Sustainable Portfolios
Our Sustainable Portfolios are designed for investors that want:
competitive performance
to create positive change in the world with their financial assets.
What Makes These Portfolios Sustainable?
Investment funds in these portfolios typically evaluate each company that is held based on its environmental, social, and corporate governance record, seeking to avoid investing in companies that lag behind their peers. Another approach used is to emphasize companies with thoughtful corporate behavior in areas such as environmental impact, employee treatment and board governance
By completely excluding companies that are involved in potentially harmful businesses such as fossil fuels, weapon production or tobacco.
Is the Investment Approach Different than Our Other Portfolios?
Our investment approach in our Sustainable portfolios is consistent with our regular portfolios - diversified, low cost, mindful of valuations and research driven. The portfolios emphasize companies with thoughtful corporate behavior in areas such as environmental impact, employee treatment and board governance. Issues considered include:
Environmental
Climate Impact
Emissions and Waste
Deforestation
Water Use
Social
Workforce Treatment
Product Safety
Community Impact
Human Rights
Governance
Board Diversity
Executive Compensation
Accounting & Transparency
Ethical Standards
Aligning Investment Goals with Personal Values
Our Impact Portfolios incorporate competitive investment funds that also act in the long-term best interests of society. Funds used make an additional impact by working on behalf of fund owners in multiple ways, such as influence company thinking through direct dialogue with executives and effecting company policy through shareholder resolutions or proposals.
Performance
We believe that implementing a sustainable investment approach can be done while also maintaining competitive investment returns. Research studies have shown that investment returns can at times increase by emphasizing companies with positive environmental, social and governance characteristics. For instance, please see“ESG and financial performance: aggregated evidence from more than 2000 empirical studies,” in the Journal of Sustainable Finance & Investment, Volume 5, 2015. Additionally, in recent years, new investment options have been introduced that that utilize sustainable criteria while also charging low fees. The portfolios use world-class investment managers with the goal of generating competitive returns and helping clients achieve their personal financial goals and objectives.
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Actively Managed Sustainable Strategies
Fund managers make active decisions about what investments to hold.
Managers analyze the “ESG” characteristics of companies and attempt to exclude those with poor practices.
Funds may also actively campaign for improved company behavior, working with company executives to change company policies.
Many funds will explicitly prohibit purchasing companies in certain industries, such as tobacco products, alcoholic beverages, gambling or weapons.
Passively Managed Sustainable Strategies
Index fund strategies that track broad segments of the market (such as large company or international stocks), but factor ESG practices into the weight of companies in the fund.
Typically exclude certain industries, such as tobacco or weapons manufacturers, from inclusion in the indexes.
The funds may also actively work to change company practices with dedicated ESG analysts.
Complementary Strategies
Funds that do not explicitly incorporate ESG evaluation, but score well in third party ESG evaluations (such as Morningstar Sustainability ratings) or funds that hold investments that generally support the long term interests of society (such as municipal bonds, currency investments, and government bonds).
Funds that offer a compelling investment option that is not available (or attractive) with an explicit ESG approach.
