Water is life. But right now, water is also a messenger.
If you’re following the news, you know about the current water shortage, and how this situation is a warning sign of climate change.
In this episode, Kimberly Griego Kiel unpacks everything around the current water scarcity while detailing some must-know action items along with tips and tricks you can follow to make a difference.
Kim discusses:
The climate water and food nexus we’re currently facing
How ground and above groundwater management is depleting rapidly
Tips to reduce and optimize our water usage
What to do (locally) to provide solutions to the water crisis
Not every bank or mutual fund we give our money to has our environmental impact values in mind.
In this episode, Kim Griego-Kiel takes a deep dive into how you can be smarter about where your money is going and who you invest with. She talks about banking and insurance alternatives that share ESG values and prioritize what they invest in to make an impactful difference.
Kim discusses:
How alternate banking like community banks or credit unions can work for you
The steps insurance companies are taking to be stewards of the environment
What 30 of the primary insurers are doing to avoid catastrophic climate change
How to find out if your bank or mutual fund invests in fossil fuels
In this episode of Deep Impact Investing, Kimberly Griego-Kiel talks about Horizons Sustainable Financial Services’ financial health quiz. She dives into all 15 questions for you to follow along and figure out your financial health score.
Kim discusses:
Why it’s important to not only know the value of your bank and investment accounts but also to check them regularly
Why you should list your assets and liabilities or know where to find them
The importance of developing specific and measurable financial goals
Knowing the value of your home and the balance of your mortgage and the interest rate
The rising cost of living is not just affecting the working class, but also those who are using their assets to support themselves throughout retirement.
In this episode, Kim Griego-Kiel provides you with the rundown you need to strengthen your financial roadmap. Kim starts by unpacking the most common misconceptions about money followed by highlighting how it can alter your financial freedom.
Kim discusses:
Three common myths about money
Why making more money doesn’t equal a better financial future
The National Retirement Risk Index and ways it can help you better understand your retirement situation
The mistake of believing the adage of “inflation not being that bad” during retirement
Everything from the environment to resources, and even sustainability, has been impacted by current events, which in turn bring market volatility.
How should we react to this? Should we be scared? Should the ESG markets be worried?
In this episode, Kimberly Griego-Kiel talks with Entelligent’s executive vice president for client & product development, Dr. Pooja Khosla. Dr. Khosla discusses some of the recent anti-ESG sentiments she has been hearing, along with things we can do to prioritize ESG investing today.
Dr. Khosla and Kim discuss:
Why ESG has underperformed over the last six months
How some industrialized countries like the US are producing more carbon than countries with a larger population
Reasons environmental-focused investors need to pay more attention to carbon production
How operating in scarcity of resources has made emerging markets more resourceful and environmentally friendly
Dr. Pooja Khosla is the executive vice president for client & product development at Entelligent. Dr. Khosla is an economist, econometrician, and mathematician who has deep knowledge to build investing solutions. She has extensive experience in predictive modeling, microfinance, and designing impact investment tools and has been working on impact solutions since 2003, both nationally and internationally.
A lot is going on in the world today, from climate change to active wars.
But, how does it all affect us?
In this episode, Kimberly Griego-Kiel breaks down some of today’s hot topics in the news. In an educational discussion, Kim addresses how these industry-related topics impact financial advisors and investors while unveiling the role of ESG and the markets within these uncertain times.
Kim discusses:
The rapid increase in attacks on the ESG industry
Ways advisors in the ESG arena can respond to the situations happening within the industry
Deloitte’s four key stages of decarbonization
Why investors shouldn’t panic about the bear market
Looking at investing from a gender perspective uncovers the inequalities of the economy and reveals opportunities to create more effective and efficient systems.
In this episode, Kimberly Griego-Kiel sits down with Kristin Hull, the founder, CEO & CIO of Nia Impact Capital. Kristin unveils the role gender plays in impact investing and highlights Nia’s portfolio and its contribution to environmental sustainability and social justice.
Kristin discusses:
The definition of gender lens investing
The firm’s six solution themes
How to find business success through diversity in management
Ways to incorporate gender investing in your portfolio
Kristin Hull is the founder, CEO, and CIO of Nia Impact Capital. Kristin is a conscious investor empowering individuals, families, and organizations to invest in alignment with their values for the world they want to see. She launched Nia Global Solutions in 2013 to bring activism and impact investing into the public markets. In doing so, she developed Nia’s six solutions-focused investment themes, weaving a gender lens throughout the investment thesis.
Kristin founded Nia Community Investments in 2010, a 100% mission-aligned investment fund focused on social justice and environmental sustainability in Oakland. Before Nia Community, Kristin served as President and Chair of the Board of the Hull Family Foundation from 2007 to 2011, where she oversaw all of the investment efforts, transitioning the endowment from a traditional investment portfolio to one of the country’s first 100% mission impact invested portfolios. Kristin is also a co-founder of Impact Hub Oakland, a co-working space nurturing entrepreneurs and social change-makers.
Over 15% of the world’s population lives with some kind of disability. However, disability issues and rights are often overlooked when we consider Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) issues.
In this episode, Kim Griego-Kiel sheds light on disability rights and the lack of attention it receives in ESG conversations. She highlights why disability inclusion is critical for approaching ESG holistically and unveils how inclusion contributes to successful business operations.
Kimberly discusses:
How the Disability Equality Index is improving ESG and the impact investing arena
The purchasing power the disability community holds globally
Reasons it’s critical for organizations to be inclusive for their business success
How do you hold individuals, investors, and larger companies accountable in a timely fashion when considering the conflict between Russia and Ukraine?
Learn how you can support Ukrainians from an investing standpoint in this week’s episode of Deep Impact Investing.
This week, Kimberly Griego-Kiel and Johann Klaassen welcome Sonia Kowal, President of Zevin Asset Management. Together, they talk about the Russian-Ukrainian situation while unveiling the importance of looking at corporate and individual investing exposures to Russian companies to mitigate humanitarian and financial risk.
Sonia, Kim, and Johann discuss:
The two major risks concerned with direct exposure to Russian companies in your mutual funds
How to push multinational corporations out of Russia
The overarching risk of investing in authoritarian regimes across the world
The critical role of community investment in Ukraine’s recovery
Sonia is Zenin Asset Management’s President and has over two decades of investment experience in managing corporate matters, business practices, and strategic planning. She is a member of the firm’s Board of Managers and the Investment Committee. She is passionate about the value of integrating environmental, social, and governance issues into investments and is a frequent speaker on the topic at conferences. She feels particularly strongly about racial equity, wealth inequality, and our disastrous criminal justice system.
About Johann Klaassen:
Johann is Horizons Sustainable Financial Services’ executive vice president and chief investment officer. Here he develops asset allocation strategies and oversees investment policy for Horizons’ individual and institutional clients. As a passionate advocate for SRI, a skilled navigator of its intricacies, and an enthusiastic early adopter of just about every new communication tool and technology, Johann is informed, informative, and far more accessible than his many commitments might imply. He directly serves clients across the nation, tending to specialize in serving unusual and special circumstances or needs.
In October 2021, Kimberly Griego-Kiel took part in the ESG For Impact! Conference in Colorado Springs.
Now back with part two of her ESG for Impact! miniseries, Kim welcomes George Gay, the CEO of First Affirmative Financial Network, and Ebony Perkins, Self-Help Credit Union’s Vice President and Director of Investor Relations.
George and Kim explore George’s military background and ways to gain leadership within the environmental, social, and governance investing arena, while Ebony reviews everything you need to know about community investments. Plus, she shares how Self-Help Credit Union can support you when you need it the most.
Kim, George, and Ebony discuss:
How leadership skills are transferable from industry to industry
How 9/11 and the 2008 Market Crisis affected perceptions of success
The lending business during the pandemic
The importance of understanding where your money ‘sleeps’
George has worked at First Affirmative Financial Network since 1986, serving as the CEO since 1999. First Affirmative is a leading provider of professional services to investment professionals who focus on socially responsible investing, sustainable investing, ESG investing, and/or Impact Investing. Through their managed account service, Sustainable Investment Solutions TM, they currently manage roughly $1 Billion for clients around the country. Geroge is recognized as an industry role model and mentor. He’s a highly sought-after speaker, panelist, and counselor. He is a past recipient of the industry’s “SRI Service Award.”
About Ebony Perkins:
Ebony is a dedicated, solution-oriented social entrepreneur with a passion for community investing. In her career, she has scaled operations across 70 individual branches and 800 employees to grow cash investments in the social impact space, nearly doubling investments YoY from 2020 – 2021. She has participated on a leadership team that has led overall deposit growth from $1.2B to $2.5B over five years through strategic planning, business development initiatives, and mergers and acquisitions. Ebony was elected to the Board of US SIF in 2020, the leading voice for sustainable investing across all asset classes. She has secured $250M + in community investments by engaging foundations, high net worth individuals, and Fortune 100 companies across industries, including tech, consumer goods, and financial services.
