Vanguard Magazine

52 DECEMBER 2017/JANUARY 2018 www.vanguardcanada.com Technology WatCh vehicles. Mell is very passionate about the work that he does, investing $750 million locally in Cobalt, Ontario, which suffered from a lack of investment after mining all but ended in the 1980s. He believes that the responsible element of the mine helps his ability to attract customers and investments, as more and more companies today are looking to source cobalt from non-conflict areas. I have been engaging with another or- ganization called Shareholder Association for Research and Education (SHARE), which is a Canadian leader in responsible investment services, research and educa- tion. They work with a growing network of institutional investors (i.e., pension funds and other major investors) helping them to become active owners to develop and implement responsible investment poli- cies and practices. In other words, working with large investors to ensure their capital goes to places that have positive impacts. Kevin Thomas, the Director of Share- holder Engagement at SHARE, shared his thoughts with me on this topic. He explained that, for investors, there are two ways to look at this, either as a risk or an opportunity, but both lead you to the same result. Either you want to in- vest in companies that better manage their social or environmental impacts – includ- ing in their supply chain – because those actions are known to reduce investment risk over the long term, or you want to invest in companies that show leadership on social and environmental sustainability, because that kind of leadership is linked to increased profitability in the long term. "In both cases, you're acknowledging that the old days of just reading the quar- terly income statement are long gone, and that as investors, we have to consider the full range of environmental and social im- pacts of a company to really understand what we're investing in," Thomas said. "What that means for companies is that better social and environmental perfor- mance internally and in the supply chain is no longer just 'nice to have,' but is be- coming an important part of how inves- tors assess your company." When you aren't convinced with the argument of winning more business, or avoiding penalties, then your CFO of in- vestor relations may just come knocking on your door making the argument for your stock price or raising more capital. These are the kinds of incentives that I believe will drive real impacts – when it matters if the company will make more money or not. Explain the why In Simon Sinek's book Start with Why, he explains the power of the branding and marketing of the largest, most successful companies in the world. His thesis is that people don't care what you do, they care why you do it. When large corporations explain the "why" to stakeholders, they have exponentially higher success. Cus- tomers want this, employees want this, governments want this, and investors want this. In the coming years, it will become more and more important for companies across industries to source strategically, utilizing their organization's spend and purchase of goods and services for the achievement of broader social and economic goals. The idea of "Doing Business with Purpose" is a major shift that companies are making to provide social and economic impacts from their procurements. It is about doing good in order to attract more clients, more in- vestment, and avoid bad press or relations. In other words, more carrots, less sticks, all in the name of profitability. nicole Verkindt is the technology editor of Vanguard magazine and founder and presi- dent of OMX. She is a board member of the Canadian Commercial Corporation and was recently appointed to the board of the Peter Munk School of Global Affairs. First Cobalt refinery. Photos: First Cobalt.

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