Investing With Your Values: How Can You Find the Right Strategy?

Many companies pay lip service to values they know investors are looking for. How can you tell if the company you want to invest in walks the walk or just talks?

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You’re a modern investor who wants more than a standard financial ROI. You want to know your money is doing good at the same time it’s creating a potential return on your investment. Many investors today want to address racial inequality and the opportunity gap in African American communities.  

If those issues are important to you, then the next step is to learn how to identify companies and portfolios that really do match those values. 

Impact investing is nothing new. For example, in the late 1980s, a lot of investors refused to put money in companies that didn’t publicly and loudly divest themselves from South Africa and Apartheid. But many businesses keep their values cards closer to the vest amidst ever-growing demand for information on those issues. So how can you identify companies where you’ll feel good about putting your money?

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Can you make money while impacting people’s lives?  

It’s important to note that some traditional measures of performance may not work.   For example, if you want to invest in companies that actively develop and promote minority executives, you won’t be able to find that in the financial data.  

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So how can you identify the right companies to invest in?

First, decide which approach you want to take. Are you more interested in actively supporting companies with the same values you have or in avoiding those that don’t? Many people use a mix! There’s no right or wrong, just a different way of looking at the choices. Then it’s up to you or your financial professional to research opportunities and find the ones that match your values.

Researching the annual reports and all the news around every company you might be interested inis one way to find this information, but it will take a long time! Thankfully, shortcuts exist for that part of the process.

Many investors today also want to divest from companies that cause harm to minority communities. Companies that use prison labor, invest in private prisons, or do not pay a living wage should be looked at closely by investors who are concerned about how those companies impact minority communities.  

If you are investing, you may also want to check the companies it invests in to make sure your investments support what matters to you and the future you want to create.

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Can your investments positively impact minority communities?

Racial justice has become ever more important to many investors. Minority communities in the United States, especially Black communities, have been negatively impacted through residential segregation, educational disparities, income inequality, and more. Residential segregation is a significant contributor to the wealth gap and educational disparities. Black students are often limited to subpar schools when school funding is determined by property values, which only serves to limit their opportunities.

How can investors help? Rather than investing in companies that want to bring outsiders into minority communities to “gentrify” them, invest in the people and businesses that are already in those communities, helping to lift them up from inside.

Supporting Black and minority-owned businesses may help close wealth gaps, strengthen local economies, create jobs, and hold other companies accountable for actions that may be hurting those communities — or your community.

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Where can you find those investment opportunities?

First, start with an experienced financial professional who will listen to your goals and concerns about where your money goes. Beyond that, do your own research.
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In light of the Black Lives Matter movement, more companies than ever are being open about their values to draw the kinds of investors they want to their efforts.  A financial professional who is dedicated to the same causes you believe in can be a huge help guiding your money to support the kind of future you want to build.

Some financial professional are creating opportunities, such as the Impact Strategy at FortisLux Financial, dedicated to impact investing. The Impact strategy actively addresses the widening wealth gap in America by purposefully investing in companies with strong social responsibility. The portfolio’s goal is to deliver long-term collective impact toward addressing racial equality. Fortis Lux also directs a portion of fees to an educational initiative for young Black Americans.

It is possible to “do well while doing good,” as the old saying goes. It takes time and effort to search out the investments that align with your personal values, investments that help make the world a better place. To learn more about how you can safely and positively invest your money, contact Fortis Lux today!

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