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What drives a successful start-up employee to leave the security of a lucrative role after a major acquisition to become a founder? In this episode of The Angel Next Door Podcast, Marcia Dawood explores the fascinating journey of Caitlyn Driehorst, an exited entrepreneur and financial service expert. Caitlyn shares her unique path—from majoring in Russian and English literature to becoming a strategic consultant for financial services giants, before returning to her roots to build a company that focuses on high-impact finance management.Caitlyn's journey is as varied as it is impressive. Raised in a military family, she moved frequently across the United States before discovering her passion for financial services. A seasoned strategist and advisor, she has worked with companies like Boston Consulting Group and Capital Group, as well as navigating her own transformative exit through OpenInvest's acquisition by JP Morgan. Despite the allure of financial security with JP Morgan, Caitlin chose to strike out on her own—a decision driven by both personal values and a desire for broader impact.This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in entrepreneurship, career development, or financial advisory. Caitlyn talks about the challenges of being a female entrepreneur in the financial space, discusses her ambitious goals for RightWise, and elaborates on the transformative power of strong financial planning. With insights into both the industry and personal growth, this conversation sheds light on balancing ambition with values and navigating the sometimes complex relationships between risk and opportunity. To get the latest from Caitlyn Driehorst, you can follow her below!https://www.linkedin.com/in/caitlyndriehorst/RightWise WealthRightWise Ambassador Program Sign up for Marcia's newsletter to receive tips and the latest on Angel Investing!Website: www.marciadawood.comLearn more about the documentary Show Her the Money: www.showherthemoneymovie.comAnd don't forget to follow us wherever you are!Apple Podcasts: https://pod.link/1586445642.appleSpotify: https://pod.link/1586445642.spotifyLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/angel-next-door-podcast/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theangelnextdoorpodcast/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@marciadawood
Sign up here for updates on impactinvestor.ioThanks to all the Causeartist Partners - Check them out here.Subscribe to our Causeartist newsletter here.----------------------------------------In Episode 52 of the Investing in Impact podcast, we speak with Conor Murray, CEO and Cofounder of OpenInvest, on getting acquired by J.P. Morgan and building the technology infrastructure for values-based Investing.Conor Murray is co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of OpenInvest, where he guides values-based innovation and integration in partnership with J.P. Morgan Wealth Management. After graduating from MIT, Conor began his career in financial technology at Morgan Stanley and went on to lead teams of engineers responsible for portfolio construction and optimization at Bridgewater Associates, the world's largest hedge fund.About OpenInvestOpenInvest was founded with a simple yet ambitious goal - to make a positive impact on the world through sustainable investing.The teams background in building scalable and complex financial systems led them to create an asset management platform with personalized value filters. In recent years, there has been a significant shift in the investment industry as investors increasingly seek to align their financial goals with their personal values.This trend has given rise to values-based investing, an investment approach that allows investors to create portfolios that reflect their personal beliefs and values.In 2016, OpenInvest was established as a Public Benefit Corporation, a designation that allowed us to cement the mission in their legal charter: to mainstream values-based investing through technology.The OpenInvest platform allows investors to personalize their investment portfolios based on their values and beliefs. Through technology, they aim to make values-based investing accessible and transparent, empowering investors to align their financial goals with their personal values.OpenInvest was acquired by J.P. Morgan in 2021, with the intention to scale the movement, offering investors an intuitive and personalized investing experience. ----------------------------------------Sign up here for updates on impactinvestor.ioThanks to all the Causeartist Partners - Check them out here.Subscribe to our Causeartist newsletter here.
In this episode, Peita sits down with Ravi Verma, Head of Distribution at OpenInvest. They discuss where OpenInvest fits in the advice tech space, and how the platform creates investment advice solutions for both the end investor and partner firms. OpenInvest Website: https://www.openinvest.com.au/for-advisers/ Ravi Verma LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ravi-verma-8095bb44 Curiosity Corner (Storytail) website: https://www.storytail.io/ Peita Diamantidis Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peitamd/ A world of opportunity awaits you at https://netwealth.com.au/woo Join the Ensombl platform: App Store: http://co.xyadviser.com/xyistore Google Play: http://co.xyadviser.com/xygplay Desktop: https://ensombl.com/ General Disclaimer – https://www.xyadviser.com/disclaimer/
JPMorgan Chase is America's largest bank and its Private Banking business, the firm's wealth management arm for high and ultra-high net worth clients, is committed to building a sustainable investment platform that enables clients to direct dollars towards sustainable investing. Global Head of Sustainable Investing at J.P. Morgan Private Bank drills down on how to then measure that impact in both the public and private markets. J.P. Morgan's Global Impact Fund represents a portfolio of impact-focused private vehicles focused on advancing towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals applying the rigor of the bank's diligence process to identify and evaluate impact fund managers. On the public side, J.P. Morgan acquired OpenInvest, enabling the personalization of portfolios to align clients' values and preferences to their investment goals.
Matt is the Principal Planner at Kofkin Bond & Co. He and Ben discuss his journey through the advice industry, how his service solution has evolved over time, and how asking better questions of your clients leads to better outcomes. Matt Leech LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattleech1/ Kofkin Bond & Co Website: http://www.kofkinbond.com.au/ For more information on OpenInvest contact our team or follow us on LinkedIn. https://www.openinvest.com.au/ Join the XY platform: App Store: http://co.xyadviser.com/xyistore Google Play: http://co.xyadviser.com/xygplay Desktop: https://www.xyadviser.com/ General Disclaimer – https://www.xyadviser.com/disclaimer/
Smithink - helping accountants turn their practices into great businesses
David Smith discusses with OpenInvest co-founder Andrew Varlamos how clients unwilling to pay for financial advice often make poor investment choices, potentially damaging their chances of a financially secure retirement. The webinar will highlight how accounting firms can help while also avoiding the regulatory burden that comes with the financial advice regime.
Sam is the Managing Director at Perera Crowther Financial Services and National President at the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA). He and Jess chat about his current roles and how he manages to successfully juggle his time between them. Sam Perera LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-perera-34a338b/ Perera Crowther Website: https://www.pereracrowther.com.au/ AFA Website: https://www.afa.asn.au/ For more information on OpenInvest contact our team or follow us on LinkedIn. https://www.openinvest.com.au/ Join the XY platform: App Store: http://co.xyadviser.com/xyistore Google Play: http://co.xyadviser.com/xygplay Desktop: https://www.xyadviser.com/ General Disclaimer – https://www.xyadviser.com/disclaimer/
John is a Coach, Adviser and Executive Chairman at Fitzpatricks Private Wealth. He and Ben chat about building a client focused service solution, and how it's changed over time. John Woodley LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-woodley1/ Fitzpatrick Private Wealth Website: https://fitz.com.au/ For more information on OpenInvest contact our team or follow us on LinkedIn. https://www.openinvest.com.au/ Join the XY platform: App Store: http://co.xyadviser.com/xyistore Google Play: http://co.xyadviser.com/xygplay Desktop: https://www.xyadviser.com/ General Disclaimer – https://www.xyadviser.com/disclaimer/
Catherine is an Adviser at Focused Wealth and a Certified Money Coach and Lifestyle Adviser at Joyful Money. She and Jess chat about money coaching and how it can be used to enrich your client relationships. Catherine Belford LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherinebelford/ Focused Wealth Website: https://focusedwealth.com.au/ For more information on OpenInvest contact our team or follow us on LinkedIn. https://www.openinvest.com.au/ Join the XY platform: App Store: http://co.xyadviser.com/xyistore Google Play: http://co.xyadviser.com/xygplay Desktop: https://www.xyadviser.com/ General Disclaimer – https://www.xyadviser.com/disclaimer/
Matt is the Founder and Senior Financial Advisor at Futurevest. He and Ben chat about his service solution, the growth strategies he's used, and how to add value on an ongoing basis. Matt Bazzica LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewbazzica/ Futurevest Website: https://futurevest.com.au/ For more information on OpenInvest contact our team or follow us on LinkedIn. https://www.openinvest.com.au/ Join the XY platform: App Store: http://co.xyadviser.com/xyistore Google Play: http://co.xyadviser.com/xygplay Desktop: https://www.xyadviser.com/ General Disclaimer – https://www.xyadviser.com/disclaimer/
Peter Bruce-Clark describes backing transformative companies that some traditional venture capital firms pass on because at first glance the startup appears to be a charity rather than an industry changing unicorn. Social Impact Capital dives deep through its network of advisors to identify contrarian breakthrough technologies that have the chance to transform the world – from covalent drug therapies to DARPA backed IP that could cut deaths in automobile collisions by over 80%. With exits like OpenInvest and follow on investors like Andreessen Horowitz, Google Ventures, and Founders Fund, Silicon Valley is taking note of Social Impact Capital's uncanny ability to identify seed stage companies driven by the 21st Century transition to an ESG driven economy that can represent outsized returns through structural revolutions in our society.
Ouça nosso compilado semanal das principais notícias que aconteceram no cenário fintech no Brasil e no mundo! O Boletim conta com o patrocínio da Conductor, plataforma líder na América Latina em meios de pagamento e Banking as a Service. A Conductor atende as principais fintechs, bancos, varejistas e diferentes empresas, permitindo que ofereçam soluções de pagamento inovadoras a seus clientes. Acesse www.conductor.com.br e entenda melhor como transformar o seu negócio! Nesta edição: - A 2TM, grupo que controla a exchange de criptomoedas Mercado Bitcoin, levantou US$ 200M com o Softbank e se torna o mais novo unicórnio brasileiro; - O JPMorgan Chase realizou a compra de uma participação de 40% no banco digital C6 Bank; - A Porto Seguro realizou a aquisição de 50% da ConectCar, uma das maiores empresas na operação e cobrança de pedágios e estacionamentos no país, por R$ 165M; - A Loft, startup focada na compra e venda de imóveis, realizou a aquisição de 100% da operação da fintech CredPago; - A Zoop, fintech focada em Banking as a Service, recebeu um aporte de R$ 170M da Movile; - A CVM divulgou novidades sobre o processo de admissão para seu sandbox regulatório; - O Inter fecha acordo com a Qualicorp e planeja acelerar sua integração com a Stone; - A insurtech Pier fecha acordo com a montadora Jeep para venda de seguros personalizados baseados em dados transmitidos pelo veículo; - O JP Morgan realizou a aquisição da OpenInvest, plataforma de investimentos com foco em ESG; - A fintech britânica Smart, plataforma de planos de aposentadoria, levantou US$ 228M em rodada liderada pela Chrysalis Investments; - A fintech nigeriana FairMoney levantou US$ 48M em uma rodada series B liderada pela Tiger Global. - O Revolut estaria captando uma rodada de investimentos que elevaria o valuation do neobank para mais de US$ 30B; - El Salvador está em conversas com a empresa canadense Blockstream para emitir um título de dívida na Blockchain; - O MAS realizará um desafio para fomentar a criação de projetos de CBDCs. * Link para matéria do Estadão sobre a compra de 40% do C6 Bank pelo JP Morgan https://economia.estadao.com.br/noticias/geral,em-mais-um-capitulo-na-guerra-dos-bancos-digitais-jp-morgan-compra-40-do-c6-bank,70003762092 Acesse também nosso parceiro Finsiders e fique por dentro das últimas novidades do segmento fintech! https://finsiders.com.br/ Estamos também no Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, LinkedIn e Spotify! Siga-nos em: https://www.instagram.com/fintechtalksbr https://www.facebook.com/fintechtalksbr/ https://www.youtube.com/fintechtalks https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/fintech-talks/ https://open.spotify.com/show/2AVngeMgLIO7r8cqwGYBPY
ETF Trends' Lara Crigger examines various theories on why the SEC is delaying bitcoin ETF approval and offers a brief update on the space. OpenInvest's Jake Raden discusses the merits of direct indexing and an ESG approach to investing. HoneyTree's Liz Simmie explains the importance of integrating ESG data into the investment process and highlights […]
O programa recebeu César Bergo, diretor da Corretora OpenInvest e Kleytton Moares, presidente do Sindicato dos Bancários de Brasília e funcionário do Banco do Brasil, para uma conversa sobre o futuro da reestruturação do BB.
Hello Everyone and welcome to another great episode of the JOY of Financial Planning podcast. The topics of this podcast are a compliment to the book JOY of Financial Planning, available in stores including Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com JOY of Financial Planning is about the belief that we can overcome the unique economic, and life challenges we face as a generation, by first getting our financial house in order. In fact, we have, no other choice. Now more than ever, we must grow our wealth, follow our passions, live with compassion and find a way to achieve a personalized version of the American Dream. This episode is part of a series of recorded “Zoominars” from my Jason Howell Company YouTube channel; that's where you'll find the video versions. In my business life, my wealth management firm collaborates with many experts; together we transform regular investors into patriarchs and matriarchs of their families and their communities. This episode features some of that expertise. Millennials, women, high net worth families and institutions are demanding sustainable and responsible investing (SRI) to manage investment risk, reduce volatility while helping the community and the environment. Watch Sarah Sung, MBA, CPA and John Klinger from Open Invest, Co. (OpenInvest.co) discuss the important issues around value investing, ESG analysis, public benefit corporations and the future of impact investing. Sarah and John answered the following questions: What is “values-based” investing? Can you explain “ESG” analysis? How does OpenInvest make values-based investing easier? What is a “public benefit corporation?” What do you see as the future of values-based/ESG/SRI/Impact investing? Please send your feedback to Jason@JasonHowell.com and give this episode a rating, especially on Apple Podcasts, if, that's the kind of thing you do. For more about my unique brand of family wealth management, just go to JasonHowell.com Links: OpenInvest: https://www.openinvest.com/ Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/jasonhowell Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/JoyofFinancialPlanning/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGm8ggXF11D4cbA4vWye3Ng/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/JasonHowellCo Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonhowell Company Website: https://www.JasonHowell.com
Who are the US budget's renewable energy stock and ETF winners and losers? Using MSCI and proprietary methodologies Investor’s Business Daily creates its best 50 ESG companies ranking. New PIMCO ESG money market fund. Innovative and only Catholic long/short mutual fund. New ethical and sustainable robo advisors. My 1-hour investor tutorial reduced in price! More PODCAST: US Budget’s Renewable Energy Winners. And More… Transcript & Links, Episode 21, December 20, 2019 Content: (1) US Budget’s Renewable Energy Winners. And More… (2) US Budget’s Renewable Energy Winners. And More… (3) 7 Apps for Socially Responsible Investing (4) Conflicting ESG Ratings Are Confusing Sustainable Investors (5) 50 Best ESG Companies: A List Of Today's Top Stocks For Environmental, Social And Governance Values (6) PIMCO Enhanced Short Maturity Active ESG ETF (7) Catholic Investor Long/Short Equity Fund ------------------------------------------------------------- Hello, Ron Robins here. Welcome to podcast episode 21 titled “US Budget’s Renewable Energy Winners. And More…” for December 20, 2019—presented by Investing for the Soul. investingforthesoul.com is your site for vital global ethical and sustainable investing news, commentary, information, and resources. ------------------------------------------------------------- Special Holiday Offer: 50% Off My On-of-a-Kind Investor Educational Tutorial! Now, as I mentioned in my last podcast, I have a terrific holiday offer for you! It’s 50% off the price of my one-of-a-kind investor educational tutorial for all, my DIY Ethical Sustainable Investing Pays tutorial! Learn in 1-hour how to create an ethical-sustainable investment portfolio with ultra-low costs! No financial knowledge needed. Money-back guarantee. The tutorial is reduced temporarily from US$49.95 to just US$24.95 as a special for the holidays. Take advantage of it now by going to my site investingforthesoul.com/podcasts and click the link half-way down the right-hand column. Enroll now while the price lasts! ------------------------------------------------------------- Now to this episode. Remember that you can find a full transcript, live links to content, and often bonus material to these podcasts at their episodes’ podcast page located at investingforthesoul.com/podcasts. And, Google any terms that are unfamiliar to you. ------------------------------------------------------------- (1) US Budget’s Renewable Energy Winners. And More… First, a note about the recent US budget and its renewable energy winners and losers. It provides for another year the continuation of tax credits for wind power but not for solar. It certainly isn’t positive for US-based solar power companies. However, from a global perspective – and even for the US – solar power will continue to make headway. Writing about how the new US budget affects renewable energy producers is Maxx Chatsko of the Motley Fool. He says in an article titled 2 Renewable Energy Winners and 2 Losers in the Latest Federal Budget that “The production tax credit extension could provide a lift to power generators and electric utilities such as Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL), which has 2,022 megawatts of wind power capacity coming on line in 2020 and 2021.” End quote. A second winner of the budget deal Mr. Chatsko feels is the Renewable Energy Group (NASDAQ:REGI). He writes that “[It’s] the nation's largest biodiesel producer… The business estimates that it will receive a $450 million windfall from renewable fuel production from the start of 2018 through the third quarter of 2019. If production volumes continue to increase in the near future, then the three-year extension could result in an additional $1 billion in total tax credits for the company.” End quote. Mr. Chatsko says the losers from the budget are small-scale solar power companies like SolarEdge Technologies (NASDAQ:SEDG) and electric vehicle producers such as Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and General Motors (NYSE:GM). For more details read his article. ------------------------------------------------------------- (2) US Budget’s Renewable Energy Winners. And More… Also, in light of the US budget deal, consider what Ben Hernandez says about three alternative power ETFs in an article titled, Investors Shouldn’t Forget to Power Portfolios with Alternative Energy. He writes that, quote, “One ETF to look at is the Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF (NYSEArca: LIT)... [it’s] nearly nine years old [and] tracks the Solactive Global Lithium Index… One of the oldest thematic ETFs, Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF is designed to provide exposure to ‘the full lithium cycle, from mining and refining the metal, through battery production,’ according to Global X.” End quote. The second ETF Mr. Hernandez suggests tracks global wind power companies. He states that “Investors who want to capitalize on increasing reliance on wind as an alternative energy resource… can look at the First Trust Global Wind Energy ETF (NYSEArca: FAN). The fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield of an equity index called the ISE Clean Edge Global Wind EnergyTM Index… [Which] provides a benchmark for investors interested in tracking public companies throughout the world that are active in the wind energy industry.” End quote. Then for a third choice, he writes that “For investors looking for more broad-based exposure to alternative energy can give the SPDR Kensho Clean Power ETF (NYSEArca: CNRG) a look. [It] seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the total return performance of the S&P Kensho Clean Power Index, which is designed to capture companies whose products and services are driving innovation behind clean power.” End quote. ------------------------------------------------------------- (3) 7 Apps for Socially Responsible Investing Continuing on the subject of ethical and sustainable investing robo advisers from previous episodes, Barbara Friedberg wrote on the US News site her latest recommendations. They’re in a post titled 7 Apps for Socially Responsible Investing. Her top apps are M1 Finance, Axos Invest, Ellevest, OpenInvest, SoFi Invest, Personal Capital, and Betterment. These include several she hadn’t mentioned before, which are Axos, Ellevest, OpenInvest, SoFi Invest, and Personal Capital. Go to her article to see her reviews. ------------------------------------------------------------- (4) Conflicting ESG Ratings Are Confusing Sustainable Investors Now, for many of you who do your own company research, you probably wonder if the ESG scores you see are similar among the top ESG ratings’ firms. Well, a study by MIT Sloan School of Management says only rarely! The study was discussed in a Bloomberg piece by Jacqueline Poh, titled Conflicting ESG Ratings Are Confusing Sustainable Investors. The research included company ESG raters: Asset4, KLD, RobecoSAM, Sustainalytics, and Vigeo-Eiris. However, another major rater, MSCI, was not included. ------------------------------------------------------------- (5) 50 Best ESG Companies: A List Of Today's Top Stocks For Environmental, Social And Governance Values I just mentioned that MSCI’s company ESG ratings were missing from the MIT study. However, coincidentally, the US publication Investor’s Business Daily has recently published an article titled 50 Best ESG Companies: A List Of Today's Top Stocks For Environmental, Social And Governance Values – based on MSCI data. Investor’s Business Daily – or IBD – also has its own ratings that are applied to the MSCI scores. To understand IBD’s ratings go to Scott Lehtonen’s post titled How To Find And Buy The Top ESG Stocks In The Current Stock Market Rally on the IBD site. (The above links don’t work directly. Copy and paste these urls to your browser.) https://www.investors.com/research/how-to-find-and-buy-the-top-esg-stocks-in-the-current-stock-market-rally/ https://www.investors.com/research/best-esg-companies-top-stocks-environmental-social-governance-values/ ------------------------------------------------------------- (6) PIMCO Enhanced Short Maturity Active ESG ETF Now, do you need to park some cash in a money market fund but would prefer one that’s ESG based? Well, the following fund might be for you. PIMCO, a leading US bond firm, has recently launched a new type of money market fund. It’s called PIMCO Enhanced Short Maturity Active ESG ETF (NYSEArca: EMNT). Writing in ETFdb.com, in a post titled PIMCO Releases Active ESG ETF ‘EMNT’ Aaron Neuwirth says it “aims to offer higher income than traditional cash investments, with a modest increase in risk and focuses on issuers with high quality environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices.” End quote. ------------------------------------------------------------- (7) Catholic Investor Long/Short Equity Fund Finally, an innovative religious-values fund that’s really breaking new ground! It’s the Catholic Investor Long/Short Equity Fund. Quoting from a press release, “The Catholic Investor Long/Short Equity Fund is the only Catholic long/short mutual fund in the world, aimed at satisfying the needs of investors who appreciate ethical values-based investing. The Fund adheres to the investing principles outlined by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).” End quote. Note though, that as a mutual fund, it’s probably only available to US investors. Don’t forget you can Google any terms that might be unfamiliar to you. ------------------------------------------------------------- Well, these are my top news stories and tips for ethical and sustainable investors over the past two weeks. Again, to get all the links or to read the transcript of this podcast and sometimes get additional information too, please go to investingforthesoul.com/podcasts and scroll down to this episode. And be sure to click the like and subscribe buttons in iTunes/Apple Podcasts or wherever you download or listen to this podcast. Also, please click the share buttons to share this podcast with your friends and family. That way you can help promote not only this podcast but ethical and sustainable investing globally. So, let’s help create a better world with our investments! Contact me if you have any questions. ------------------------------------------------------------- Special Holiday Offer: 50% Off My On-of-a-Kind Investor Educational Tutorial! And again, don’t miss out on my terrific holiday offer for you! 50% off the price of the one-of-a-kind investor educational tutorial for all, my DIY Ethical Sustainable Investing Pays tutorial! Temporarily reduced from US$49.95 to just US$24.95! Go now to my site investingforthesoul.com/podcasts and click the link half-way down the right-hand column. ------------------------------------------------------------- Talk to you again on January 3. Wishing you a most wonderful joyous and healthy holiday and happy New Year. Bye for now. Thank you for listening. © 2019 Ron Robins, Investing for the Soul.
Greg Cooper was for many years the Chief Executive Officer for Schroder Investment Management in Australia. More recently, he joined TCorp, the AU$ 93 billion government asset manager for the state of NSW, as chair of the investment committee and non-executive director. We speak with Greg about whether public markets are broken, the state of active management and his interest in the venture capital space. Greg Cooper podcast overview: 1:00 Starting out in actuarial studies 3:00 Focussing on Japanese equities 4:00 Compared to 1986, Japanese equities are still at the same level 5:00 What were some of the highlights of your career at Schroders? 6:50 We’ve moved on from strategic asset allocation 7:55 As a CEO, don’t be afraid of what others think and try to draw out ideas 9:35 Are public markets broken? 11:00 Not having a well-developed VC industry means that a lot of good ideas get starved of capital and eventually go offshore 11:30 Will that change when the effect of QE goes away? 15:00 No investor is entirely passive. 16:30 Passive rose, because active had too large a share, but you can’t have a 100 per cent passive investment market 17:30 Will value-style investing come back? 21:30 You have an interest in fintech and hold a board position at OpenInvest? 25:00 Joining the TCorp board and chairing the investment committee
Which renewable energy stocks benefit from lower rates? Beyond Meat’s wild stock success shows paradigm shift among investors for new vegan-vegetarian food investing. Comparing PepsiCo vs Coke-Cola environmentally and as investments. New robo advisor offers investing for racial justice. What to watch for to avoid greenwashing when investing. New large cap ESG ETF gets attention. PODCAST: Renewable Energy Energized, Greenwashing and Investing Transcript & Links June 21, 2019 Hello, Ron Robins here. Welcome to my podcast Ethical & Sustainable Investing News to Profit By! for June 21, 2019—presented by Investing for the Soul. investingforthesoul.com is your site for vital global ethical and sustainable investment information and resources. Now to this podcast. And Google any terms that are unfamiliar to you. Also, you can find a full transcript, live links and bonus material to this podcast at this editions’ podcast page located at investingforthesoul.com/podcasts ------------------------------------------------------------- Now, many investors listening to this podcast are investing with an ethical-sustainable investing mindset that takes seriously the need to care for the planet and as such is already leaning towards – if not done so already – to a more vegetable-based diet. Therefore, you’ve been following with great interest Beyond Meat’s ascension to stock price heights that were unimaginable a few weeks ago. Recently, it was trading above $160—and to me, that tells us something. It says that there’s a paradigm shift taking place in the food industry centering around vegan-vegetarian foods and in my June 7 podcast I gave you some links to sites where you could find some interesting ideas for such investments. Now, also along these lines, Corporates Knights have published another good article on this industry titled, Plant burgers bring home the bacon and there you might find even more companies in this sector that you could look at. ------------------------------------------------------------- Another favorite for ethical-sustainable investors is renewable energy. In the US, despite President Trump’s attempt to get everyone excited about the fossil fuel industry there, renewable energy continues to take-off. An argument for even greater take-off is made by Travis Hoium in his Motley Fool post Why Renewable Energy Stocks Could Have a Great Year. He argues that lower US interest rates will power up renewables. Quoting him, he says, “Like it or not, renewable energy stocks' performance today is tied to what the Federal Reserve does with interest rates in any given month. The value of renewable power plants rises and falls with the market's interest rates, and the impact of their movement trickles down to influence demand for everything from solar panels to inverters and wind turbines.” End quote. Companies he likes in the solar panel area are Canadian Solar (NASDAQ: CSIQ), First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR), and SunPower (NASDAQ: SPWR) and for wind, General Electric (NYSE: GE) and Vestas Wind Systems (NASDAQOTH: VWSYF). Travis also makes other recommendations in the renewable energy sector that you can read in his post. Sophia Cai, writing in Barron’s with an article titled, Solar Power Is Starting to Shine. Here Are Some Stocks Poised to Benefit, covers Sunrun (NASDAQ: RUN), SunPower (NASDAQ SPWR), Vivant Solar (NYSE: VSLR), and Invesco Solar ETF (NYSE Arca: TAN). While on the subject of renewable energy, a global new cell efficiency and modular output record were made by JinkoSolar (NYSE: JKS). And what they did specifically, quoting a news release titled, JinkoSolar Breaks World Record for Cell Efficiency and Module Output states, “that the maximum conversion efficiency of JinkoSolar’s cheetah size cells and N-type cells reached 24.38% and 24.58%, respectively, during testing conducted by the Chinese Academy of Sciences in March 2019, China's authoritative national academy for the natural sciences.” Close quote. Is JinkoSolar a buy? Well, the average of six analysts covered by Reuters rate it as hold, possibly a buy. However, these analyst opinions appear to have been made prior to JinkoSolar’s announcement. ------------------------------------------------------------- Profitably investing in renewable energy is one way we can help solve our climate change problems and thus create a less polluted world. Another is investing in companies making real efforts to reduce plastics’ pollution. Plastics’ pollution has recently been given prominence and two companies among the largest polluters of plastic are Coca-Cola and PepsiCo. Tim Nash over at Corporate Knights compares them both from a plastics, environmental, and investing perspective, in his article, Tim Nash’s sustainable stock showdown: Pepsi vs. Coke plastic challenge. He says, “Forget taste tests – [its] which drink maker will be the choice of a planet-conscious generation?” His final opinion is that, and quoting him again, he says that “Coca-Cola and Pepsi are very similar when it comes to most sustainability metrics, but I’ll give Pepsi the edge thanks to its broader diversification and the disruptive potential of refillable dispenser technologies like SodaStream. Both companies have a long way to go, but Pepsi is this week’s winner of the Sustainable Stock Showdown.” End quote. ------------------------------------------------------------- Now doing your own investing can be daunting. Just in these podcasts, you hear about so many different investment opportunities. Because I know what this can be like, a year ago I created a simple step by step one-hour DIY Ethical-Sustainable Investing Tutorial. It doesn’t require any financial knowledge or math skills and you’ll quickly learn some simple things to easily put-together a stock portfolio reflecting your values directly – and which will potentially be as profitable and at a lower cost than any other option available! So, take a few seconds to check it out! Just go to investingforthesoul.com/podcasts and scroll down the right-hand column for the link. ------------------------------------------------------------- Now let’s cover a few useful miscellaneous items. If you’re interested in racial justice issues there’s a robo advisor for US investors offering just that. The firm is Openinvest, and it has launched the Racial Justice Index Fund. Here’s what Openinvest says about it, quote, “OpenInvest has identified companies that hold themselves accountable to the public regarding their progress on employee diversity and their commitment to environmental justice. Our Racial Justice cause allows any investor to tailor their investments to only include those companies who are transparent about their progress on diversity targets, and to divest from those that disproportionately pollute in communities of color.” You can also read more about it a FORTUNE article titled, You Can Now Invest in a 'Racial Justice' Index Fund by Rey Mashayekhi. And there’s yet another new US ESG ETF that’s gathering attention and that is Nuveen’s ESG Large-Cap ETF (CBOE: NULC). You can read all about in Todd Shriber’s article, Nuveen Adds To ESG Roster With New Large-Cap ETF at benzinga.com. Quoting his article, “The new NULC tracks the TIAA ESG USA Large-Cap Index. The Index uses a rules-based methodology that seeks to provide investment exposure that generally replicates that of large-cap benchmarks through a portfolio of securities that adhere to predetermined ESG, controversial business involvement and low-carbon screening criteria, according to Nuveen.” Close quote. While wanting to invest ethically, sustainably, we can always be subject to ‘greenwashing’ investing. That is, investing in companies that say a lot of good things, but don’t do any real heavy lifting. I’ve always been greatly concerned about this and for decades have advocated that corporate social responsibility reports, now often replaced with sustainability reports, provide not only metrics that are material – that is, would affect their operations and stock price – but also such reports be quantifiable where possible and audited by reputable outside independent auditors. Much the same way as for financial statements. And we’re getting there! Only in this way can we get rid of greenwashing. Masja Zandbergen has written a good piece about avoiding greenwashing from a portfolio manager’s perspective in the article titled, Avoiding greenwashing in sustainable investing in Singapore’s The Business Times. It’s useful reading to see how you might avoid falling for greenwashing in your investing. ------------------------------------------------------------- So, these are my top news stories and tips for ethical and sustainable investors over the past two weeks. Again, to get all the links or to read the transcript of this podcast and sometimes get additional information too, please go to investingforthesoul.com/podcasts and scroll down for this edition. And be sure to click the like and subscribe buttons in iTunes or wherever you listen to this podcast. That way you can help promote not only this podcast but ethical and sustainable investing globally. And remember, I’m here to help you grow in your investment success—and investing in opportunities that reflect your personal values! Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about the content of this podcast or anything else investment related. I can’t say I’ll have all the answers for you and some answers I can’t give due to licensing restrictions. But where I can help I will. Now, a big thank you for listening—and please click the share buttons to share this podcast with your friends and family. Come again! My next podcast is scheduled for July 5. Bye for now.
Guests:Claire VeutheyDirector of ESG & ImpactOpenInvestMike FiorioTrusteeNorthland College Board of TrusteesHost: Dave KarlsgodtPrincipal, Fovea, LLCRemember the old adage, Put your money where your mouth is? Or maybe, vote with your wallet?No matter which way you say it, money talks. In this episode, Claire Veuthey of OpenInvest and Mike Fiori of Northland College’s Board of Trustees discuss sustainable investments, and how to make financial choices that reflect planet-forward values. Claire, the director of ESG & Impact at OpenInvest, a startup devoted to socially responsible investing, walks through the management of funds and investments and how they can become more sustainable. Mike discusses how Northland’s Board of Trustees reached their decision to divest from fossil fuels, and the importance of listening to student voices in balance with the university’s financial interests.
In this edition, I’m covering several items that I believe are important to listeners of Ethical and Sustainable News to Profit By! Plus, I’m doing a special review of robo-advisors and their offerings for ethical and sustainable investors in the USA and Canada. The four most recent newsworthy items for ethical and sustainable investing are: 1) Who runs the world? The global status of women in leadership. 2) ESG investing does not cost more, research shows. 3) The 100 Most Sustainable U.S. Companies. 4) Sustainable and ethical standards are in vogue, but only governance is affecting ratings, Fitch finds. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) Who runs the world? The global status of women in leadership, by Sophie L'Helias & Adria Vasil, March 9, 2019, Corporate Knights, Canada. This is a quote from their article: "Regardless of progress at the board level, the glaring reality is that the world’s largest corporations are stalled in second gear when it comes to hiring women in C-suite leadership roles. Top senior executive officers with the letter C in their title (CEO, CFO, CIO, COO, CSO) lag behind on gender in all markets." Although several reputable studies have shown that having women and diversities on boards and in management generally leads to superior financial performance, corporations generally have been slow to include them. Some further thoughts on this: Firstly, the study covered the 1,500 largest publicly-traded companies for more than three years. Secondly, in the article there’s a great country breakdown and it shows—as usual—Scandinavian countries leading. But, progress is being made by women and as an investor interested in ethical and sustainable investing, you might want to consider when investing the proportion of women and diversities on the boards and in management of the companies you’re interested in. Furthermore, there are several new funds that specifically invest in companies with higher proportions of women in management. They include: - Impact Shares YWCA Women's Empowerment ETF on the NYSE Arca exchange, under the ticker WOMN - In Canada, the RBC Vision Women’s Leadership MSCI Canada Index ETF, RLDR on the Aequitas NEO Exchange. - In the UK, Barclays Women in Leadership Total Return Index – ETF Tracker, ticker symbol WIL. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) ESG investing does not cost more, research shows, by Frank van Alphen, February 19, 2019, IPE, UK Quoting the article, "Pension funds performing well on environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) factors don’t incur higher asset management costs, according to research. Research by Dutch consultant Gaston Siegelaer indicated that improvements to investors’ ESG policies did not increase costs either." These were Dutch pension funds that were studied. Now, most people believe that ESG investing does cost more. However, the big differential that once existed is now much lower. Also, it used to be that ethical and sustainable funds were small, that ESG information was not as available and was expensive to produce. So, for those reasons ethical and sustainable funds did have significantly higher fees. However, today, the situation is considerably different. Vanguard, in the US, now has sustainable funds with fees as low 0.12% annually! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) The 100 Most Sustainable U.S. Companies, by Leslie P. Norton, February 8, 2019, Barron's, USA. Barron's list is compiled by the well-known and respected SRI fund company, Calvert Research and Management. Hence, it's to be respected. Calvert has been around since 1982 and helped pioneer socially responsible investing in the US. To create the list, Calvert rated the SRI credentials of the 1,000 largest (by market capitalization) publicly held companies headquartered and incorporated in the United States I have a link in my transcript to the article (here.) Their top 5 American companies are: Best Buy, Cisco Systems, Agilent Technologies, HP Inc. and Texas Instruments. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) Sustainable and ethical standards are in vogue, but only governance is affecting ratings, Fitch finds, by Chad Bray, February 26, 2019, South China Morning Post courtesy of Yahoo!, Hong Kong. This is a fascinating stat from the article: "The credit rating agency, however, found that less than one per cent of financial institutions have ESG factors that have actually driven a ratings change, with governance risk being the biggest issue. Governance includes such things as executive pay, audits and efforts to weed out money laundering." Two key points stand out in Fitch's findings. Firstly, how small an impact ESG is having on credit ratings! It makes me wonder how much credit rating agencies utilize ESG criteria. Secondly, Fitch doesn't say if the analysis was only from their company or if other ratings' agencies were involved. For instance, it would be interesting to know what differences there are in the use of ESG criteria between agencies. Ethical investors, particularly, might find that useful. However, it seems that in the future that just as these ratings agencies grade bonds—AAA, BBB, etc.--they’re likely to add ESG credit grades to stocks! This could revolutionize how we make investment decisions! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now for a special review of robo-advisors. These are automated app based low cost investment platforms. So rather than going to, say, an investment advisor or stock broker and getting advice and funds or stocks from them, there are now these apps—called robo-advisors—to do all that work for you. There was recently a great review of these in a post titled, Is your ethical investing app upselling greenwash? by Adria Vasil, March 5, 2019, Corporate Knights, Canada. Corporate Knights have produced one of the few really good analytical studies on ethical investing apps for North Americans. They believe there are some good robo apps for Americans, but not so for Canadians. Before going into their findings let me make some points. My principle concern with robo investing apps for ethical and sustainable investing is that they will still put you into a least a few investments that don’t reflect your personal values. You rarely, if ever, really feel completely comfortable with everything in their portfolio. This is because they nearly all use low cost ESG ETFs. These are mostly passive, not actively managed, funds. But the big drawback is that they’re based on ESG indexes and these indexes will rarely match your personal values. Also, these indexes tend to be poorly diversified. Often, they’re overweight in tech and financial stocks too. The 100 Most Sustainable U.S. Companies reviewed above is a clear example of this as their top 5 companies are related to tech. So, it’s a bit like putting all your eggs in one basket – that’s never a good idea. Also, many of the robo-advisors are new financial entities. What happens to your money if the management firm dissolves—for whatever reason? That is a concern rarely discussed but if your looking at long-term investing, it’s a very real consideration! Now in most developed countries there are usually government regulations concerning such investments so your actual principal might have a degree of protection. Also, with many data breaches in the news, how secure is your information on their site? It’s for these and many other reasons that I suggest those interested in ethical and sustainable investing take my 1-hour DIY Ethical-Sustainable Investing Pays Tutorial before even considering robo-advisors, or in fact, investing at all. In my tutorial, you’ll easily learn how to create a portfolio of stocks that truly represent your personal values! And no financial is required and you won’t have to bother with any math. Furthermore, creating your own stock portfolio will likely cost you even less than the lowest fee robo-advisor! However, should you want to review some ethical-sustainable investing robo-advisors, I suggest you look at those in the Corporate Knights post. But do your own research and perhaps check with an investment professional before deciding for yourself. For Americans, Corporate Knights suggest looking at Swell and OpenInvest. While, Corporate Knights says, “For Canadians, well, robo-advisors may not be the best route for you until the companies behind them offer more truly values-driven options.” For listeners elsewhere, you might want to do a web search for reviews of robo- advisors in your country. As you would expect, robo-advisors are largely targeted at younger, tech oriented investors. So, read the research on them by Corporate Knights and other trustworthy sources, but remember my remarks here. That’s all I want to cover in this edition—though let me add a few final points. And remember, I’m here to help you grow in your investment success—and investing in opportunities that reflect your personal values! Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about this podcast or for anything else investment related. A big thank you for listening—and please click any of the share buttons to share this podcast with your friends and family. Bye for now! If any terms are unfamiliar to you, you might like to go to INVESTOPEDIA and scroll down to the very bottom to see their A-Z dictionary. © 2019 Ron Robins, Investing for the Soul. All rights reserved.
OpenInvest helps people buy a collection of stocks that align with their personal interests and causes they care about, all without involving a fund manager and related fees. The company's proprietary platform directly buys up underlying stocks to create customized portfolios.
As people begin to gain access to information that was previously left to only trained specialists, a new set of asset classes are being created -- and they are changing the way we think about everything from banking to customizing portfolios and more. But if investing (and most decision making, in fact) is about navigating uncertainty, what can new tools and models do -- and not do -- for investors both big and small? Recorded at a16z's Summit event in November 2017, John Fawcett, CEO of Quantopian and Joshua Levin, co-founder and chief strategy officer of OpenInvest discuss, in conversation with a16z's Angela Strange, new models of investing for both retail and institutional investors... thanks to new technologies. The views expressed here are those of the individual AH Capital Management, L.L.C. (“a16z”) personnel quoted and are not the views of a16z or its affiliates. Certain information contained in here has been obtained from third-party sources, including from portfolio companies of funds managed by a16z. While taken from sources believed to be reliable, a16z has not independently verified such information and makes no representations about the enduring accuracy of the information or its appropriateness for a given situation. This content is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon as legal, business, investment, or tax advice. You should consult your own advisers as to those matters. References to any securities or digital assets are for illustrative purposes only, and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services. Furthermore, this content is not directed at nor intended for use by any investors or prospective investors, and may not under any circumstances be relied upon when making a decision to invest in any fund managed by a16z. (An offering to invest in an a16z fund will be made only by the private placement memorandum, subscription agreement, and other relevant documentation of any such fund and should be read in their entirety.) Any investments or portfolio companies mentioned, referred to, or described are not representative of all investments in vehicles managed by a16z, and there can be no assurance that the investments will be profitable or that other investments made in the future will have similar characteristics or results. A list of investments made by funds managed by Andreessen Horowitz (excluding investments and certain publicly traded cryptocurrencies/ digital assets for which the issuer has not provided permission for a16z to disclose publicly) is available at https://a16z.com/investments/. Charts and graphs provided within are for informational purposes solely and should not be relied upon when making any investment decision. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The content speaks only as of the date indicated. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects, and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others. Please see https://a16z.com/disclosures for additional important information.
Joshua Levin (@JoshLevin11) is the Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of OpenInvest, a Y Combinator venture backed startup dedicated to using technology to bring honesty and transparency to financial services, while making socially responsible investing easy and more accessible through a truly innovative technology platform. Josh goes in depth on OpenInvest’s vision for disrupting the … Continue reading "Democratizing socially responsible investing with Joshua Levin of OpenInvest"