The Sustainable Investor Podcast: Recent Episodes
Frank Byskov
The Sustainable Investor Podcast helps individuals become smarter investors while applying their personal values to their investments. This podcast is intended for educational purposes only, and should not be construed as personalized tax, investment, legal or other professional advice. Before taking any actions, you should always seek the assistance of a qualified professional. The information contained in this podcast is derived from sources deemed to be reliable but cannot be guaranteed. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Advisory Services provided by Forty4 Financial LLC. All views/opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the presenter.
Through advances in health and medicine and potentially less strenuous work, we now live longer than our ancestors did. It used to be that at 65 you're about to be put out to pasture so to speak. But now most 65-year-olds are active participants of society. Many are still working at some level, part of stay active and also to make the money stretch for what could be a multi-decade retirement. Finding out ways to not only live longer, but live better for longer.
Today, I have Jennifer Sproul with me. She is a realtor in the DMV region and also the founder of Graceing Agefully, a movement working towards making the second half of life as productive and meaningful as possible. It is the second part of life we will talk about today, and Jennifer has a really refreshing and new take on this topic.
- https://www.forty4financial.com
- https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09NJWNFR5?ref_=dbs_m_mng_rwt_calw_tkin_4&storeType=ebooks
- https://www.amazon.com/Mindset-Mastery-Meditation-Mindfulness-Manifestation-ebook/dp/B0BSR9J8HN?ref_=ast_author_dp
- http://www.GraceingAgefully.com
How does a rockstar compare to a rock?
Human capital is the number one resource in many companies. Employee retention and having the right person in the right seat is one of the categories within sustainable investing that has both an intuitive and straight forward and measurable impact on the bottom line. I am joined by Dawn Shuler from The Shuler Group to talk about this fascinating topic.
https://www.theshulergroupllc.com/
Take an Impact Assessment with Forty4 Financial on EthosESG
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Being a sustainable investor can also entail to be a sustainable consumer - how do you align as many areas of your life with your personal values as possible? And what is a wind powered lawn mower?
How to select your Halloween candy based on Impact.
Take an Impact Assessment.
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Being a sustainable consumer can mean different things. In today’s bonus episode, I am joined by to Estebe Salgado from WeAreTheWine.com, to discuss sustainable and organic wines. Listen to the end for a little give-away for the holidays.
Today, let's talk about what sustainable investing is. It
can mean different things to different people, and comes by many names, and in
this episode we will take a quick look at different ways to approach it.
So first, why so many different names? When it comes to
sustainable investing, there's ESG, socially responsible, sustainable, impact,
responsible, values based and others, and believe it or not, they all have
merit or historical background. And it kind of depends what you're trying to
accomplish with it.
For me, I decided to go with the term sustainable investing,
partly because I like the sound of it, but most importantly because it fits my
approach – to invest in a manner that is sustainable both from a financial
perspective, as well as from the impact or exposure of the associated
portfolio.
Historically, sustainable investing was limited sin stocks,
like tobacco, alcohol, gambling, weapons, and the like. It was first set in
motion by the Rockefeller family back in the 1970’s as a way to reflect the values
of the family.
In recent years, it has evolved to be much more nuanced,
especially as data is becoming more widely available. The foundation can be the
exclusionary approach, where you have certain things you want to avoid, similar
to what the Rockefellers did, avoiding the stuff you don't want to be
associated with. The goal is to find companies that act or behave in a manner
that is aligned with your values, or at least do not work against them.
You can then add a layer that is inclusionary on top, and focus
on investments that represent what you really want to promote in your portfolio,
or certain characteristics you're feeling strongly about. It can be thematic in
nature, maybe focused on renewable energy, gender equality or climate change,
or it can be more general in it’s approach. Again, it can be a very personal decision.
Investments can have both financial and a non-financial
returns. Traditional investing focuses solely on the financial aspect, while
Impact investing is more about the non-financial characteristics, such as
providing low-income housing, or supporting a local economy, but having less
focus on making money. Sustainable investing, in my opinion, aims to bridge the
two, where there is a balance between the two returns. It can be structured to
potentially yield a financial return similar to that of the broader market,
while still having a profile you feel is right for you. Of course, any time you
invest in a different way than the regular market, you should expect that your
return can be different.
When you look at the available investment options, you are
starting to see many investments that have the letters ESG in their name, and this
has become a common sight in the investment world. The E, for Environment, is
usually the one that is the easiest to grasp, as it is related to carbon
emissions, energy efficiency, resource use, and similar. The S, for Social,
covers things like gender and diversity policies, both in the workforce and the
boardroom, human rights, labor standards and customer satisfaction. Finally,
the G is for Governance, and looks at board independence, fair executive
compensation, bribery and corruption policies and data security.
Truth be told, I don’t believe there is a so-called perfect
company out there – most have room for improvement in one area or another – but
some are working more diligently on addressing their issues than others.
Wall Street has done a great job adopting the ESG framework,
although in a way that I find leaves room to do better. Their focus is on
finding the companies that make the most money while scoring well in...
This trailer is an overview of what a listener can expect from this podcast and a number of reasons they should look forward to each episode. Listen in so you don't miss out! Connect with host, Frank Byskov https://forty4financial.com/ (Forty4 Financial)