Whether you are just starting in the investing world, or a seasoned investor looking to secure a firm to better represent your funds, value-based investing is something you should be considering quite seriously. Sure, you want to make a profit. But in today’s social climate, there is an abundance of reasons to consider what your investments are contributing to. So how do you do both: make money and feel good about what your investments are funding? You look at the best firms for value-based investing.
What is Values-based Investing?
Values-based investing is exactly that – selecting your investments based on how well the company aligns with your values in addition to considering if you will make a profit on its stocks. This can certainly look different from one individual to the next, but that is the beauty of our financial system. We each can support those that we feel are doing right by our communities and hopefully, that will encourage others to do the same.
Socially Responsible Investing (SRI)
One method of values-based investing, SRI is socially responsible investing. SRI has become more and more popular over the years. There is now more than $12 trillion invested in a variety of socially responsible ways.
Environmental, Social, and Governance Investing (ESG)
Another approach of values-based investing is by creating teams to investigate ESG standards. ESG stands for environment, social, and governance. This criteria rates a company’s social influence by evaluating:
- Environmental Impact: A company must consider its contributions to broad environmental factors such as climate change, energy use, pollution, wasting materials, damage to forests, and harm to wildlife and their habitats.
- Social Impact: Social criteria are used as a way for investors to evaluate a company’s stance on human rights, political matters, community engagement, commitment to the health, safety, and wellbeing of its workers and community at large, labor/employee relations, and policies and practices on using child or forced labor.
- Governance: Risk and opportunity factors taken into consideration include a company’s business ethics, board structure and independence, diversity of leadership, representation of women and minorities on governing boards and in executive-level positions, and companies managed in ethically responsible manners.
Impact Investing
The last well-known philosophy for values-based investing is impact investing. This methodology puts its main focus on the outcomes of each investment. Rather, investments are made with the goal of influencing corporate behaviors. With this, the hope is that corporations will understand the values of their stakeholders and align their values with them.
A Socially Responsible Approach
No matter the methodology, values-based investing is a socially responsible approach to the financial world. With its growth in popularity, there is confirmation that you can turn a profit while adhering to your values. And with that, there is a growing hope that stakeholders can push corporations to be better social leaders. But the question remains: how do you get started?
Creating an Investment Plan
Creating an investment plan is no easy feat, but there are key steps every investor should take. The first question you need to ask yourself is how much money you can feasibly compartmentalize on your budget to invest. Once you have taken the time to properly evaluate your financial situation, you can define your goals. In this stage, you should not only evaluate your own financial goals, such as your preferences for investment horizons, risk, and growth. If you’re truly hoping to embed yourself in value-based investing, you should also define your goals of the companies you are willing or not willing to invest in.
As previously mentioned, opinions vary on what makes a corporation a socially responsible entity. Think deeply about what matters most to you. Whether your motivations are social, political, environmental, or religious in nature, there are ways to investigate a company’s impact on your chosen causes. Your next step is choosing what to invest in. However, it can be incredibly difficult for an individual to fully understand a company’s impact without astute corporate and financial knowledge, time-consuming research, and an understanding of fiduciary responsibilities.
This is why choosing a value-based investment firm is of the utmost importance. Of course, any investment firm can help to guide you to financial success. But seasoned professionals with value-based specialties have the insider knowledge needed to make true socially conscious investing possible. Even so, it can be daunting to select the right firm. Here are some ways to evaluate which values-based investment firm is the right fit for you.
Asking the Right Questions
When you are assessing whether a value-based investment firm aligns with your needs, it is crucial to ask yourself, and the potential firms, the right questions. Once there is a total understanding of your investment goals, both financial and values-based, here is what you should ask:
- What experience do you have working with individuals who match my financial and value-based needs?
- What methodology do you use to balance an investor’s financial and value-based needs?
- Do you have expertise in socially responsible investing?
- Does your team have Chartered SRI Counselors™ certified with The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment?
- How frequently would you recommend we meet to assess my portfolio?
Don’t forget to add some questions about your specific goals as well. By asking for specifics regarding causes or industries you specifically want to support or avoid in your portfolio, you can gain an understanding of how literate the firm is in the areas you care about the most.
Invest with Values
In order to best serve your goals, companies like EGÉA SRI have free consultation services. Once you’ve signed up for a consultation, a member of their team will be in touch to collect more information and walk you through the next steps. Your consultant will listen diligently to your investing goals, preferences, and values and they will aid you in your mission to invest more responsibly! Their Chartered SRI Counselors™ will help you make a positive difference.
Disclosure:
Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) / Environmental Social Governance (ESG) investing has certain risks based on the fact that the criteria excludes securities of certain issuers for non-financial reasons and, therefore, investors may forgo some market opportunities and the universe of investments available will be smaller.
This material was created for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as ERISA, tax, legal or investment advice. If you are seeking investment advice specific to your needs, such advice services must be obtained on your own separate from this educational material.
