Now that's a mouth-full to say the least! "It’s been two years since Invesco Unit Trusts launched their ESG Opportunity strategy. Since that time, the growth and attention around ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) investing within investment communities has continued to progress at a tremendous pace.
Assets in the United States grew 38% between 2016 and 2018,1 and 2019 appears to be no different. Yet as with many things that grow quickly, there can be growing pains, as well. In this blog, we’ll explore some of the challenges and opportunities that Invesco UITs has uncovered within the ESG space. .
What ESG challenges have emerged in recent years?
What are some of the opportunities that exist in the ESG space?
Where is the interest in ESG coming from?
_______________________________________________________________________ READ EVERYTHING + MORE
1 Challenges and opportunities within the ESG space
The three hottest letters in investing right now might be ESG — but certain hurdles have emerged
Posted by Nathan Miller Unit Trust Equity Portfolio Manager 15 Oct 2019
The Portfolio seeks to provide the potential for capital appreciation and current income. The Portfolio seeks to achieve its objective by investing in common stocks of companies demonstrating highly favorable Environmental, Social, and Governance ("ESG") practices.
That's only the amount in the first year in one more tricky public relations campaign by The City of Mesa on the only ballot question on 2019 SPECIAL/GENERAL ELECTION. The official ballots have been mailed out or you can vote in-person. Please take the time to read the fine print, before you decide how to vote - the devil's always in the details First, get informed Why is this year's General Election 'special' ??? It includes approval in a BUDGET OVERRIDE for an amount that exceeds the revenue control specified by statute by 15% for FY2020/2021 and for six consecutive years.
INFORMATION: Mesa Public Schools have been failing to provide achievement performance standards and grade-level academic proficiencies for students for decades. In 2018 it was a 42% proficiency in three basic areas! No reasonable person or taxpayer would throw their good hard-earned moneyaway by rewarding a failing public school system that produces bad results for decades by systemadministratorsanda bloated bureaucracy. If they can't do their jobs, they should have been fired, NOT rewarded by going over-budget to pay them off . . . __________________________________________________________ 1 Approval of the budget override represents an extension and increase of the existing 10% budget override authority - when you add it up > that's (25%) - which OTHERWISE is scheduled for a phase-down by one-third over two years FY2020/2021 and FY2021/2022 2 The proposed budget increase for the first year FY2020/2021 is estimated to be $34, 087,454 3 Funding for the first and subsequent years? A LEVY OF TAXES ON YOUR TAXABLE PROPERTY within The Governing Board of Mesa Unified School District 4
". . . We've lived through all this in central Arizona. And yet, the state's transportation policy remains entirely focused on this mid-twentieth-century method. In addition to the externality costs of sprawl — wasteful infrastructure, lost farmland and pristine desert, and increased air pollution — six of the ten worst cities for smogin the nation are in metro Phoenix — we now confront human-caused climate change, driven by vehicle emissions. . .
Why is Arizona continuing down this, er, road? The simple answer is that the various interests I call the Real Estate Industrial Complex depend upon constant highway building and expansion to make otherwise useless land valuable for the Ponzi scheme of continued sprawl. The poster child for this low-quality mess is Hunt Highway in Pinal County, where supervisors recently approved a new subdivision even though the privately run sewer "system" is a disaster. The petty fees raked in by localities are nowhere near enough to cover the infrastructure costs, much less the externalities. The Real Estate Industrial Complex controls political power. It even controls the language used in the media. E.g., massive sprawl subdivisions and shopping strips are "master planned communities." Gated properties are "gated communities." Houses are "homes." Thanks to the Big Sort, a majority average Arizonans wouldn't have it any other way. Driving a hundred miles a day to accomplish what I can do within six blocks in downtown Seattle is not merely "normal," it's a God-given right. God help us.
Fast & Loose Times For Latter-Day Maricopa County >
Maricopa County is growing fast - some say the fastest growing county in the country and Mesa is the fastest-growing city. . . and it looks like the time is here (and way overdue) for one more major scandal the way things are going now when there's so much temptation from all that fast growth __________________________________________________________________________________
As you can see in "Family-Guy" Maricopa County Assessor Paul D. Petersen's job description in the image above The Assessor notices and administers over 1,7000,000 real and personal property parcels/accounts withFULL CASH VALUE OF MORE THAN $508 Billion in 2018. According to all rosy reports so far for 2019, it is way more than that now - by leaps and bounds and annexing more lands with increasing values. Hard to believe former AZ Governor Jan Brewer said this > (screen-grab from a report by all people The Rose Law Group Reporter) _________________________________________________________________________
Flock it! That's exactly what not one but two different East Valley Tribune Staff Writers did - used the word flock as in "firms flock to region" in 2018 and "firms flocking to Mesa's tech corridor" once again in 2019. To cover all over with small particles. In these two particular cases it was (1) pouring jobs, and (2) data firms that were doing the flocking. . . or was it transcribing dictation? Speed-writing and doing just what they were told as staff writers for the corporate-owned Times Media Group, the mass communications conglomerate who owns, operates and publishes the East Valley Tribune _________________________________________________________________________
13 October 2019
Mesa-Native & "Family Guy" Paul Petersen Now In Federal Custody
< Here's the almost 'picture-perfect' portrayal usually put out there for public consumption by politicians or officials here in Mesa and Maricopa County - everything is happy, Happy husband with a good job, happy wife, two or more (3,4,5,6,7+) happy children, happy sun-dappled day with a golden glow all over. Life is good. Everything is wonderful - just looks great to create that clear veneer of credibility."Mesa is a great place to raise a family and to live, work and play". Happy days are here again! What more could anyone want? Apparently Paul Petersen, elected as the Maricopa County Assessor, wanted more than his public day job - one of the most coveted positions responsible for over $500M in personal property and real estate valuations in a county that is no stranger to land fraud.
Petersen didn't get snagged for anything in that ripe field of schemes that's toppled so many politicians here, at least not yet. Most of the time it's somehow 'over-looked', conveniently with eyes cast-aside, deniable condoned or generally accepted as just the way we do business. No questions asked. Everybody gets their cut one way or another. __________________________________________________________________________
Let's get right to the source(s): 1 of 2 (1)Arizona Auditor General Finds ABOR “Property Lacked Oversight And Accountability” 15 October 2019 Hmmm.... it's all about those P3rs we hear about "Public + Private + Partnerships" The Arizona Auditor General hasreleased an auditof the property practices of the ArizonaBoard of Regents. The Audit found that the Regents’ “lack of written guidance for implementing its real estate policies and approving commercial subleases increases the risk of inappropriate use of public resources leased to private parties.”
The Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR), the governing body of the State’s 3 universities, has been mired in controversy due to do what many consider to be reckless property acquisition and management. As the Auditor General notes, Arizona law authorizes ABOR to own and lease its property for the benefit of the State and for the universities’ use, and it has approved leases for commercial purposes. Auditor General findings: ABOR approved commercial lease agreements that generate revenue for universities, some providing property tax benefits to lessees: Under its statutory authority to lease property, ABOR has approved long-term lease agreements on behalf of each of the universities for commercial development of ABOR property, including for hotels and office buildings. These commercial lease agreements include provisions for the lessees to provide rental revenue and/or additional lessee payments to the universities.
Additionally, some of these commercial lease agreements provide property tax benefits to the lessee by transferring ownership of improvements the lessees constructed on the properties to ABOR, which is tax exempt, and instead require the lessees to make additional payments to the university. Conversely, some other lease agreements do not provide this benefit and result in lessees paying property taxes for improvements the lessees constructed on ABOR property. Despite policy revisions, ABOR’s lack of written guidance for implementing its real estate policies increases risk of inappropriate use of public resources . . . "
. . . Hmmm How about Mesa taxpayers going into debt bond obligations for 'a satellite ASU campus here in downtown Mesa? Look back to May for Jeff McVay, downtown's transformation director, doing a city council presentation using a BOGUS ECONOMIC IMPACT STUDYprepared by ASU to justify tricking Mesa Tax-Payers going into debt for more than $64,000,000
Are they gambling on a boom in student housing and retail? and 'private wealth-creation' by holding companies > THAT WAS ALL QUITE PUBLIC BACK IN FEBRUARY 2018 as you can see above ^. ----- That's quite a crooked Partnership!A RARE PUBLIC APPEARANCE
Then-AZ State Senator Bob Worsley admits in public gambling on real speculation
Former US. Congressman Matt Salmon, hired on as a lobbyist for ASU
That might help to explain the "360-Degree Dilemma" facing the voter-approved ASU @ Mesa City Center City officials tried to trick taxpayers with this "pretty picture" of a 5-story building with a BIG Jumbotron screen - that didn't exist. So now it's back to the drawing board IN THE SCHEMATIC DESIGN PHASE. . .and they say "Trust Us" ??????
Keep reading to find out more> see if it applies or not . . . or OVER-LOOKED??? Source: https://arizonadailyindependent.com/2019/10/15
__________________________________________________________________________________
Let's go to Source (2)
Auditor General finds deficiencies in ABOR real estate dealings
BLOGGER NOTE: Although these two sources are only one day apart, this second one by two reporters goes deeper. But in the end it looks like a stand-off of sorts.
"University of Arizona failed to properly oversee a commercial real estate project and allowed millions of dollars to be improperly spent, and there is a general lack of transparency and oversight at university real estate projects overseen across the state by the Arizona Board of Regents, state auditors concluded.
The reportfrom the Arizona Auditor General comes as ABOR, Arizona State University and the City of Tempe have faced increased scrutiny from Attorney General Mark Brnovich and state lawmakers over claims that real estate deals involving ASU in Tempemay have violated the state’s constitution.
The 80-page report looks into the commercial real estate dealings of the state’s three major universities, Arizona State University, University of Arizona and Northern Arizona University.
Although ABOR adopted new rules late last year in an attempt torein in real estate deals done by universities, auditors found that more needs to be done to ensure proper oversight and guidance.
> ABOR agreed with some of the recommendations auditors made and disagreed with others. It also took issue with how parts of the audit were conducted.
> The Auditor General did not agree.
“It is misleading to state that we found no examples of inappropriate use of public resources leased to private parties,” auditors said in response. “[A]s of March 2019, none of the universities had presented a long-term, commercial lease agreement proposal to ABOR for its review and approval since it revised its leasing policy. Thus, there were no agreements executed under ABOR’s revised leasing policy for us to review.”
“For example, despite ASU stating that the Marina Heights development would provide revenue to the state and local municipalities and employment opportunities for students, it could not provide an economic benefits analysis to support this statement,”the report states.
> Auditors found that ABOR lacked written policies that would help guide universities during the leasing process.
> Additionally, auditors found that ABOR had not developed written guidance for how universities should determine the fair market rental value for their properties.
> ABOR also claimed that its commercial real estate practices may be the best in the country.
> “[T]he Auditor General was unable to identify any other state with a similarly well-defined policy structure, and it may be that ABOR’s commercial lease policy is the only one currently developed and in place, essentially making ABOR the model and best practice in the United States,” the response states.
LOOKS LIKE ALMOST A DRAW AND A STAND-OFF
Sean McCarthy with the Arizona Tax Research Association said he was “pleased” to see ABOR working towards better oversight, but the
“challenges of state universities providing permanent property tax breaks remains unsolved.”
“We’re stunned to see ABOR pivot from justifying these deals as positive for the community because of their economic impact to now suggesting they don’t need to measure their impact because they are simply revenue generators and not at all like municipal economic development,” McCarthy told Arizona Mirror.
Maricopa County is growing fast - some say the fastest growing county in the country and Mesa is the fastest-growing city. . . and it looks like the time is here (and way overdue) for one more major scandal the way things are going now when there's so much temptation from all that fast growth
__________________________________________________________________________________
As you can see in "Family-Guy" Maricopa County Assessor Paul D. Petersen's job description in the image above The Assessor notices and administers over 1,7000,000 real and personal property parcels/accounts withFULL CASH VALUE OF MORE THAN $508 Billion in 2018. According to all rosy reports so far for 2019, it is way more than that now - by leaps and bounds and annexing more lands with increasing values. Hard to believe former AZ Governor Jan Brewer said this > (screen-grab from a report by all people The Rose Law Group Reporter) _________________________________________________________________________
Since the Feds stepped in last week after the Maricopa County Sheriff turned over Petersen into their custody, Board of Supervisor Chairman Bill Gates has unilaterally called for AN INTERNAL AUDIT. An audit of the Assessor’s Office, which he said may be completed in a matter of days.
“We have a fiduciary responsibility as the board of supervisors to the taxpayers of Maricopa County, to all 4.5 million residents in Maricopa County,”
Gates said.
_________________________________________________
OK if that's the case, DO AN INDEPENDENT THIRD-PARTY AUDIT . . .A questionable INTERNAL AUDIT that can get completed in just 'a matter of days' ??? TO INVESTIGATIVE THEMSELVES??? Whoa!
Hold on ---- Gates goes on:
“And so, given the situation the assessor is in right now, it’s important we understand all of our options as a board to make sure that those taxpayers can continue to be protected and provided the customer service that they’re entitled to from Maricopa County.”
To that end, the board is working with new Maricopa County Attorney Allister Adel to determine if Petersen, who hasn’t resigned, would be struck from his elected office.
BLOGGER COMMENT: now that's another story to add to all these fast times in Maricopa County for sure! Just how good can all this get!
1. Avoiding High-risk Areas or Quietly Accepting Scope Limitations
2. Ignoring Organizational Culture
3. Failure to Perform Follow-up
4. "Watering Down" Reportable Issues
5. Failure to Provide Adequate Reporting About Internal Audit The board has a duty of care that includes active oversight of the internal audit function. For example, audit committee reports to the board for companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange must include issues involving internal audit performance.
If your audit committee isn't receiving periodic reports about internal audit plans, budgets, staffing requirements, training needs, and quality, don't be surprised if one day the committee asks you, "Why didn't you give us the information we needed to be able to do our jobs?"
Any of these failures can lead to a significant negative impact. Fortunately we can avoid most internal audit "fails" simply by complying with professional standards.
The International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing are designed to protect us from mistakes such as the ones described above by ensuring that the internal audit function is adequately resourced, professionally staffed, and operates at the highest level of quality and integrity. But the Standards can only protect us and our organizations if we use them.
SOME MORE FAMILY CONNECTIONS IN ARIZONA POLITICS PASSED-DOWN
"The Family Guy" :: Sins of The Father David Petersen who was AZ State Treasurer Source: Rose Law Group Reporter By Phil Riske | Senior reporter/writer 11 Oct 2019
" One of the whistle blowers handed me an audio cassette that 13 years ago became a development in the case involving Arizona Treasurer David Petersen.
The recorded conversation was a discussion among members of Petersen’s family after he resigned from the state post. . .
The recording, which was released along with transcripts by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio was part of an ongoing investigation into a $1.9 million payment from the treasurer’s office to the office of Attorney General Terry Goddard.
The transcript of the recorded conversation begins with Petersen asking his son Paul, “Does that mean it’s on, though?” and then stating, “Oh, I see it’s off now.” . .
Goddard has denied any sort of deal was struck for the money, which was a payment he said the office was entitled to for helping the state and local governments recover a portion of $131 million lost in investments from National Century Financial Enterprise in 2002.
Petersen had pledged to cooperate with the investigation by Arpaio and Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas regarding the payment . . Members of the Board of Investment, which oversees the state’s $10 billion investment portfolio, expressed displeasure upon learning about the payment to the Attorney General’s Office . . "________________________________________________________________________ Audio + excerpts from KJZZ
Maricopa County Board Of Supervisors Orders Audit Of Petersen's Office
". . . With Petersen now in federal custody, he’s obviously unable to perform the duties of the county assessor, responsible for setting property values that determine how much Maricopa County residents and businesses owe in property taxes.
That doesn’t sit well with Board Chairman Bill Gates. - As chairman, Gates also unilaterally ordered an audit of the Assessor’s Office, which he said may be completed in a matter of days.
“We have a fiduciary responsibility as the board of supervisors to the taxpayers of Maricopa County, to all 4.5 million residents in Maricopa County,” Gates said. “And so, given the situation the assessor is in right now, it’s important we understand all of our options as a board to make sure that those taxpayers can continue to be protected and provided the customer service that they’re entitled to from Maricopa County.”
To that end, the board is working with new Maricopa County Attorney Allister Adel to determine if Petersen, who hasn’t resigned, would be struck from his elected office. "
> To explain what could happen next, The Show reached out to former U.S. Attorney for Arizona Dennis Burke, now an attorney with Ballard Spahr.
Uploaded by: azfamily powered by 3TV & CBS5AZ,Oct 14, 2019
There will be an internal audit of Paul Petersen's office. This comes after investigators arrested him last week on felony charges
_________________________________________________________________________________ MORE According to Phoenix New Times staff writer Steven Hsieh "The nonprofit news organization Honolulu Civil Beata year ago published an extensive investigation of Petersen's business, reporting that his adoptions likely violated an international treaty prohibiting Marshallese women from traveling to the U.S. for the purpose of giving birth. Among Civil Beat's other findings: > Petersen owns a house in Salt Lake City where up to 10 Marshallese women stay at a time. > Civil Beat also found that lawyers who facilitate adoptions of babies from Marshallese women to American parents stand to make thousands of dollars per transaction. > Petersen, who makes $76,606 a year as County Assessor, owns three homes in Arizona and the house in Utah used for lodging Marshallese mothers. > Many of Petersen's customers are Mormon. Petersen, a Republican, was appointed as Maricopa County Assessor in 2013. Voters elected to keep him in the seat in 2016.
Allister Adel, fourth from right, was appointed Maricopa County Attorney by the Board of Supervisors Thursday, Oct. 3, 2019.
Posted
Please take the time to find out more about the work history and background of the new MCC Attorney ....there's not much in the article by Matt Roy
__________________________________________________________________________________ The Rose Law Group Reporterreproduced a report by Jeremy Duda 14 Oct 2019
County supervisors examining options for ousting indicted assessor
The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors prepares to go into executive session on Oct. 14, 2019, to discuss indicted county Assessor Paul Petersen.Photo by Jeremy Duda | Arizona MirrorBy Jeremy Duda | Arizona Mirror
The supervisors have called on Petersen to resign his position, as have county Treasurer Royce Flora, Recorder Adrian Fontes and Gov. Doug Ducey. But unless he’s convicted – felons cannot hold state or local office in Arizona – it’s questionable whether he can be forced from office by anything but a recall campaign. Petersen has not communicated with the board, and his attorney did not return a message from theArizona Mirror. __________________________________________________________
". . . In a closed-door executive session that lasted for more than an hour on Monday, the supervisors discussed legal issues with Maricopa County Attorney Allister Adel and Tom Liddy, who heads up the office’s civil division. Supervisor Bill Gates, the board’s chairman, said the supervisors are still seeking additional information from the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office on whether it has the power to remove Petersen.
“We’re receiving legal advice on that, and we have additional questions as it relates to that. And we look forward to hearing back from the county attorney soon,” Gates said. Gates said the board has also instructed the county’s auditor, Mike McGee, to determine whether Petersen used any public resources as part of his adoption business or the dozens of crimes with which he’s been charged. Fields Mosley, a spokesman for the county, said the board has no indication that county funds were used or mingled with Petersen’s business, but that it ordered the audit out of an abundance of caution.
Maricopa County Supervisors Order Audit Of Assessors Office, Look To Remove Petersen From Office Source: https://arizonadailyindependent.com/2019/10/14 It is alleged that the Marshallese women were not residents of Arizona at the time their AHCCCS applications were submitted and therefore ineligible for state-funded medical benefits. Petersen and Jennet are charged with directing these women to fraudulently misrepresent their residency status in order to obtain AHCCCS benefits. _______________________________________________________________________ RELATED CONTENT
< Here's the almost 'picture-perfect' portrayal usually put out there for public consumption by politicians or officials here in Mesa and Maricopa County - everything is happy, Happy husband with a good job, happy wife, two or more (3,4,5,6,7+) happy children, happy sun-dappled day with a golden glow all over. Life is good. Everything is wonderful - just looks great to create that clear veneer of credibility. "Mesa is a great place to raise a family and to live, work and play".
Petersen didn't get snagged for anything in that ripe field of schemes that's toppled so many politicians here, at least not yet. Most of the time it's somehow 'over-looked', conveniently with eyes cast-aside, deniable condoned or generally accepted as just the way we do business. No questions asked. Everybody gets their cut one way or another. __________________________________________________________________________
The International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing are designed to protect us from mistakes such as the ones described above by ensuring that the internal audit function is adequately resourced, professionally staffed, and operates at the highest level of quality and integrity. But the Standards can only protect us and our organizations if we use them.
