Month: March 2023

In recent years, the media has focused a great deal of attention on the annual letter that Larry Fink, Chair and CEO of BlackRock, writes to CEOs of publicly-traded companies on behalf of its clients. In these much-awaited missives, Fink outlines what the world’s largest management firm has in mind as his organization helps to manage trillions of dollars of portfolio investments.

BlackRock is the world’s largest asset management team, with US$10 trillion in assets under management, 16,000 employees, offices around the world, and clients in 100-plus countries. In advertising in the United States, and on its corporate web site, BlackRock points out that it “helps 44 million Americans retire with dignity” (through the management of assets in employee retirement programs).

Fink’s recent annual letters to CEOs have contained important information for both corporate leaders and the investment community. Explains Fink: “I write these letters as fiduciary for our clients who entrust us to manage their assets – to highlight the themes that I believe are vital to driving durable long-term returns and to helping them reach their goals.”

In past years, Fink also wrote a separate annual letter to BlackRock’s clients discussing major issues the firm was following. For 2023, Fink writes, “it is clear to me that all of our stakeholders – BlackRock shareholders, clients, employees, partners, the communities where we operate, and the companies in which our clients are invested – are facing so many of the same issues. For that reason, I am writing a single letter to investors, and we are sharing it with all of our stakeholders.”

The focus of Fink’s 2023 letter is on the positive aspects of sustainable investing — the letter is addressed to investors with the theme,“Making Investing More Accessible, Affordable, and Transparent to More People is Core to Our Mission at BlackRock.”

BlackRock clearly self-identifies as an asset manager serving fiduciaries with ESG in focus and strives to be the leader of ESG investment in the capital markets. In the U.S., a growing number of Republican political leaders have been criticizing BlackRock, State Street, and Vanguard as “woke” organizations that in their asset management activities have caused such clients as public employee retirement funds to not achieve the best ROI by using the ESG lens. At the most recent annual gathering of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Fink pointed out that the opposite is true.

Included in the 2023 letter:

The BlackRock Story, with 2023 marking the firm’s 35th anniversary.Total return of 7,700% since the company’s IPO in 1999, making BlackRock the highest-performing financial services stock in the S&P 500.Fink’s take on recent turmoil in the banking sector.An economy of fragmentation, with backlash against globalization and political polarization in the U.S.Building a hopeful future for retirees and investing for the future as an act of hope and optimism.Helping clients navigate and invest in the global energy transition.Strategy for long-term growth.

We’ve included the link to Fink’s Annual Letter to Investors for your reading and a link to the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance (the Annual Letter is posted there in different format). This year’s letter is worth reading as we contemplate the effects of Red State attacks on ESG and “woke” asset managers.

This is just the introduction of G&A’s Sustainability Highlights newsletter this week. Click here to view the full issue.

CINCINNATI, March 29, 2023 /3BL Media/ – There is no minimum age to talk with your children about money and banking. Kids as young as 3 can understand concepts of money and by age 7, some money habits may already be ingrained.

Generation Alpha (those born after 2010) may be too young to be making their own money, but they’re old enough to have a significant influence on their family’s spending decisions. Helping them understand financial basics can sow the seeds of smart money management. Fifth Third Bank, National Association, offers the following tips to help.

First step: Start a conversation about money

Recent studies show that parents say their children influence their purchase decisions, especially on toys and games, apparel and food – which means it is important for your kids to understand how much things cost and how you pay for them. 

If you’ve never discussed money with your young children before, get the ball rolling by asking them about earning, saving, budgeting and spending money. Depending on how much they’ve paid attention at home, they could have some interesting things to say about spending and saving, making a living and creating a solid financial footing. 

It is also never too early to introduce an allowance for chores, which will help them understand the concept of earning a wage. As they get older, they now have many more options for making money beyond paper routes and babysitting. They can sell homemade items at local markets and online, or even trade and sell toys or clothes. 

Open a savings or checking account with your child

Opening a savings account can be done in a short amount of time. Include your child in the process and talk about the importance of always saving – even if it’s just a little bit – for emergencies or for larger purchases.

You’ll also want your child to understand how a checking account works. Discuss how checks and debit cards work and how money must be in the bank to cover the amount of the check or debit. 

Take this opportunity to also explain to them how a credit card works, how debt accrues, as well as how you’ve budgeted throughout your life, including how you’ve been able to save for additional goals, like retirement, travel or college.

Make money fun: incorporate games into financial education

Make learning fun by incorporating games into regular activities. At the grocery, give them play money and help them see how far it goes with the choices they make. If they get an allowance, make them earn it and pay them more for difficult chores and less for everyday expectations like making their beds.

For more fun ideas for teaching kids about managing money, Money Crashers has compiled a list of online games and apps.

Continuing the conversation
Parents want what’s best for their kids – at every age and stage – and a financially healthy future is part of that. Talking about money early and often, providing safe opportunities for children to learn and introducing them to resources that can help are the steppingstones to good habits and smart choices.

Whenever there is a teachable moment for your kids, take advantage of it and share information: budgeting for eating out, saving for a vacation by using an online goal savings tool or paying a monthly credit card bill. 

Don’t let past money mistakes prevent you from talking with your kids about money. Using what you have learned and having conversations early might be the best way to ensure their future financial footing.

About Fifth Third

Fifth Third is a bank that’s as long on innovation as it is on history. Since 1858, we’ve been helping individuals, families, businesses and communities grow through smart financial services that improve lives. Our list of firsts is extensive, and it’s one that continues to expand as we explore the intersection of tech-driven innovation, dedicated people and focused community impact. Fifth Third is one of the few U.S.-based banks to have been named among Ethisphere’s World’s Most Ethical Companies® for several years. With a commitment to taking care of our customers, employees, communities and shareholders, our goal is not only to be the nation’s highest performing regional bank, but to be the bank people most value and trust.

Fifth Third Bank, National Association is a federally chartered institution. Fifth Third Bancorp is the indirect parent company of Fifth Third Bank and its common stock is traded on the NASDAQ® Global Select Market under the symbol “FITB.” Investor information and press releases can be viewed at www.53.com. Deposit and credit products offered by Fifth Third Bank, National Association. Member FDIC.

CONTACTS

Beth Oates (Media Relations)
Beth.Oates@53.com | 313-230-9002

Entergy has received a prestigious national award from the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council recognizing companies that have demonstrated an ongoing commitment to including women-owned businesses in their supply chains. Entergy was recognized for successfully implementing world-class diversity and inclusion programs that enable growth and innovation, while breaking down barriers for women entrepreneurs.

We’re one of 66 corporations to receive this award and one of the companies honored in the chemicals, energy and utilities sectors. In a press release, WBENC said, “these corporations are impacting the next generation of women-owned businesses to ensure sustainability of future supply and their business models, such as investing in advanced education and/or mentoring by industry executives.”

Kya Moller, senior manager, supplier diversity and sustainability, accepted the award on Entergy’s behalf earlier this week at an event during the 2023 WBENC national conference in Nashville, Tennessee.

Originally published on Rayonier.com.

HOQUIAM, Wash., March 30, 2023 /3BL Media/ – A forest stream went more than a century without salmon after a road crossing was built above it. Then recently the small pipe that led the stream under the road was replaced with a bridge that allowed water to flow more freely—and suddenly the stream came to life.

A few weeks after the bridge project was finished, Matt Poppe, a Rayonier forest engineer, pulled a team of contractors off a nearby worksite to see the impact of the bridge they built.

“This is why we’re all doing this,” he told them. “There haven’t been fish in this stream for 100 years, and here we are seeing large salmon in this stream right now.”

That was just one of the 750 upgrades Rayonier has made to culverts and bridges on its property over the last 20 years to help address Washington’s declining salmon population. The effort is guided by Forests & Fish, one of the most comprehensive environmental laws in the U.S., which protects 60,000 miles of streams across Washington’s state and private forests. It uses the latest scientific standards to ensure the best possible habitats for salmon to live and spawn in, as well as other amphibious creatures that depend on upland streams.

In addition to replacing insufficient culverts and bridges to improve salmon habitat, Rayonier also improves forest roads to reduce the amount of sediment making its way into streams and, when possible, closes nonessential forest roads altogether.

Since the law passed in 1999, Rayonier has:

Opened 220 miles of fish habitatUpgraded 750 culverts and bridgesInvested $22 million in salmon habitat restoration

The long process to get a stream’s profile just right

The process to set even one project into motion can take a full year before building the structure during the “fish window,” when upland streams are naturally slowed and work will be least likely to disturb the fish, from July 15-Sept. 30. Matt must undergo months of permitting application reviews as well as a review process with stakeholders including environmental agencies and representatives of the local Native American tribes.

Portia Leigh, an area habitat biologist for the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW), often previews the proposed projects and advises Matt on how to make the pass-through simulate the rest of the streambed. She sometimes advises him to leave woody debris in the streambed or to drop hay seeds for vegetation, which will slow the water flow, enhance shade, and create pools and protective areas. That gives smaller salmon places to hide, spawn and grow before they go downstream into more open waters, says Portia, shown above.

Matt also conducts a “stream survey” with the partners to ensure the new passthrough simulates what the streams were like before a road passed through them. He explains that those who built the roads in the past (some of these roads are more than a century old) didn’t know the culverts they were using were not sufficient to maintain the streams below the roads.

“People in those days were doing their best with what they knew. All they worried about was getting the water across, and they thought the fish would come no matter what,” Matt says. “Many of the culverts that were put in these streams were just rolled into the hole. In those situations, it created an artificial stream channel.”

Today, the work to determine the proper placement for a culvert is much more complex. During the stream survey, Matt and the partner agencies will view the streams 100 feet above and below the project area to understand what the stream would have done naturally.

“We’ll come back and mimic that with our design. It can drastically change where that structure is placed and at what elevation it’s placed,” explains Matt, shown above.

Handling culvert and bridge replacements with care

Culvert and bridge projects are handled with extreme care. Before any digging begins, a watertight pipe is used to divert the stream around the project area, and fish screens are placed to ensure fish don’t come into harm’s way. Work to place culverts or bridges only begins after the project area is fully dewatered.

“The allowable amount of sediment contamination in the stream is zero. We’re mindful of that 100 percent of the time,” Matt says.

During a recent project, he pointed out a crawfish who was curiously swimming near the diversion pipe in clear water, just feet away from the project, a testimony to how well the diversion pipe worked to keep the water clear.

At the same time, Kelly Dunkerson, site supervisor for John J. Karnas Co., was placing a 40-foot-long culvert into the streambed. The Hoquiam-based company has contracted with Rayonier for more than 30 years and has served as a knowledgeable partner in the culvert and bridge replacement projects. While this particular culvert’s circumference was 10 feet around, about a third of that would be backfilled with streambed material to match the rest of the stream.

From start to finish, the projects typically take about a week, and then waterflow returns to normal. It can be shocking how quickly the streams attract salmon who have not been there in years. Portia, of WDFW, says they can sense the change in the waterflow once the work is done.

Matt says Rayonier has about 40 more miles of habitat to open and 125 more structures to upgrade in order to fully comply with Forests & Fish, but the work won’t stop there.

“As we build new roads, eliminate roads, stream enhancements change and other dynamics change, we’ll continue to do this work,” he says.

Matt’s proud of the work Rayonier is doing to help restore and improve salmon habitat in the forest.

“I love what I do every day of the week,” he says.