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Community
Investing Achiever in the Social
Investment Forum 1% For Community campaign since 2002. Calvert
Foundation Advisor of the Year in 2004. Learn more!

(Network Services Member)




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92% of investors believe that a financial advisor should
investigate ethical as well as financial performance of investments
before making recommendations.1
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84% of investors agree that, in the long run, companies with
high ethical integrity make better investments.2
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71% of investors believe that companies that operate with
higher levels of integrity carry less investment risk.1
1. Harris Interactive Poll, conducted for Calvert, November
2003; 2. Neuwirth Research, conducted for Calvert, August 2003.
Some very special strategies are available and often implemented
with our sustainable and responsible investing services. You are probably already familiar with the
idea of avoidance and qualitative screening--the integration of environmental,
social, and governance (ESG) criteria to investment analysis.
Another core sustainable investment strategy is corporate engagement through shareholder dialogue, proxy
voting, and the shareholder resolution process. Many of our portfolio managers
provide both the screening criteria and engagement/advocacy strategies.
Another part of an SRI portfolio is community investing.
These help individuals and regions
pull themselves out of poverty and regain socio-economic self-empowerment.
And a little more detail if you wish...
Integrating screening criteria with portfolio management
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Example: You want tobacco, gambling, nuclear power,
and weapons screened out of your portfolio. This is simply
avoiding investment in certain industries or practices in your portfolio.
Such "avoidance screening" is usually taken care of by your
sustainable and SRI
mutual fund or separate account manager.
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Example: You want to consider the domestic and international labor
practices, environmental practices, and full public
disclosure. To maintain a diversified portfolio, you have to invest
in companies that are not perfect but have better qualities
than others in their industry. Such "qualitative screening" is usually
taken care of by your
SRI mutual fund or separate account manager.
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"In our research, we ask companies questions that they are not used to being asked, about issues that they've never before been told are important. In the U.S. and increasingly in Western Europe, simply putting issues on the table can positively affect management's decision making."
Amy Domini, Summer 2007 GreenMoneyJournal.com.
Shareholder advocacy and activism
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Examples: You like the idea of your money managers asking a major company to report their EEO data or
global labor standards to
the public, or asking a large media company to not support a
porn network, or getting a large chain to phase out selling
unsustainably harvested old-growth and tropical lumber.
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Using these tactics, the sustainable and SRI movement gets companies
to
change their policies and practices.
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Some big-name companies are taking heed. Shareholder campaigns for
tighter supplier oversight have resulted in changes at Nike
Inc., Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Walt Disney Co. Disney, where one
shareholder proposal won 43% support, is making sweeping changes to the
way it monitors, audits and reports on contractors. Gap Inc. has also
started releasing more information on overseas contractors' compliance.
Get the latest scoop on what's going on from the Social
Investment Forum's Advocacy & Public Policy web site.
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Shareholder advocacy, activism, and proxy voting is usually
taken care of by your
sustainable and SRI
mutual fund or separate account manager.
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Example: A young couple was a long-term welfare recipient.
They turned to his long time hobby, woodworking for help.
And, with the help of a small loan from a community loan
fund, they were able to turn his woodworking into a business
that now supports the whole family off welfare. Get the
latest scoop on what's going on from the Community
Investing web site.
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You can now easily make small business, child care, and
affordable housing a portion of your portfolio by investing
in professionally-managed community investment notes.
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This
office is participating in the 1% for community campaign.
You can too.
Most people think that socially responsible investing only encompasses
negative screening. Now you know better. When your money management is
engaged in each of these key strategies above, then you're fully
participating in the social investing movement!
A common misconception about sustainable investing and SRI is that it will cause lower
financial performance. Well, not necessarily so. You can conduct your own
research on this question starting with the following resources:
(see disclaimers)
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Managing Portfolio Risk Appropriate asset allocation
(a portfolio's mix of asset classes), can help you manage risk. Many professional investment advisors,
including us, believe that probably the most
important factor in the risk and performance of your portfolio is the asset allocation
that governs your portfolio. Timing and securities selection have been found to be
smaller determinants of performance. Your professionally managed portfolio should utilize
sophisticated asset allocation strategies within the context of an appropriately
diversified mix of investments.
- Through sustainable investing, you can be supportive of moving towards a
good society and environment.
- You can free up time to do more of the things in life
you enjoy including spending more time with family, hobbies, and community.
- You may also find you have less need to personally figure out and track economic and investment trends
yet still efficiently oversee your advisor.
Investment services are tailored for you or your organization. We use First
Affirmative Financial Network's investment management services as well as other
approaches that may be appropriate to your situation.
Please give us a call to discuss your individual, family, trust, or
foundation situation.Depending on your situation, objectives, and the amount you are working
with, you may benefit from our state-of-the-art investment management services.
Services include managed portfolios of sustainable and responsible mutual funds
and ETFs, sets of managed model folios, separate account management
with individual stocks and bonds, and community investment notes. Most new
clients transfer to our services with assets already managed
elsewhere such as with brokers, investment advisors, retirement accounts,
trust companies, or banks. Your account transfers will be coordinated
and
monitored for you through our industry-standard systems, account custodians,
networks, and teams
of professionals. If during our initial conversation it appears that your situation
is not a perfect match for our services, we can probably provide
you an introduction
to one of our qualified colleagues.
- Self-Directed Accounts
- Sometimes, a client needs to maintain their own
investments or cash-management accounts. In
conjunction with
receiving one of our other services described above, we may be able to assist you in establishing your
self-directed or cash-management account. This kind of account does not receive ongoing management
services but is provided as a client convenience.
Client accounts are normally held via custodial
arrangement with Charles Schwab Institutional, KMS Financial Services, Inc.
(clearing through Pershing, LLC), Folio Institutional, or other major custodians as fully disclosed on new
account applications. Occasionally an account may need to be held directly with a mutual fund company or
other platform.
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Individual, Joint, and Trust
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Foundation, Endowment, and Organization
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UTMA or UGMA
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IRAs (various) and other Retirement Accounts
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529 College Savings
As one of the pioneering investment advisory firms in the Pacific Northwest specializing in helping clients achieve their investment goals and objectives utilizing sustainable and responsible investment strategies, Goodfunds Wealth
management is an enthusiastic signatory of the UNPRI.
Convened in 2005-2006 by the United Nations Secretary-General, the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI) provides investors with a framework for incorporating environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria into their investment decisions. A total of 625 firms from around the world have become signatories including asset owners, investment managers, and professional service partners.
Directly or through our investment managers, we are committed to the 6 Principles of Responsible Investment:
- Incorporating ESG issues into investment analysis and decision making processes.
- Being active owners and incorporating ESG issues into our own ownership policies and practices.
- Seeking appropriate disclosure on ESG issues by entities in which we invest.
- Promoting acceptance and implementation of the Principles with the investment industry.
- Working together to enhance our effectiveness in implementing the Principles.
- Reporting on activities and progress towards implementing the Principles.
"History teaches that both investment managers and clients need
help if they are to hold successfully to the discipline of long-term commitments. This
means restraining themselves from reacting inappropriately to disconcerting short-term
data and keeping themselves from taking those unwise actions that seem so obvious and
urgent to optimists at market highs and to pessimists at market lows. The best shield for
long-term policies against the outrageous attacks of acute short-term data and distress
are knowledge and understanding committed to writing."
Charles D.
Ellis
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