Sustainable Investing with SWA: Achieving Long-Term Financial Benefits While Staying True to Your Values
What if you could invest to achieve your personal goals, AND have a substantial and measurable positive impact on the issues you care about in the local and global community? We have been led to believe that we need to choose between investing with our heads or investing with our hearts. Rarely has such unfortunate and misguided sentiment held such sway for so long.
SWA’s founder, Harry Moran, believes that it not only is possible to integrate your values with your investments, it makes good financial sense to do so. Investing in companies and organizations that take a long-term view of profitability, care about the communities and ecological systems in which they operate, and treat their employees and other stakeholders with dignity and respect, will outperform their less thoughtful and enlightened competition over time. Many studies have now clearly demonstrated the strong link between environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors and financial performance.
One of the most important fiduciary responsibilities is to develop a comprehensive IPS which identifies the investment process, objectives, and the methods by which those objectives can be achieved. The IPS covers such areas as risk, liquidity, cash flow, asset allocation, and performance evaluation. Integration of ESG criteria should also be included in the IPS.
Many socially conscious investors embrace avoidance strategies, but there is much more that can be done. Shareholder advocacy and community investing can effect societal change in more proactive ways. We can help clarify screening criteria that reflects your values and impact priorities and identify investment strategies designed to advance your personal mission and objectives.
Many money managers say they “can do Socially Responsible Investing (SRI),” but relatively few possess the knowledge, resources, and commitment to do much more than surface-level negative screening. We can help identify money managers with both the requisite portfolio management capabilities as well as the ability to fully integrate ESG criteria into the investment process.
We can assist with full portfolio management services, utilizing active managers and/or passive (indexing) strategies. We can provide detailed, consolidated quarterly reports, presented in a way that provides suitable context, are visually meaningful, and easily understood.
No matter which legislative act (ERISA, UPIA, or MPERS) shapes your organization’s investment practice standards, we can help you develop sustainable and responsible investment criteria that fit well with your organization’s core values and fulfill your fiduciary responsibility.
At SWA, we have the tools, expertise, and experience to integrate your individual preferences and priorities with your investments, while helping you achieve the financial security and peace of mind you deserve. As an Accredited Investment Fiduciary™, Moran fully embraces the firm’s fiduciary responsibility to its clients. We build a personalized Investment Policy Statement (IPS) that provides a road map which clearly spells out risk tolerance, time horizon, objectives, fees and expenses, investment philosophy, and strategy. We then construct a custom portfolio using specialist 3rd party managers who have been carefully selected based on a broad range of criteria. We believe in diversification that goes far beyond the traditional, simple collection of stocks and bonds. We also believe in full transparency, and maintain an arm’s length relationship with all our managers so we can preserve our objectivity and integrity. We never forget that our responsibility is to our clients.
Sustainable investing not only aligns with your values, but can also lead to long-term financial benefits. Contact SWA today to learn how they can help create a personalized investment portfolio and IPS that align with your values while prioritizing transparency and fiduciary responsibility. Start making a difference today.
Advisory services provided by Sustainable Advisors Alliance, LLC, with Harry Moran, CFP®, AIF®, CeFT® as Investment Advisor Representative (IAR) also doing business under the name Sustainable Wealth Advisors. Sustainable Advisors Alliance, LLC is an investment adviser registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training.