Raphael Stevens

Material sciences company Footprint is putting its name on the arena that is home to the Phoenix Suns and Mercury and will be getting rid of all single-use plastics inside the building.
The first change will be the removal of single-use plastic items like plates, packaging, and utensils for Footprint’s recyclable and compostable plant-based fiber products.
“Before this year, you wouldn’t have ever stepped foot in an arena where you used the word climate or Footprint — this is all new for sports fans,” said one sports sustainability expert.

Footprint Center exterior
Source: Suns Legacy Partners & Footprint

When the Phoenix Suns open the 2021-2022 NBA season at home on Oct. 20, fans will likely notice the new banner hanging from the rafters celebrating the Suns’ run to the 2021 NBA Finals.
They might also notice that their drink is in a biodegradable, compostable cup made from plant materials, as well as the recycling and compost cans that now dot concourses as opposed to garbage cans.

Those changes are the result of a new naming rights partnership with Footprint, the material science technology company that has set a goal of eliminating single-use plastics — typically a very common sight in an arena between beer cups, food trays and containers, and plastic silverware and straws.
“We’re not only having a tip-off; we’re having a tipping point of change,” said Footprint chief marketing officer Susan Koehler. “We believe this venue will transform and show the world how to go plastic-free.”
Organizations across all industries are making massive investments towards achieving environmental, social and governance-related goals, and that includes professional sports. Leagues like the NFL and NBA now have sustainability-focused programs, LEED certification is nearly a given for any new stadium development, and NHL and MLS teams have worn Adidas jerseys made from recycled materials to both reduce environmental impact and raise awareness.
“We have a responsibility to play a role in our communities and to make them better places to live,” said Dan Costello, Phoenix Suns chief revenue officer. “It’s possible to do good and do well at the same time.”

Putting sustainability front and center

There are few better ways for a sports team to signal a commitment to sustainability than through a stadium naming rights deal, its most visible and lucrative corporate partnership that can bring in upwards of $10 million a year in some NBA markets. Terms of the Footprint deal were not disclosed, but the company was reportedly seeking at least a 10-year deal worth $9 million annually, according to the Sports Business Journal.

“We’re not just choosing businesses just around taking a check; we really focus on businesses that fit the personality of who we are as a team, which is being known for innovation and technology,” Costello said. “Environmental and social governance is important to us, and we know they mean something to other companies — we’re trying to create a place where they can come and share those stories too.”
The Suns have looked to embrace sustainability before. Their arena was one of the first in professional sports to add solar power, back in 2012. The arena has also adopted other environmentally friendly practices like using LED lighting and having touchless faucets and toilets to conserve water.
Telling the story of what can be done now and in the future around sustainability at an arena is the goal for the Footprint Center, which is also the home to the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, said Koehler. The partnership also includes Real Mallorca, the Spanish soccer club owned by Robert Sarver, the chairman of both the Suns and Mercury.
“There are 41 NBA home games, but there’s Mercury games, other sporting events, concerts, Disney On Ice, conferences,” Koehler said. “It’s an opportunity to invite the public in the state and around the world to experience what sustainability looks like.”
The first change will be the removal of single-use plastic items like plates, packaging, and utensils for Footprint’s recyclable and compostable plant-based fiber products. Garbage cans will also be replaced with recycling and compost containers. Additional Footprint products will be added over time, as well as other sustainability-focused practices.
The arena will also serve as a “living innovation lab,” Koehler said, where other companies can learn more about how sustainability efforts are being received by tens of thousands of people each night.
Footprint and the Suns are aiming to get fans involved, from videos talking about sustainability and how to manage their trash on the giant scoreboard during games, to encouraging people to sign up for a climate pledge initiative to cut plastics from their lives. The Suns and Mercury will also encourage players to take part in the pledge, as well as other entertainers who perform in the arena.
Koehler said she hopes the arena further pushes sports into a more sustainable mindset and future. She said Footprint, which ranked No. 45 on the 2021 CNBC Disruptor 50 list, has already fielded several calls from sports teams across the U.S. and globally since this deal was announced about what could be done around sustainability in their arenas and stadiums.
“The sports industry is going to start seeing that there is this movement around sustainability and what it means to be a part of it — I think all stadiums are going to see it as something they have to do and there will be minimum bars of transparency of what that means,” Koehler said. “You see how consumer attitudes are changing in relation to companies and brands regarding sustainability and they’re basically saying, ‘we will reward the companies that make the change, and [those companies] should have a responsibility to care for the planet and its people.”

Pro sports embrace the environment

While the sports industry has been moving towards more environmentally-friendly practices in recent years, the fact that sustainability messaging will now be literally on the name of an arena is “truly unprecedented,” said Garrett Wong, a member services manager at the Green Sports Alliance, an environmentally-focused trade organization in the sports industry.
Wong also pointed to Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, for which Amazon purchased the naming rights for upwards of $300 million over the life of the deal in in August 2020. Instead of putting its corporate name on the building, Amazon dedicated it to bringing attention to climate change. The arena, which will be home to the NHL’s Seattle Kraken, is aiming to be the first zero-carbon arena in the world, powered by renewable energy, and is also aiming to rid itself of single-use plastics by 2024.
In October 2020, Ball Corp. acquired the naming rights to the Denver arena that the NBA’s Nuggets and NHL’s Colorado Avalanche call home, partially in an effort to further showcase its plan to replace plastic products with its recyclable aluminum ones.
Putting that message more in front of the fans is not only a change for the sports teams but also for companies like Footprint, said Kristin Hanczor, Green Sports Alliance senior partnership manager.
“Before this year, you wouldn’t have ever stepped foot in an arena where you used the word climate or Footprint — this is all new for sports fans,” she said. “This is also a key piece for those companies to tie their name to a sports team and really tell fans why they are there.”
The ability to use sports as a vehicle to have more people think about sustainability is something not lost on Koehler, as fans now will be cheering in an arena with the company’s name on it.
“We love our sports, Americans love their teams; if we can help educate fans on how they can make a difference and we make it interesting, there’s an opportunity for a widespread transformation,” she said.
Footprint co-founder & CEO Troy Swope will be among the speakers and panelists at this year’s Disruptor 50 Summit — CNBC’s annual celebration of the next generation of great public companies. Register to join us here. More

As data points to continued high inflation, Federal Reserve officials and other experts are worried about how long it could last.
Top financial advisory firms from CNBC’s FA 100 list say they have built strategies anticipating these conditions could last.
The approach involves managing emotions as much as it does adjusting portfolios.

Shoppers at a New York supermarket on Aug. 11, 2021.
Wang Ying | Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images

One looming question for the U.S. economy is how long inflation is here to stay.
Based on recent government data, there is good reason for asking.

The Consumer Price Index, which measures the average change over time of prices paid by urban consumers, had a year-over-year gain of 5.4% in September, the fastest pace in decades.
Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation, the core personal consumption expenditures price index, climbed to a 30-year high in August, when it was up 3.6% over the previous year.
Officials at the Fed are taking notice, based on recently released minutes from a September meeting, where some said it could last longer than they had assumed.
They’re not the only ones who are worried. More than 7 out of 10 of retirement age investors — 71% — said they believe rising inflation will negatively affect their retirement savings, according to a recent survey from Global Atlantic Financial Group.
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“The big argument right now is how much inflation are we going to get and how permanent will it be,” said James Angel, associate professor of finance at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business.
Signs of cost push inflation, which is marked by increases in production costs, are cropping up now, just as they did in the 1970s, Angel said.
On top of that, there has been both monetary and fiscal stimulus heaped on the economy. That in itself is going to be inflationary, Angel said.
“We need to buckle up our seat belts,” Angel said. “Inflation is here. It’s real.”
Financial advisors who landed on this year’s CNBC Financial Advisor 100 list say inflation is a top issue in their work with clients. For many of those clients, it is as much emotional as it is financial.
“A lot of our clients came of age in the ’70s, the last time we saw big-time inflation take hold,” said Andy Pratt, partner and director of investment strategy at The Burney Company, which is No. 38 on the 2021 FA 100 list.

The firm, which is based in Reston, Virginia, typically focuses on clients with $1 million to $2 million in investable assets.
Their clients remember prices skyrocketing, long gas lines and not being able to afford things, Pratt said. The perks of high inflation, like higher wages, are not as top of mind, Pratt said.
To help address their emotions, the firm has reminded clients that this is not necessarily a repeat of the inflation they remember, and that it can happen for various reasons.
It also has been coming up with strategic asset allocations to help them stomach inflation, Pratt said.
While that includes some exposure to bonds, the firm is cautious about over-allocating to that asset class. At the same time, they have been leaning towards value stocks over growth stocks.
Meritage Portfolio Management, a boutique portfolio management company that is ranked No. 60 on this year’s FA 100 list, also has clients, particularly baby boomers, regularly ask about what the surge in inflation means.

“The big argument right now is how much inflation are we going to get and how permanent will it be.”

James Angel
Associate professor of finance, Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business

Mark Eveans, president and chief investment officer at the Overland Park, Kansas-based firm, said stagflation, which is marked by high inflation and high unemployment, is one of his top concerns.
Notably, cost push inflation, as mentioned by Angel, could be a stagflation trigger. Other experts have also warned stagflation is a key risk to watch for.
The big risk for investors in such an environment is that it would be very difficult to achieve real growth, rather than nominal growth, Eveans said. The ’60s to early ’80s were a perfect example of that, he said.
“That was not a good time for investors, because they lost real money during that time,” Eveans said.
To address that risk, Meritage has taken the position that inflation is less transitory than some experts have projected.
It is also adjusting the strategies for its portfolios, which it typically builds stock by stock and bond by bond. The firm has increased its exposure to value equities versus growth equities in the past nine months, which Eveans calls an “at the margin change,” rather than a sea change.

Gas prices were more than $4.00 per gallon at a San Francisco gas station on Oct. 12, 2021.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images

In addition, the firm has also turned up allocations to areas including energy, materials and financials, and reduced client exposure to other sectors like consumer staples.
On the fixed income side, Meritage is focusing on safety for both income and principal, said John Wallis, director of fixed income.
That includes a laddered approach to the maturities in the portfolio, as well as a preference for corporate bonds over Treasurys, he said. The firm is also adding treasury-inflation protected securities where it can.
Much of how the story with inflation unfolds will come down to the Federal Reserve, Wallis said.
If the Fed falls behind, inflation could become embedded in the financial system, which would require the central bank to take more aggressive action later on, he said.
“That probably is what I would be most concerned about and would probably surprise investors,” Wallis said. More

The valuation of Elon Musk’s SpaceX has hit $100 billion, and Morgan Stanley believes the Starship rockets the venture is developing will have wide-reaching implications.
“This technological development has the potential to transform investor expectations around the space industry,” the firm said.
In Morgan Stanley’s view, Musk’s company has created a “double flywheel” of technology with its reusable rockets and Starlink internet satellites.

Starship prototype 20 is stacked on top of Super Heavy Booster 4 on August 6, 2021.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has become one of the world’s most valuable private companies, and Morgan Stanley believes the Starship rockets the venture is developing will have wide-reaching implications.
Starship is the massive, next-generation rocket SpaceX is developing to be fully reusable, to launch cargo and people on missions to the moon and Mars. The company is testing prototypes at a facility in southern Texas and has flown multiple short test flights.

“This technological development has the potential to transform investor expectations around the space industry,” Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas wrote in a note to investors on Monday.
“As one client put it: ‘talking about space before Starship is like talking about the internet before Google,'” Jonas added.
Morgan Stanley noted that its latest views on SpaceX come in response to CNBC reporting that the company’s valuation has hit $100 billion.
“What SpaceX is doing on the shores of South Texas is challenging any preconceived notion of what was possible and the time frame possible, in terms of rockets, launch vehicles and supporting infrastructure,” Jonas said.

In Morgan Stanley’s view, Musk’s company has created a “double flywheel” of technology development with its reusable rockets and Starlink satellites. The firm bases the majority of SpaceX’s valuation on the earning potential of the Starlink satellite internet network, which Musk has previously said could bring in as much as $30 billion in revenue a year.

“We view SpaceX’s launch capabilities and Starlink as inextricably linked whereby improvements in launch capacity/bandwidth (both in frequency and payload per flight) and cost of launch improve the economics and path to scale of Starlink’s LEO constellation,” Jonas said. “At the same time, development of Starlink’s commercial opportunity provides a thriving ‘captive customer’ for the launch business, enabling a symbiotic development.”
Notably, Morgan Stanley expects Starlink to burn about $33 billion this decade and turn cash flow positive in 2031.
Morgan Stanley last year forecast that SpaceX would become a $100 billion company – at a time when SpaceX’s valuation was nearing $44 billion.
“More than one client has told us if Elon Musk were to become the first Trillionaire… it won’t be because of Tesla. Others have said SpaceX may eventually be the most highly valued company in the world – in any industry,” Jonas said.

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Procter & Gamble topped Wall Street’s estimates for its fiscal first-quarter earnings and revenue.
P&G raised its forecast for inflation, predicting that higher commodity and freight costs could hit fiscal 2022 earnings by $2.3 billion, up from its prior outlook of $1.9 billion.
Price hikes helped offset higher freight costs but couldn’t keep up with climbing commodity costs.

Procter & Gamble on Tuesday reported quarterly earnings and revenue that topped analysts’ expectations, but higher costs weighed on the company’s profits. 
The consumer giant also raised its forecast for commodity and freight costs for the remainder of the fiscal year, warning it believes inflation is still increasing.

Shares of the company fell 2.3% in premarket trading.
Here’s what the company reported compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by Refinitiv:

Earnings per share: $1.61 vs. $1.59 expected
Revenue: $20.34 billion vs. $19.91 billion expected

P&G reported fiscal first-quarter net income of $4.11 billion, or $1.61 per share, down from $4.28 billion, or $1.63 per share, a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by Refinitiv were expecting earnings per share of $1.59.
Net sales rose 5% to $20.34 billion, topping expectations of $19.91 billion. Organic revenue, which strips out the impact of acquisitions, divestitures and foreign currency, increased by 4% in the quarter.
Price hikes on some of P&G’s products, like Pampers diapers, contributed to organic sales growth by 1%. Higher prices offset increased freight costs during the quarter but couldn’t keep up with climbing commodity costs. P&G CFO Andre Schulten said on a call with reporters that the company would raise prices on certain products within the beauty, oral care and grooming categories to deal with inflation. However, he said that the company isn’t intentionally prioritizing premium products because of supply chain constraints.

“As this pricing reaches store shelves we’ll be closely monitoring consumption trends,” Schulten said on the company’s conference call. “While it’s still early in the pricing cycle, we haven’t seen notable changes in consumer behavior.”
Schulten said that the company will ramp up its productivity programs throughout the fiscal year and still plans to introduce innovation to improve value as the company raises prices.
P&G said that it now expects after-tax commodity costs of $2.1 billion and freight costs of $200 million to weigh on its fiscal 2022 results. Last quarter, the company forecast that commodity and freight costs would hit its earnings by $1.9 billion.
“We base our forecast on spot rates, so we don’t expect any easing on commodity cost forecasts,” Schulten said.
Health care was the company’s top performing segment this quarter. The business unit, which includes brands like Oral-B and Vicks, saw organic sales growth of 7%.
The company’s largest segment, fabric and home care, reported organic sales growth of 5%. The division includes Tide, Febreze and Mr. Clean products.
P&G’s grooming business, which includes Venus and Gillette razors, saw organic sales increase by 4% during the quarter.
The company’s beauty and baby, feminine and family care units both saw their organic revenue rise by 2%. The beauty segment, which includes Pantene and SK-II, saw higher organic sales across its hair care and skin and personal care divisions, driven by higher volume and innovation in hair treatments and conditioners. P&G said that it saw more consumers buying its premium Pampers diapers and pants from the baby care segment, but organic sales of Charmin toilet paper and Bounty paper towels fell as it spent more on promotions.
Despite higher costs, P&G reiterated its prior forecast for full-year earnings and revenue. P&G is calling for fiscal year sales to grow 2% to 4% from the prior year and core earnings per share to increase by 3% to 6%.
Read the full earnings report here.

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Southwest scrapped a plan to put unvaccinated workers with pending exemptions on unpaid leave after the Dec. 8 deadline.
Both American and Southwest require their new-hire employees to show proof of Covid-19 vaccination before their first day.
Large airlines are federal contractors and subject to a Biden administration order that requires their employees to be vaccination or receive an exemption for medical or religious reasons.

Travelers wait to check in at the Southwest Airlines ticketing counter at Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport on October 11, 2021 in Baltimore, Maryland.
Kevin Dietsch | Getty Images

Southwest Airlines has scrapped a plan to put unvaccinated employees who have applied for but haven’t received a religious or medical exemption on unpaid leave starting by a federal deadline in December.
Southwest Airlines and American Airlines are among the carriers that are federal contractors and subject to a Biden administration requirement that their employees are vaccinated against Covid-19 by Dec. 8 unless they are exempt for medical or religious reasons. Rules for federal contractors are stricter than those expected for large companies, which will allow for regular Covid testing as an alterative to a vaccination.

Executives at both carriers in recent days have tried to reassure employees about job security under the mandate, urging them to apply for exemptions if they can’t get vaccinated for medical or for a sincerely held religious belief. The airlines are expected to face more questions about the mandate when they report quarterly results Thursday morning. Pilots labor unions have sought to block the mandates or sought alternatives like regular testing.
Southwest’s senior vice president of operations and hospitality Steve Goldberg and Julie Weber, vice president and chief people officer wrote to staff on Friday that if employees’ requests for an exemption hasn’t been approved by Dec. 8, they could continue to work while following mask and distancing guidelines until the request has been reviewed.
The company is giving employees until Nov. 24 to finish their vaccinations or apply for an exemption. It will continue paying them while the company reviews their requests, and said it will allow those who are rejected to continue working “as we coordinate with them on meeting the requirements (vaccine or valid accommodation).”
“This is a change from what was previously communicated. Initially, we communicated that these Employees would be put on unpaid leave and that is no longer the case,” they wrote in the note, which was reviewed by CNBC.
Southwest confirmed the policy change, which comes just weeks before the deadline.

United Airlines implemented its own vaccine mandate in August, a month before the government rules were announced, had told staff who did receive exemptions would be put on unpaid leave. More than 96% of its staff are vaccinated. Some employees sued the company over the unpaid leave and a federal judge in Fort Worth has temporarily blocked the airline from going forward with its plan.
American’s CEO Doug Parker met with labor union leaders on Thursday to discuss vaccine exemptions.
American Airlines management “indicated that, unlike the approach taken by United, they were exploring accommodations that would allow employees to continue to work,” the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, the union that represents American’s mainline cabin crews, said in a note to members on Monday. “They failed to offer any specifics as to what such accommodations might look like at that time.”
Hundreds of Southwest employees, customers and other protestors demonstrated against the vaccine mandate outside of Southwest Airlines’ headquarters in Dallas, the Dallas Morning News reported.
An airline spokeswoman said the carrier is aware of the demonstration.
“Southwest acknowledges various viewpoints regarding the Covid-19 vaccine, and we have always supported, and will continue to support, our employees’ right to express themselves, with open lines of communication to share issues and concerns,” she said.
Southwest’s Goldberg and Weber told staff that if their request for exemption is denied, employees can reapply if the staff member “has new information or circumstances it would like the Company to consider.”
Southwest requires new-hire employees to be vaccinated as does American Airlines for new staff for its mainline operation, spokesmen said.
Delta Air Lines is also a federal contractor subject to the government requirements, but it hasn’t yet required staff vaccinations. Last week, the carrier reported that about 90% of its roughly 80,000 employees are vaccinated. In August, Delta announced unvaccinated staff would start paying $200 more a month for company health insurance in November.

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Whether it’s a bonus, tax refund, stimulus check or severance package, coming into money spurs the question of whether to pay off debt or invest with it.
No matter what the source of the money is, you should give careful consideration to the decision.
There are good reasons for either decision. You could also opt to do a little bit of both.

eyetoeyePIX | E+ | Getty Images

A frequent question that I get asked as a financial advisor revolves around paying off debt versus investing when the opportunity arises.
Typically, someone has some extra money as the result of a bonus, tax refund or some other windfall.

However, as we have worked our way through the Covid-19 pandemic, the questions have oftentimes been spurred after someone has received a severance package.
No matter what the source of the money is, you should give careful consideration to the decision of paying off the debt or investing.
There are many financial experts who recommend first paying off debt.
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There are good arguments for this, for both financial and non-financial reasons. Financially, the debt is paid and you are no longer paying interest — and those are good things.

There are also psychological and emotional benefits, as well. Mortgage-burning parties used to be a big deal. These parties were meant to be a celebration of becoming true owners of a property, free and clear of the responsibility and risk of the property being encumbered.
Homeowners didn’t have to worry about what would happen if they lost their job or some other economic misfortune arose. They could sleep a little easier at night knowing that, if nothing else, “I’ve got a roof over my head.”
Now, on the flipside, a school of thought suggests that if your after-tax return on investments is greater than your after-tax cost of your debt, then you should invest the money.
A simple example works like this: You owe a debt that comes with an interest rate of 4%. We will assume that the interest is deductible.

Now let’s assume investment returns of 8%. If you are in a marginal tax bracket of 22%, that makes the effective cost of your debt 3.12%, as compared to an after-tax return on investment of 6.24%.
In this scenario, it makes sense to invest the funds and pay the minimum on your debt.
Clearly there is the risk of comparing a certain debt cost versus an uncertain investment return, so be very careful if you take this approach.
Now, there’s a third option in the payoff-debt-versus-invest debate, and it can be summed up with a quote from Yogi Berra, a brilliant baseball player and manager. Yogi was also famous for his comically wise sayings, which are known as “Yogi-isms.” One of his more famous quips reminds of that third option: “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”
The decision to pay off debt or invest doesn’t have to be an either-or decision. Why not try to do both?

Often this option allows someone to have their cake and eat it, too.
You save money on the interest expense, but you also get the money invested. This is a particularly good option when there aren’t enough funds to completely erase the debt.
Let’s be honest, for many people investing is more “fun” than saving or reducing interest expense no matter what the math suggests. There is also the additional benefit of getting into the habit of investing rather than putting it off until some point in the future.
No matter which option you choose, it’s important take the time to think it through, make a plan and then execute it.
In another words, follow the road map that makes sense for you because, as Yogi said: “If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll end up someplace else.”

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