Marc J. Lane

Marc J. Lane (born 1946) is an American attorney and businessman. He was involved in creation of the legislation to allow low-profit limited liability companies in Illinois.[1]

Marc J. Lane
Born1946
NationalityAmerican
Alma materNorthwestern University School of Law
University of Illinois
Occupationattorney, financial advisor, author

Education and early career

Lane graduated from Northwestern University School of Law in 1971 and subsequently founded The Law Offices of Marc J. Lane. In 1985, he established his own NASD-licensed (now the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)-licensed) broker-dealer. By the year 2002, Marc J. Lane Wealth Group included The Law Offices of Marc J. Lane, an investment advisory, a broker-dealer and a merchant banking affiliate.[2]

Career

Lane undertook an eight-year research project to determine how investment choices can be utilized to communicate his clients' values, along with their money, to heirs.[3] In 2003, Lane developed a new socially responsible investing approach, termed Advocacy Investing. In 2005, he published a book on the subject entitled Profitable Socially Responsible Investing? An Institutional Investor’s Guide.[4] Lane’s investment strategy generated a result that beat the Russell 3000 benchmark by an annual return of 2.53% over the eight years ending December 31, 2003.[3][5][6]

Lane’s approach was discussed with both affirmative and skeptical views by the mainstream media. The Wall Street Journal commented that Lane’s theories added a new variation to the socially responsible theme. "Lane made the case that the way to do right by your conscience and your portfolio is to drop the typical SRI strategy of ‘negative screening.’ Instead, Lane’s way is to match the specific values of an investor with companies that have similar operational values. For example, a food bank with an endowment to invest would want to buy the stock of a company with a good human rights record, despite the fact that this company might also happen to produce beer."[4] Elizabeth Wine, reporter for On Wall Street magazine, noted that Advocacy Investing has become the new generation of socially responsible investing. She wrote, "Advocacy investing pushes the idea of sustainability, not just in the narrow environmental sense, but also in the sense of a company's long term potential to compete and succeed."[7] Stasia Swisler, President and CEO for the Giving Trust praised the approach by stating that "In the wake of ethics and governance scandals, this guide boldly takes socially responsible investing to a new level." [8] William Baue cautioned the readers to take his findings with the same grain of salt as he sprinkles on others’ research as Lane excluded mutual funds outside the purview of his study in his book for practical reasons.

Lane is the author of Advising Entrepreneurs: Dynamic Strategies for Financial Growth, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2001, along with a number of other titles published in the past 30 years.[9]

Lane's book on best corporate governance practices, Representing Corporate Officers and Directors, was first published in 1987.[10][11] He revisited his treatise on corporate governance in 2005.[12][13] The new, expanded edition, Representing Corporate Officers, Directors, Managers, and Trustees, was published in 2010.[14][15]

Lane is one of the drafters of the Illinois legislation that promoted the establishment of low-profit limited liability companies (L3C). The law took effect January 1, 2010, and aims to "make it easier for social enterprises to attract capital", said Sen. Heather Steans (D-Chicago), who sponsored the bill.[16]

References
  1. Meyer, Ann (August 10, 2009). "New corporate structure could give social entrepreneurs new funding stream". Chicago, IL: Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 10 August 2009.
  2. Brunts, Julia (9 December 2002). "From seed of law, he grew a business". Chicago Daily Law Bulletin.
  3. Lewis, Geoff. ""Advocacy Investing – Catnip for Wealthy Clients?"". Registered Rep. Retrieved 12 May 2005.
  4. Colter, Gene (13 May 2005). "Sin, Revisited". New York: The Wall Street Journal.
  5. Staff writer (1 September 2004). "SRI with an Active Twist". Research Reporter. Retrieved 12 May 2005.
  6. Write, Staff. "SRI with an Active Twist". Research Reporter. Retrieved 12 May 2005.
  7. Wine, Elizabeth. "SRI Plows the Path to Profitability". On Wall Street.
  8. Staff writer (20 May 2005). ""Profitable Socially Responsible Investing?" Makes a Convincing and Provocative Case for Value-Based Investing". Kiplinger.com.
  9. Editors, Staff. "J.K. Lasser Pro Advising Entrepreneurs: Dynamic Strategies for Financial Growth". barnsandnoble.com. Retrieved 2 June 2009.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  10. Staff Writer (2009). "Marc Jay Lane". Avvo. Retrieved 28 May 2009.
  11. "Representing Corporate Officers and Directors (Business Practice Library) (Hardcover)". Jan 1987. ISBN 978-0471817888.
  12. Penn, Michael (19 July 2006). "The law offices of marc j. lane and its financial-services affiliates join united nations' global compact". Northwestern Law. Retrieved 12 May 2009.
  13. Lane, Marc J. (13 October 2004). "Representing Corporate Officers & Directors (Ring-bound)". ISBN 978-0735550964.
  14. Staff Writer (2005). "Representing corporate officers and directors". Retrieved 1 June 2009.
  15. Staff Writer (2005). "Representing corporate officers and directors". WorldCat. Retrieved 1 June 2009.
  16. Meyer, Ann (August 10, 2009). "New corporate structure could give social entrepreneurs new funding stream". Chicago, IL: Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on 12 August 2009. Retrieved 10 August 2009.
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