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
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.
Financial services are constantly evolving and becoming increasingly digital.
Trading digital assets — whether it is ESG data, crypto, or other financial products (across centralized and decentralized finance platforms) — is starting to change the overall investment process.
In this episode, Kimberly Griego-Kiel sits down with returning guest David Bennell, advisor at Transformational Investing in Food Systems (TIFS). Together, they talk about the standardization of impact investing in the government and industry and the effects of decentralized financial trading. Kim and David also unveil easy things we can do to adjust and be prepared for the newest era of the web.
Kim and David discuss:
Standardizing impact investing on the government and industry level
How crypto impacts the overall investment process
Accepting the new digital era based on trust and time
Understanding the ‘what’ and not the ‘how’ of web 3.0
David Bannell is a global leader in ESG and Sustainability engagement between corporations, investors, and non-profits. He bridges the ESG gap between investors and companies by creating engagement tools and collaborations like the investor portal Engage The Chain and the six-part global Food Systems Dialogue for Investors series, which had participation from over 75 major corporations and 50+ institutional investors and major banks.
While we may not see the effects of climate change in our everyday lives, its impact on our environment is increasing across the globe.
In this episode, Kim Griego-Kiel sheds light on vulnerability and adaptation as two key points of the UN’s 2022 Climate Change Report. This report assesses the impacts of climate change, looking at ecosystems, biodiversity, and human communities at global and regional levels. It also reviews vulnerabilities and the capacities and limits of the natural world and human societies to adapt to climate change.
Kim discusses:
The vulnerability of our ecosystems, infrastructure, and energy systems
Impacting climate crisis through adaptation
The critical need to implement global sustainability practices for the global wellbeing
How you can use the UN’s report to start to take action with your investing
There is no question that climate change is affecting how we live on a global scale.
The food and agriculture systems are no exception. They are connected to every area of impact investing. As food systems become less resilient, they will create bigger problems for our global markets.
In this episode, Kimberly Griego-Kiel explains what is wrong with our food and agricultural systems, why they are dying, and why it is in the best interest for investors to take part in making a change.
Kimberly discusses:
The serious threat of extinction to cacao, corn, wheat, rice, and coffee
The social, environmental, and financial cost of a deteriorating food system
How seed saving, slow food, and organic production processes can help make a change in our food systems
The importance of highlighting the food system’s market and impact to investors to generate change
