You are going to be hearing a lot more from Al Gore. He has a new opinion column that will be distributed by Bloomberg News, and he is shifting his focus to the business and investing world. This is where advisors' ears should perk up.
 
Gore didn't invent it, but there is no doubt that he was an early advocate of the Internet. He launched environmentalism into the mainstream and made "green" a household word for a movement that pretty much every one on the planet has come to understand--if not agree with. By hiring Keith Olbermann at Current TV, another Gore venture, the former vice president is inching further toward the limelight again.  

And I know what his next subject will be: sustainable capitalism. See, Gore has yet another venture called Generation Investment Management. For the last eight years Gore has quietly been leveraging financial capital to effect social and environmental change among the business community.

Gore now, it seems, is bringing GIM's mission into the mainstream. In a recent speech to the Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment, he said, "While capitalism is superior to any other system to organize economic activity, the crisis in global markets has shaken the world's markets. As investors, we can lead the charge to create new and more sustainable investment strategies. These strategies offer unprecedented opportunities and point the way toward a much more sustainable form of capitalism."

Lisa Woll, chief executive of the Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment, says the socially responsible and sustainable investing space has shifted considerably over the past 20 plus years since the organization she runs was founded: Trillions of dollars are now invested all over the world in sustainable companies, and there are more socially conscious investors than ever.

Quick reminder: Wall Street firms are launching investment vehicles to invest in more sustainable businesses, especially in the developing world. More investment networks are also being launched.

With Gore behind the sustainable investing movement, you can be sure that there will be nothing inconvenient about the way in which myriad investment products will be devised for retail financial services industry.