBC Radio One, Toronto, Metro Morning with Michael Hlinka, (business commentator), and Andy Berry (host), September 20, 2004 at 6:45am.
   

• 680 News, Toronto, Weekend Business Minute with James Munroe, played repeatedly throughout the day of September 18, 2004, Canada
   

• ENN Radio, With interviewer Jerry Kay, August 4, 2004. Played repeatedly on their member stations and the SIRIUS Satellite Network, Canada

Also, see Ron Robins regular commentaries on our home page and the Editorials section of Investing for the Soul. For his writings on economics see Enlightened Economics.