2021 was a great year for sustainable and ESG investing and its ability to outperform traditional markets.
However, it is important to understand the difference between ESG and impact investing when creating your portfolio.
In this episode, Kimberly explores the main differences between SRI, ESG, and impact investing. Plus, she explains the importance of understanding their roles in the market when building your portfolio.
Kim discusses:
Differentiating impact and ESG investing and ways they work together
How to measure and evaluate the impact of your investments with both strategies
How to investigate the companies you are supporting in your 401(k) investments
Ways Horizons Sustainable Financial Services can help guide where YOU choose to invest
Have you ever dreamed about changing careers and moving across the world?
Priscilla Plummer, the founder of Global Sojourns Giving Circle (GSGC), made that dream her reality in 1990 when she moved across the world and traveled throughout the African continent. Using her travel experience and passion for philanthropy, she works to create an effective impact on Western and African female communities.
In this week’s episode, Priscilla joins Kimberly Griego-Kiel to detail her journey from working for a magazine to founding and running Global Sojourns Giving Circle, a successful non-profit organization. Priscilla highlights GSGC’s mission and ways they focus on sustainably supporting girls around education and empowerment.
Kimberly and Priscilla discuss:
Priscilla’s journey to South Africa and how she built Global Sojourns Giving Circle
The organization’s female-focused approach
The importance of learning and understanding cultural differences when working alongside GSGC
How deep and impactful change starts with women but must be continued by men
Board Member USA & Southern Africa, Priscilla Plummer is the founder of Global Sojourns Giving Circle (GSGC). Priscilla followed her passion to Africa more than 30 years ago, and nothing makes her happier than to connect travelers with her favorite people and places. Her MS in International Development underlies our deep commitment to culturally sensitive travel and philanthropic work.
For this episode of the four-part ESG for Impact! miniseries, Kimberly invites three difference-makers in sustainable shareholder advocacy to outline their unique focus on ESG investing and mutual funds.
This week, Leslie Samuelrich, the president of Green Century Funds, and Kim explore plastic pollution, recycling, climate change, sustainable supply chains and how Leslie’s campaigns are pushing for change in these areas.
Additionally, Vert Asset Management’s Chief Executive Officer, Sam Adams, and Chief Sustainability Officer, Sarah Adams, join Kim to explain how they work together to drive change with sustainable real estate with companies that are either constructing or maintaining buildings.
Kim, Leslie, Sarah, and Sam discuss:
The plastic we consume and waste we create due to improper recycling practices
Ways Green Century Funds’ approach to supply chains and the disposable economy
How to make real estate more sustainable
Ways the ESG For Impact! conference has contributed to the sustainable and collaborative investment arena
Leslie leads Green Century Capital Management and focuses on the firm’s investment strategies, business development, and impact investing program. The Green Century Funds have experienced 570% growth under her leadership. Ms. Samuelrich has more than 25 years of experience in ESG investing, corporate engagement, and environmental and public health advocacy. Her comments have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, the New York Times, Responsible Investor, Barron’s, and many other outlets. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment (US SIF) and the Advisory Board of the Intentional Endowments Network.
About Sam Adams:
Sam is the CEO of Vert Asset Management. Sam is an environmentalist and a capitalist passionate about preserving and defending nature and has worked as an investment professional. He has 20 years of experience at Dimensional Fund Advisors, where he learned the power of the markets as an Investment Professional. Sam is passionate about making sustainable investing easier for financial advisors and their clients. He also holds a BA from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and an MBA from UC Davis Graduate School of Management.
About Sarah Adams:
Sarah is the Chief Sustainability Officer and Co-founder at Vert Asset Management. Sarah leads on the engagement processes to define how the company operates, ways to influence the financial services sector, and ways shareholders can be active stewards of capital for ESG and better business practices. She started in financial services at a boutique brokerage firm during the late 90s dot-com boom.
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.
In October 2021, Kimberly Griego-Kiel took part in the ESG For Impact! conference in Colorado Springs.
During this two-day conference, Kim attended sessions focused on SRI investments, strategies, and concepts while connecting with like-minded professionals and industry leaders.
One of those leaders was Rex Raimond, the director of The Transformational Investing in Food Systems (TIFS) Initiative.
In the first part of the ESG for Impact! miniseries, Rex joins Kim to explain everything around investing in global food systems. They explore how food growth can impact our health and the environment and outline ways we can get into a new sustainable economy.
Kim and Rex discuss:
How food systems fit within the ESG arena
The destructiveness of the agricultural system
The financial component of growing food system operations
Rex Raimond has more than 20 years of experience developing strategies and building effective partnerships for sustainable and equitable food systems. He applies his partnership-building skills to help build a movement among concessional, impact, and commercial investors, companies, civil society organizations, and other stakeholders to increase investment in principles-aligned food system businesses that are economically viable and deliver sustainable impact. Rex has worked on many aspects of food and agricultural systems transformation, including sustainable finance, crop insurance, and agricultural policy, market incentives for soil health practices, sustainable supply chains, food safety, science and emerging technologies, sustainable landscape planning, and climate change.
Farmers are a lot like scientists. In fact, for farmers to be able to cultivate healthy food for people like us, they need to know a lot about the way they’re producing and growing that food.
How are farmers and ranchers working to bring us healthier meals while also enhancing sustainability efforts in agriculture?
Find out in this episode, as Erin Fitzgerald, the CEO of U.S. Farmers and Ranchers In Action (USFRA), sits down with Kimberly Griego-Kiel to continue the conversation on sustainable agriculture. Erin explains everything you need to know about USFRA and the firm’s role in creating solutions for economic and agricultural sustainability.
In this episode, you will learn:
USFRA’s vision and mission
How farmers and ranchers can reduce carbon emissions
From cow Fitbits to cover crops: Technological innovations for farms and ranches
Ways agriculture can contribute to America’s overall economic growth
And more!
Tune in today and learn how you, too, can support the sustainable agriculture movement!
The World Business Council for Sustainable Development’s (WBCSD) David Bennell focuses on creating high-quality products, services, and programs that deliver real value and set the standard for safety, sustainability, and profitability.
In this episode, join Kimberly Griego-Kiel as she sits down with David to discuss his contribution to the Transformative Investment in Climate-Smart Soil Agriculture report and to highlight what you really need to know about agricultural investment.
In this episode, you will learn:
How much private capital is in the United States’ agricultural system
Why technological and financial innovation benefit the agriculture sector
The role of greenhouse gas emissions in agricultural production
Why resilience is so important in an agricultural environment
And more!
Listen in and find out why, at the end of the day, you are always investing in agriculture!
You’ve likely heard the term CSR (Corporate Sustainability Reporting) at least once. But do you really know what this type of reporting entails and why it’s so important?
Find out in this episode as Kimberly Griego-Kiel takes you along for an in-depth look at CSR. By outlining its benefits, challenges, solutions, and guidelines, Kim explains CSR’s role within corporations and reveals how it fits into the overall idea of sustainability.
In this episode, you will learn:
The history and purpose of Corporate Sustainability Reporting (CSR)
Challenges associated with CSR
The role of CSR in a firm’s profit and ESG metrics
Kim’s take on how to achieve good quality CSR
How millennials are shaping the future of sustainability
And more!
Listen in for your crash course on the ins and outs of CSR!
What can we expect to see from sustainable investing in 2021?
Find out in this episode as Kimberly Griego-Kiel reveals her ESG and sustainable investing predictions for the year!
Join Kim as she forecasts what might lay ahead based on industry research findings. Plus, she shares the potential benefits ESG investing can bring to the government, citizens, and corporations alike.
In this episode, you will learn:
How impact investing has grown since 2018
Why more companies and individuals are choosing sustainable investing
ESG and social investing trends of 2021
Why corporation sustainability reporting could be a new requirement in upcoming years
And more!
Tune in today to learn Kim’s view on 2021’s sustainable investing industry!
COVID-19 has impacted almost all areas of our lives, including the economy and markets.
However, now that we’ve entered 2021, we are starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel.
In this episode, join Kimberly Griego-Kiel and Johann Klaassen as they reflect on the 2020 economy, market, unemployment, and ESG numbers to create a vision for what’s to come in 2021.
In this episode, you will learn:
The eye-opening 2020 unemployment rates in some parts of the country
Reasons why the stock market is improving
How positive economic performance is related to ESG and social impact investing
Why you should be careful about the idea of “getting back to normal”
And more!
Listen today to take a look back on 2020 and to prepare for all that’s to come in 2021!
