permaculture

["Michael Kramer" <MKramer@hawaii.rr.com>]

I am committed to putting all our clients in community investments outside
the stock market as well, and there are a wide variety of community
development financial institutions in this field: credit unions, banks, loan
funds, intermediaries, and international micro-lending institutions. There
are literally thousands of these institutions, some federally insured,
others not. Community development financial institutions include a social
agenda (e.g., empowering low-income neighborhoods, rural populations, or
women) as part of their mission. The Permaculture Credit Union is obviously
more ecological in its purpose. The nice thing about credit unions as
opposed to banks is that they merely circulate currency among the
membership, which means your money is close to home and building the local
economy and not supporting strip malls or other unknown and perhaps
ethically questionnable activities. Loan funds are similar to the others in
that they set an interest rate of return on the money you loan to them but
they don't offer any checking or other services. The New Mexico Community
Development Loan Fund is a good example (www.nmcdlf.org) . The international
micro-credit institutions, such as the infamous Grameen Bank and ACCION
International, provide small loans to poor people, and through education and
training, help them to succeed in small enterprise development (and their
default rates are better than conventional banks!). There are also community
investment intermediaries which act like a mutual fund of these
institutions - you make one investment at a guaranteed rate of return, and
they in turn spread that money around the world to these various
institutions. This is something I can offer my clients through their stock
market accounts, which makes things easier for them, but people can also
pursue it on their own: www.calvertfoundation.org

For people who are interested in the broad overview of this field and to see
where there might be a certified community development financial institution
near you, you may want to visit www.communityinvest.org or www.cdfi.org.

-----
Michael Kramer, Accredited Investment Fiduciary
Natural Investment Services
P.O. Box 390595
Keauhou, HI 96739

Michael@NaturalInvesting.com
www.NaturalInvesting.com
808-331-0910
Toll-free: 888-779-1500

Socially Conscious Portfolio Management & Hourly Consulting
Sustainability Strategic Planning and Education

"Be the change you wish to see in the world."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Sean Maley" <semaley@yahoo.com>
To: "permaculture" <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Friday, June 17, 2005 3:57 AM
Subject: [Norton AntiSpam] Re: [permaculture] Green investments


> You may already be aware of some of this, but for the
> benefit of those who don't:
>
> In terms of Stocks, Bonds, and Mutual Funds, I only
> know of one permaculture sympathetic investment
> manager whom we are no doubt all aware:
> naturalinvesting.com.
>
> There is also a movement to approach
> economics/investments from a more organic angle.  See
> http://www.solari.com for a good description of how to
> do it.  The down side is that this site is politically
> motivated.  However, the concept itself is good.
>
> By using the PCU, you in effect help form a small
> permaculture ecomony.  The PCU uses the money you
> place in a savings (investment) account and turns
> around to loan it for a permaculture use like PDC
> classes or helping start an ecovillage.  The PCU,
> being more local to south western USA, may not be the
> solution for everyone, as most benefit is local to
> them.  It would be a good idea for a grass roots
> effort to form based upon PCU.
>
> Other sites of note are:
>   http://www.henrygeorge.org
>   http://www.carbohydrateeconomy.org
>   http://www.natcap.org
>   http://www.steadystate.org
>   http://www.newapproachtofreedom.info
>   http://www.openmoney.org
>   http://creditary-economics.org
>   http://open.coop
>   http://www.smalleconomy.com
>   http://tinyurl.com/9c825
>
>
> -Sean.
>
> --- "Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lfl@intrex.net> wrote:
> > Can anyone describe what opportunities exist in the
> > realm of Green investments and what role the
> > Permaculture Credit Union is playing in that arena?
>
>
>
>
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