Displaying items by tag: sustainability

Tuesday, 16 May 2023 08:07

Growth Strategies for Financial Advisors

In an article for Investopedia, Justin Kuepper shared some strategies for financial advisors to grow their practices. This type of planning is important to ensure that daily activities are aligned with your long-term financial goals as well as your client’s. Without consistently investing in these efforts, it’s likely that your practice will start to erode as clients who leave are not replaced. 

Instead, advisors should focus on carving out a specific niche such as focusing on a particular community, industry, or demographic. This will lend more expertise and credibility and lead to more curiosity and comfort from clients and prospects. You will also have less competition and be able to develop a brand which can be difficult given that financial advisors offer many of the same services. 

The next growth strategy is to provide exceptional service to your clients as it can lead to referrals which is the most effective form of marketing. Some advisors make the mistake of focusing too much on new business and see high rates of attrition when existing clients don’t feel valued. Putting these strategies in place also means that advisors don’t need to compromise on price as they will be offering a premium, differentiated service.


Finsum: Growing a financial advisory business takes planning and strategic thinking. Here are some tips to ensure success.

 

Published in Wealth Management

In an article for Vettafi’s AdvisorPerspectives, Nestor Hernandez discussed some ways that investing in alternative asset classes can help reduce portfolio volatility. Due to the poor performance of stocks and bonds in 2022, interest in the category has exploded in 2023. Another contributing factor is that technology and regulatory changes have made these investments available to a much wider audience.

Based on research, it’s clear that investing in alternatives leads to lower volatility due to increased diversification. These tend to be private, non-public traded funds in different asset classes such as real estate, private credit, private equity, hedge funds, venture capital, etc. In contrast to public markets, private markets tend to have less liquidity, transparency, and minimums when it comes to investment amounts. 

Until recently, these investments were only available to institutional or high net-worth investors. But, these can play an important role for investors especially given that we are seeing the number of companies shrink on the public markets, while opportunities increase on private markets. Additionally, companies are going public at much later stages, meaning private investors have more opportunities to see their investments appreciate. 


Finsum: CalPERS CEO Marcie Frost is facing competing pressures from liberals and conservatives over ESG investing.

 

Published in Wealth Management
Sunday, 14 May 2023 16:20

CalPERS CEO Faces ESG Pressures

In an article for Axios, Dan Primack discussed some of the competing pressures faced by CalPERS CEO Marcie Frost. CalPERS is America’s largest public pension system and has more than $440 billion in assets under management. 

Currently, Frost is facing pressure from conservatives and liberals about ESG investing. Conservatives see it as a ‘tax’ to accomplish liberal policy goals, while liberals are pushing legislation in the California state legislature that would bar investing in publicly traded fossil fuel companies.

Frost is against such limitations, however she is a supporter of ESG and sees it as key criteria in evaluating investments. As an example, she cited CalPERS’ significant commercial real estate investments in coastal and urban areas whose value could be impacted by climate events. 

Her priority is to fulfill the pension obligations for Californians which she considers more important than ESG factors. She said she would pursue investments that would generate healthy returns regardless of ESG factors but would use her standing as an institutional shareholder to push the company in a more ESG direction. 

By banning fossil fuels, CalPERS would not be able to play a role in helping fossil fuel companies transition for the future. However, Frost does expect the legislation to pass.


Finsum: CalPERS CEO Marcie Frost is facing competing pressures from liberals and conservatives over ESG investing.

Published in Wealth Management
Thursday, 11 May 2023 14:09

American execs grooving to the tune of ESGs

Seem to you as if ESG’s lost a bit of its zest? You could just about be granted a mulligan for feeling that way, according to ey.com.

Then again, you might believe that, among some leaders, the rapid momentum’s taking five.

Here’s the bottom line: when any landscape altering thought process toward business like ESG surfaces, it can find its apex faster than a speeding bullet. Looking at the bigger picture, however, the mission critical relevance of sustainability and ESG in modern business and the corporate juice it sparked last season should be sent to separate corners.

A survey commissioned by Ernst & Young gauging the priority business placed on sustainability and ESG initiatives confirmed what many figured: ESG remains in the crosshairs of American execs. It also appears to pay dividends, heading every agenda.     

During the past year, investment decisions based on ESG factors hasn’t exactly been looked upon fondly, according to webforum.org.

Factors such as the Ukraine invasion and inflation have fueled the negativity.

No matter; sustainability investing decidedly will remain a thing, abetting the segue to a future that’s not only greener, but struts greater sustainability.

Published in Eq: Dividends
Wednesday, 03 May 2023 05:18

6 ESG Picks for 2023: TD Cowen

In a Barron’s article, Lauren Foster discussed some ESG recommendations for 2023 from TD Cowen. The bank sees upside for ESG in 2023 due to an increasing focus on energy security, long-term decoupling from fossil fuel, and government-led investments in energy infrastructure. They identify six companies that offer the best combination in terms of ESG metrics and traditional investing factors: Air Products & Chemicals; Norwegian start-up FREYR Battery (FREY); Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital;Itron (ITRI), Piedmont Lithium (PLL); and Stem (STEM).

Air Products & Chemicals is the largest of these companies with a $66 billion market cap. TD Cowen notes its critical role in terms of boosting hydrogen production capacity which is a priority for the Biden Administration. It sees the company as being a potential leader in this space given its multiple projects throughout the Middle East and North America. 

Notably, many of the companies on Cowen’s list are down considerably given the underperformance of growth stocks since interest rates started moving higher. While there are some headwinds for ESG investing due to a more polarized political climate, Cowen sees the long-term drivers of demand as only strengthening in the coming years. 


Finsum: TD Cowen sees ESG picks as having upside in 2023. Here are 6 of its top selections.

Published in Wealth Management
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