At the forefront of Responsible Investing + engagement.

Be ready to ask questions…
In addition to asking clients about their financial goals and risk tolerance, ask whether ESG issues are important to them, and how they would like to factor key issues like climate change, data security or fossil fuels into their investing decisions.

…and answer questions
Some of the factors that may have discouraged clients from pursuing ESG investing are lack of knowledge, difficulty evaluating ESG performance, limited investment opportunities and troubles researching ESG investments — problems that advisors are well-equipped to address.

Performance matters
Contrary to the dated perceptions of ESG investing, there is no "penalty" or drop in performance inherent with ESG investing — results have shown that ESG investing is generally competitive with its non-ESG investing counterparts.

Know your options
Every client’s needs are different. Responsible Investing has grown significantly and can be a viable option in a client's portfolio.

While each online broker-dealer may have a slightly different process, here’s a general look at the steps required for online investing.

Step 1: Assess your investment objectives
Review your financial goals and the time horizon for the investment, as well as your tolerance for risk. In addition, you may want to take into account environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues that are important to you. For example, you may be interested in investments that examine the relevant risks and opportunities associated with climate change.

Step 2: Review your options
Companies like Calvert have an increasingly wide variety of products that consider ESG issues in their investment process. You may want to examine how an asset manager selects companies to invest in to see if they factor ESG issues into these decisions. You also may want to consider how an asset manager engages with companies and uses its proxy votes to facilitate change.

Step 3: Select your investments
Determine which investments are appropriate for achieving your financial goals. If you have a financial advisor, talk to them about your financial goals and ESG topics that are important to you. Financial advisors are becoming more knowledgeable about Responsible Investing, but may not be comfortable bringing the topic up themselves.