Tag: Additional Article

YourStake.org and the First Affirmative Financial Network (FAFN) recently announced a new partnership to equip the sustainable, responsible, and impact (SRI) investing pioneer and their large US network of SRI/environmental, social, and governance (ESG)-specialist advisors with the field-tested YourStake impact reporting solution. Active First Affirmative Network Members will be able to access the YourStake.org suite of services at a substantial discount.

When advisors talk with clients about social and environmental impact, abstract ESG scores don’t suffice. Clients don’t resonate with a simple number score in the same way that they resonate with tangible metrics and stories. And as advisors offer more personalized ESG portfolios, the greater the challenge to convey that sophistication to a layperson client, in intuitive terms they can quickly grasp. Launched at the 2019 SRI Conference, YourStake.org’s suite of tools help financial advisors walk a client through their sustainable investing journey.

Patrick Reed, Chief Executive Officer of YourStake.org, said, “First Affirmative already provides their members with extensively customizable ESG portfolios, and we are excited to provide FAFN advisors with enhanced reporting on how their portfolios create tangible impact aligned with client values.”

Advisors can leverage the expertly crafted YourStake.org questionnaires to reveal true client preferences. Those preferences then serve as the basis for a wide range of impact reports, including side-by-side comparisons and relatable narratives, such as “how many fewer asthma attacks” or “how many more meetings led by women” are tied to a certain amount of investment in a sustainable portfolio. All of YourStake.org’s data is fully transparent and communicable – for example, advisors can click to ‘look-through’ the number of asthma attacks to see what companies are held by funds in a portfolio that are linked to air pollution, what amounts of pollution and chemicals come from each of their factories, and what peer reviewed scientific articles relate air pollution to public health outcomes.

Theresa Gusman, Chief Investment Officer of First Affirmative, says, “The number of ESG investors is growing rapidly, and First Affirmative has been at the forefront assisting sustainable wealth managers since 1988. With this partnership, we are delighted to be advancing the forefront of the SRI ecosystem by enabling advisors to communicate to clients the impact their investments are making.”

The YourStake impact reporting features complement First Affirmative’s recently introduced AffirmativESG advisor workstation and its sophisticated portfolio selection process. AffirmativESG allows advisors to work with their clients to build custom portfolios reflecting the client’s financial objectives and unique environmental, social, and ethical values and beliefs. YourStake is particularly well-suited to enable advisors to demonstrate their clients that First Affirmative’s Custom Sustainable Investment Solutions are achieving the desired impact outcomes. Like AffirmativESG, the YourStake platform is intuitive and easy for advisors to use.

Released in 2020, AffirmtivESG employs a sophisticated portfolio construction engine, incorporating eight easily navigable categories of impact preference curated by First Affirmative, with more than 50 sub-categories for further client customization. Companies are placed in these categories following careful vetting using the long-standing research and analysis that sets First Affirmative apart in ESG and SRI, including a proprietary sustainability screen that eliminates poor ESG performers from each industry group. The combination of the First Affirmative and YourStake.org services will enable advisors to deliver standout sustainable investing practices, in a year which has seen immense growth and interest in ESG, with fund inflows exceeding $30 billion this year as of September according to Institutional Investor, an increase of more than four times over 2019.

About YourStake.org
YourStake.org was founded to catalyze sustainable investing, by revolutionizing the quality and processing of impact datasets beyond traditional ESG data providers, enabling more people to realize the importance of sustainable investing. Solutions are available for individual RIAs and for enterprises. Contact CEO Patrick Reed at –  patrick@yourstake.org

About the First Affirmative Financial Network
Since 1988, First Affirmative has had one mission – to improve investment performance, reduce risk and create a better world by integrating SRI investing with ESG principles. Through their Member Network, First Affirmative helps advisors achieve their clients’ financial and impact objectives, while building a strong community amount its national membership base. Contact Chief Operating Officer Amy Thacker at – amythacker@firstaffirmative.com