By David Chen, Equilibrium Capital Group, LLC
In a recent blog post on Sustainable Business Oregon, Doug Morris asks an important question: How will investors respond to B Corps?
I think there are a growing number of investment firms, both boutique and global, that are asking this question. A major institutional financial service institution has been exploring a “B Corp” investment fund. The major assurance firms (audit, etc) are looking to add or license the B Corp criteria as part of a future metrics line of business. Public companies are starting to ask this question, and we see several that are exploring the use of B Corp status in their underlying subsidiaries. Several of the sustainability driven banks use B Corp criteria and status as part of their under-writing process.
Our firm, Equilibrium Capital Group, is a B Corp, and one of a growing number of investors that are seeking to invest in B Corps and companies that explicitly create value for both shareholders and society. One of our portfolio firms, Natural Systems Utilities (NSU) is a fellow B Corp. NSU’s testimony was instrumental in the recent unanimous passage of Benefit Corp legislation in New Jersey.
We see increasing alignment of CAPITAL + ENTREPRENEURS + INVESTORS + PUBLIC POLICY + FINANCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE around this “better” way.
