Former Army Officers’ Investment Firm Black Knight Group Manages Socially Responsible Investments In Panama And Around The World

Black Knight Group manages a unique, socially responsible investment portfolio of emerging market opportunities by prioritizing people and the environment as much as profits. The strategy is paying off in countries such as Panama.

Dallas, TX (PRWEB) July 19, 2006

James J. Hickman, West Point graduate and Army veteran, chose to start his professional career in the military out of a genuine desire to make a difference in the world. After years of overseas service with multiple deployments, Hickman became a civilian once again, but he never gave up his vision to help reshape the world. After some extensive consulting and finance work, he and other West Point classmates founded Black Knight Group, an international investment firm dedicated to finding innovative, socially responsible opportunities in emerging markets.

"We value people, we value the environment, and we value profit. The three need not be mutually exclusive," says Hickman, having just returned from the Republic of Panama. “We’ve been in Panama for over four years, and our projects there illustrate how cooperative developments with local population enhance the bottom line—we build parks, improve schools, and cleanup beaches, all before breaking ground on our own project. The efforts pay huge dividends. . . and it’s the right thing to do.”

Finding like-minded partners can be a difficult task, but Black Knight Group has been increasingly successful taking its unique ideas to larger investors. “Our investments are very international, so it can be hard to work with investors who have been pigeon-holed into stocks, mutual funds, and now real estate. Our core investment philosophy is that the ultimate limitation of investment performance is macroeconomic health; we believe that finding the right investment starts with finding the right economy because in a booming economy, all markets will generally appreciate—real estate, equities, currency, commodities. Likewise, in a crumbling economy, markets will decline. We spend our time finding high-growth emerging markets that have been overlooked by mainstream media attention."

Chinese economic influence has captured household attention and continues to be a major force in global markets. But to Hickman, "everyone knows about China. But who has ever really considered countries like Panama, Vietnam, Estonia, and Azerbaijan?”

Black Knight works with the academic community to couple economic research with its hands-on, “boots on the ground” approach. “It’s almost like being in the Army again,” says Hickman, pointing to the dried mud on his shoes from his latest trip to the rain forests of Panama.

Regardless of the project, regardless of the country, the firm adheres to its fundamental principle of social responsibility. Hickman says he laughs at the term sometimes, joking that “it makes us seem as if we’re crazy tree-hugging hippies, almost the exact opposite of our Army backgrounds. In reality, we make a lot of money for our investors and still get to look at ourselves in the mirror.”

More information about Black Knight Group is available at www. blackknightgroup. com.

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