Survival of the Fittest The market rally that began in March continues its historic run. In stark contrast with what is happening on Main Street, Wall Street has performed exceptionally well, with the S&P 500 posting its best two consecutive quarters in the last 20 years! That incredible performance has not been uniform across all…
We recently wrote to the U.S. Department of Labor regarding the rights of shareholders and their ability to proxy vote. You can read what was sent below: — Attention: Proxy Voting and Shareholder Rights NPRM Office of Regulations and Interpretations Employee Benefits Security Administration Room N-5655 U.S. Department of Labor 200 Constitution Avenue NW Washington,…
At Riverwater, our work as “active owners” is intended to help bring to bear our clients’ values. In this way, active ownership is a natural extension of our efforts to make investment selections consistent with those values. At times, active ownership can also be a natural extension of our efforts to achieve a strong return…
THE “NEW” NEW NORMAL There are many superlatives to choose from to describe last quarter’s rally. This winter saw the quickest pivot to a bear market in history, followed by an equally rapid rebound in the spring. In fact, we just experienced the strongest 100-day rally since 1933.[1] After the market bottomed on March 23rd,…
The Arrival of COVID-19 We hope that you, your family, and loved ones are holding up and doing well in these unprecedented times. There is no need to explain in detail what happened to the markets during the first quarter; we are all too familiar with the declines. That said, it was the worst quarter…
STRAIGHT A’S & SUSTAINABILITY When you bring straight A’s home from school you don’t have much explaining to do. That was 2019 for financial markets. Most major indices were up more than 20% and bonds rallied in concert with stocks. The decade exited with a bang as the S&P 500 closed with a plus 13%…
WINDSHIELDS, BUMPS IN THE ROAD & THE RIGHT TO WATER We were happy to announce the acquisition of Falcons Rock last month and are thrilled to add Greg Wait and Liz Kiefer to the Riverwater team. Riverwater and Falcons Rock share similar philosophies around responsible investing and we believe the combined entities are both stronger…
Record Highs and a Record Win Equity markets notched another fine quarter to close out the first half of the year with gains across the board. The first six months of the year marks the strongest stock market since 1997. There are many reasons markets are hitting all-time highs: employment is strong, the economy just…
Fossil Fuels: Should ESG Investors Seek Divestment or Engagement? Engage vs. divest? The question of whether fossil fuel divestment or engagement encourages energy companies (e.g. Chevron and Exxon Mobil) to move their business models away from fossil fuels and toward cleaner energy is one that is top of mind to many responsible investors. At Riverwater…
Nice Market Lyft! From a performance standpoint, the first quarter of 2019 was essentially the inverse of the previous quarter; in Q4 2018 it was hard to find a winner whereas this quarter it was hard to find a loser. The market experienced the best first quarter in over 20 years, a sharp 180 from…
