Survey Questions

JLens connects the Jewish community to the increasingly influential responsible/impact investing field. In 2015, with seed investments from Jewish institutions, JLens launched the Jewish Advocacy Fund - the first Jewish values-based responsible investment strategy dedicated to shareholder advocacy with US public companies on behalf of the Jewish community. Through annual and periodic surveys, JLens seeks guidance from our investors and community members. All individual survey responses are kept confidential.

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* 1. Which companies should be excluded from the Jewish Advocacy Fund?
Background info: The Jewish Advocacy Fund owns shares in the largest, most powerful public companies in the US and advocates as values-based shareholders for Jewish communal concerns – social issues, environmental preservation, and support for Israel. Without owning shares directly in a company, the JLens team cannot meet with corporate social responsibility leaders, file resolutions, speak at shareholder meetings, participate in coalitions with other shareholders, or generally move companies in a positive direction on a range of issues.

No company is perfect. By owning shares in imperfect companies the fund helps fulfill the Torah's mandate to pursue justice and righteousness by improving corporate behavior. For example, if we don’t own shares in energy companies we can’t encourage them to transition toward cleaner energy. However, there are certain situations where no amount of advocacy is worthwhile, where investment goes against core Jewish values to “not put a stumbling block before the blind.” Based on JLens 2016 survey, the Jewish Advocacy Fund currently excludes coal, tobacco, for-profit prisons, and companies that discriminate against Israel, perpetuate anti-Semitism, invest in Iran’s nuclear energy sector, and/or have ties to terrorist regimes.

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* 2. Which social and environmental shareholder campaigns should the Jewish Advocacy Fund support?
Background information: Increasingly, responsible investors don't just want to exclude undesirable companies, they want to use their influence as shareholders in powerful companies to create positive impact in the world. This tactic is called "shareholder advocacy," and reflects the Torah's principle of "hocheach tocheach" - constructive rebuke as an expression of caring and relationship. The Jewish Advocacy Fund enables the JLens team to advocate with the companies in the fund on behalf of Jewish communal concerns. In 2016, the JLens team worked on a number of social and environmental shareholder campaigns, including ethical recruitment, worker safety, public health, pollution reduction, food waste, and deforestation.

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* 3. How should the Jewish Advocacy Fund support Israel?
Background info: Unfortunately, the responsible investing field has been inundated with anti-Israel messaging by the BDS movement (boycott, divestment, sanction). Companies and institutional investors have been pressured to cut or avoid ties to Israel, with the goal of crippling Israel's economy. Some leaders in the responsible investing industry support these attacks against Israel, and many more go along with the tactics proposed by the BDS campaign due to misleading information. JLens is the only responsible investment organization that actively advocates for Israel and has a stated anti-BDS position.  

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* 4. Demographics (optional)

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* 5. If you provided your email above, please select the areas that interest you for future communications

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* 6. Investor code (if applicable)
All investors in the Jewish Advocacy Fund received the same code to provide optional anonymity. 

Thank you for sharing your opinion. For more information on JLens, please visit: www.jlensnetwork.org or email us at info@jlensnetwork.org
This survey is for educational purposes and is not an investment recommendation nor solicitation. Consult with an investment professional before considering any investment strategy.

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