Investing in good deeds can generate great profits.
That is the message that JConnelly, a communications and marketing firm based in New York, is sending with the hiring of Thomas M. Kostigen, a globally recognized commentator and journalist in the area of sustainable investing and a former Bloomberg News editor.
Kostigen, who writes for Financial Advisor and Private Wealth, will head JConnelly’s new corporate social responsibility (CSR) division, which will promote brands that do good for the world to investors that seek to support them.
According to Kostigen, financial and social returns go hand in hand.
“This partnership with JConnelly is an opportunity to draw on my years of experience as a researcher and writer and help businesses shape their entire CSR program, as well as the way they connect and communicate with prospects and customers,” Kostigen said.
Socially-impactful communications have exploded in recent years, with 85 percent of the companies in the S&P 500 now issuing sustainability reports. Although the rise has been driven by demand for more transparency, according to Kostigen, organizations have lagged in making their content more compelling and engaging to a broad audience of investors, consumers, suppliers, retailers and distributors increasingly concerned about the societal impact of the businesses they support.
By partnering with JConnelly, Kostigen said he wants to change public perception of those companies by maximizing the value of their CSR efforts to investors.
JConnelly founder and CEO Jennifer Connelly said she shares that goal.
“CSR efforts are critical to understanding an organization’s purpose and strategy, which have always been core to our communications programs,” she said.
The new division will work with corporations, institutions and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), with a particular focus on those in the financial services and general consumer space.