Your Guide to Creating a Purpose-Driven Investment

By TRG Advisors on October 28, 2021

Building wealth doesn’t have to mean leaving your values at the door. Today, investors from all kinds of backgrounds are putting their money where their values are and building a growing movement toward purpose-driven investing.

Whether you care about conscious capitalism, socially responsible investing, or faith driven financial choices, there are many ways to support your values through your investment strategies.

Integrating your values and investment strategy doesn’t mean giving up growth. In fact, research shows that the performance of “sustainable” funds is typically on par with conventional equity investments.¹ Why? Past performance can’t predict future results, but companies that behave sustainably, treat employees well, and focus on more than quarterly profits may have strategic advantages over their competitors.²

If you’re interested in using your wealth-building strategies to support your ethics, values, and vision of the future, you’re in the right place. Below is a step-by-step process to create a purpose-driven strategy that aligns your values, ethics, and beliefs with your financial goals.

Step 1: Get a clear picture of what’s important to you.

Want to feel connected to your financial strategies and align your goals with your values? Harness the power of psychology and connect with what’s deeply important to you.

• What am I passionate about?
• What are the values that hold meaning for me?
• What words do I use to describe my personal philosophy?
• What am I on Earth to do?

Step 2: Identify your priorities.

Purpose-driven investing (also called sustainable investing) typically falls into three main categories:

Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing finds companies that both are profitable and have internal practices and policies that support good practices or have corporate cultures that support your values.

Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) actively seeks out  and rejects investments based on specific guidelines. It helps you find investments that align with your social, political, and/or religious values and screen out those that do not.

Impact Investing is about solving the world’s big problems and making a positive change, like combating world hunger or building better corporate cultures through supporting employee relations.

Step 3: Integrate your purpose with your financial goals.

Ultimately, you’re building wealth for a specific goal, whether it’s a comfortable retirement, a house, a future education, or some other reason. Integrating your goals with your purpose helps ensure that your day-to-day financial decisions are in harmony with your values.

Building wealth doesn’t have to mean leaving your values at the door. Purpose-driven investing is about more than picking and choosing the right companies. It can help you champion the values that are most important to you and empower you to fight the big problems, make real impacts, and support lasting changes that can shape the future.

Whether you’re:

• Concerned about climate change…
• Evangelical about technological solutions to the world’s ills…
• Passionate about aligning your strategies with your personal beliefs…

We hear you. And we’re here to help. We can work with you to create a strategy that upholds your deepest beliefs and helps you become a champion of the values closest to your heart.

The Rand Group is a team of investment professionals registered with Hightower Securities, LLC, member FINRA and SIPC & Hightower Advisors, LLC a registered investment advisor with the SEC. All securities are offered through Hightower Securities, LLC and advisory services are offered through Hightower Advisors, LLC. This is not an offer to buy or sell securities. No investment process is free of risk and there is no guarantee that the investment process described herein will be profitable. Investors may lose all of their investments. Past performance is not indicative of current or future performance and is not a guarantee. In preparing these materials, we have relied upon and assumed without independent verification, the accuracy and completeness of all information available from public and internal sources. Hightower shall not in any way be liable for claims and make no expressed or implied representations or warranties as to their accuracy or completeness or for statements or errors contained in or omissions from them. This document was created for informational purposes only; the opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not represent those of Hightower Advisors, LLC or any of its affiliates. Third-party links and references are provided solely to share social, cultural and educational information. Any reference in this post to any person, or organization, or activities, products, or services related to such person or organization, or any linkages from this post to the web site of another party, do not constitute or imply the endorsement, recommendation, or favoring of The Rand Group or Hightower Advisors, LLC, or any of its affiliates, employees or contractors acting on its behalf.  Hightower Advisors, LLC, does not guarantee the accuracy or safety of any linked site. Hightower Advisors do not provide tax or legal advice. This material was not intended or written to be used or presented to any entity as tax advice or tax information. Tax laws vary based on the client’s individual circumstances and can change at any time without notice. Clients are urged to consult their tax or legal advisor for related questions.

Risk Disclosure: Investing involves risk including the potential loss of principal. No investment strategy can guarantee a profit or protect against loss in periods of declining values. Past performance does not guarantee future results. This material is for information purposes only and is not intended as an offer or solicitation with respect to the purchase or sale of any security. The content is developed from sources believed to be providing accurate information; no warranty, expressed or implied, is made regarding accuracy, adequacy, completeness, legality, reliability or usefulness of any information. Consult your financial professional before making any investment decision. For illustrative use only.

Sources:
¹ Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/10/imf-research-finds-esg-sustainable-investment-funds-dont-underperform.html
² Source: https://www.morningstar.com/blog/2019/03/12/esg-investing-perfor_0.html