Canadian Funding Corp Reviews CMHC Sustainability Reports

The G-8 summit starts today in L’Aquila, Italy. The G-8 are the old guard: US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Canada and Russia. And their opinions are starting to look a little redundant in the aftermath of the credit crisis.

The credit crisis has shifted the balance of power. Not since the days of the conquistadors has there been such an imbalance. Back then the Pope was the ultimate power and carved the New World in two between Spain and Portugal. Now it’s the split between old and new economies.

The levels of debt raised by the developed nations to bail out their banking systems is crippling compared to the emerging nations.  According to recent International Monetary Fund forecasts by 2014 the debt of economies in the developed world are expected to be more than 114% of GDP (up from 78% in 2006).  The forecasts for the emerging economies (including China) is just 35% (down from 38% in 2006).

With most of the developed nations in the worst economic condition since the second world war, the balance of power is clearly shifting in favor of the large emerging nations. China and India in particular.

Added to their new found lack of financial flexibility, the G-8 nations have another major problem: a lack of harmony in their thinking. Germany and Canada have been calling for a steady wind down of the emergency liquidity measures while the UK and US continue to favor pumping cash into the economies.

On the other hand the leaders of 5 major developing Economies (China, India, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa) are holding their own parallel meeting. This follows on from the first ever BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) summit held last month in Russia. The developing powers are quickly putting in place their own structures and the old world is in danger of being left out of the new world order. The closer these developing powers become politically the less likely the dollar is to remain as the world’s reserve currency. Remember the BRIC nations currently hold some US$1.1 trillion of US government debt. At the BRIC summit Russia was calling for a move away from the US dollar.  It feels more and more like a whenrather than an if situation.

As investors, we are often faced with difficult decisions, especially those which involve putting cold hard facts ahead of personal feelings. We are entering such a phase now. We need to put aside our personal nationalism in the face of an obvious global power shift. Jim Rogers said in an interview last year that the best investment you could give your kids today is to buy them Chinese lessons. We agree.

As far as our financial portfolios are concerned we need to make sure we are having our piece of the emerging pie. There are unique risks to investing in the emerging world (e.g. political instability, weak legal systems etc) and you really have to do your homework. I would recommend keeping your exposure to less than 10% of your total portfolio. Also stick to highly liquid assets, like stocks and bonds. You don’t want to wake up finding that you never really owned that real estate you bought in China and it has been bulldozed to build a sports stadium, now do you?

http://www.contrarianprofits.com/articles/could-a-bric-alliance-crash-the-dollar/18846

reviewed by Moishe Alexander, CFC CEO

Canadian Funding Corp Sustainability, July 2, 2009 – Highlighting its commitment to economic, environmental and social responsibility, PSEG is releasing its 2009 Sustainability Report. The report emphasizes accomplishments in the sustainability arena and addresses challenges the company faces in its efforts to lead in the area of providing safe, reliable, economic and green energy. It is available online, at www.pseg.com/sustainability.

“We are looking forward to the areas that address energy efficiency,” said Moishe Alexander CEO, Canadian Funding Corp. ” Ralph Izzo and PSEG are moving in the right direction and their work has been admirable.”

“Transparency and continuous improvement are an important part of working towards a sustainable future,” said Ralph Izzo, chairman, president and chief operating officer of PSEG. “This report is meant to strengthen dialogue with stakeholders and help us achieve our collective goals.”

The report highlights PSEG’s emphasis on addressing climate change, upgrading aging infrastructure, and investing in workforce development. It underscores the company’s commitment to social responsibility and points to a number of energy efficiency and renewable energy initiatives that have the potential to mitigate climate change and create revenue and jobs.

• Report highlights include PSEG’s work to:
• Invest in energy efficiency and renewable energy
• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants
• Manage risk, reduce debt and manage capital spending
• Build a strong, resilient workforce
• Increase funding for environmentally-oriented community groups
• Attract jobs and revenue to local communities

The company’s utility, PSE&G, is investing millions of dollars in accelerated gas and electric infrastructure investments, which is improving reliability while providing an economic stimulus. And it is working to build the green economy on the basis of universal access to energy efficiency and renewable energy, so that its benefits can be realized by people of all economic means.

PSEG is proud of its place on the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index, a list comprised of the leading 20% of North American companies in terms of sustainability performance. Dow Jones and PSEG agree that long-term shareholder value is created by embracing opportunities and managing risks derived from economic, environmental and social developments.

PSEG’s Sustainability Report is consistent with Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines, which are quickly becoming the standard in global sustainability reporting. GRI guidelines were used to identify key performance indicators including some specific to sustainability reporting in the electric power industry. PSEG sponsored a GRI workshop last year where stakeholders reviewed the Draft Electric Utility Sector Supplement.

Public Service Enterprise Group is a publicly traded diversified energy company with annual revenues of more than $13 billion, and three principal subsidiaries: PSEG Power, Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G) and PSEG Energy Holdings. PSEG has recently launched several initiatives to help combat climate change including offering $105 million in loans for solar installations in New Jersey, bidding to build a 350-megawatt offshore wind farm, launching Energy Storage and Power (a compressed air energy storage business), converting its truck and car fleet to hybrid vehicles and exploring the possibility of a new nuclear plant to be located in South Jersey.