Market Recap: 2019 Finishes Strongly
By Jane Swan and Roraj Pradhananga
The year started with a robust recovery from the negative returns at the end of 2018, followed by a resting period in the third quarter, and then more growth at the end of 2019.
In Memoriam: Jud Bergman, Chairman & CEO of Envestnet
The Veris team mourns the sudden loss of Jud Bergman and his wife, Mary Miller-Bergman, with great sadness.
Jud was more than just a great friend and strategic partner of Veris.
Read Our Latest Impact Report
By Anders Ferguson and Casey Verbeck
Our Impact Report is the latest in a series of annual updates summarizing key developments around the world. The report is also an affirmation that the impact investing community is making good on its value proposition: To deliver market performance and positive social and environmental impact.
Reason for Climate Change Optimism
By Anders Ferguson, Partner
Over the past few years, it feels like “climate change deniers” have won the day – or at least were gaining the upper hand. But then weird weather produced billions of dollars of damage, large ice flows melted and raised the seas, and a growing number of businesses and governments said enough was enough.
The Regenerative Agriculture Revolution
By Patricia Farrar-Rivas and Nicole Davis
We wanted to share our enthusiasm for Regenerative Agriculture, along with the latest research and thinking about the topic. Our hope is to promote a broader dialogue with investors who want to align their wealth with their values.
Markets Strong in Second Quarter 2019
By Jane Swan, Partner and Senior Wealth Manager
Positive returns across investment markets seem to have largely removed the decline and worry from the end of 2018 from our memories. The solid rebound from the negative returns at the end of 2018 suggests investors may have a renewed confidence within financial markets.
Don’t Fall Behind – Water Is A Great Opportunity For Investors
Veris Guest Blog: By David Richardson, CFA
The theme of the UN’s annual World Water Day last month was “leave no-one behind.” This sentiment is applicable to both emerging markets and the developed world, while offering opportunities for investors in water.
Ellen Remmer: An Inspiring Journey About Impact Investing and Empowering Women
By Anders Ferguson, Partner
Ellen Remmer’s journey from enlightened philanthropist to impact investor is a story that can inspire all of us.
Recently, I sat down with Ellen to discuss her life’s journey. I wanted to share her experience because it speaks to the potential of investing capital to achieve both social benefit and financial gain. It’s also instructive in describing how investors can change their mind about the role and possibilities of wealth.
Collective Consciousness and the Refugee Crisis
By Alison Pyott, Partner and Senior Wealth Manager, and Rebecca Orlowitz
Many of us are struggling with the current global refugee crisis and seeking some small way to make a difference. Ban Ki-Moon wrote an op-ed for The New York Times titled, “The refugee crisis is a test of our collective conscience.”
The situation is overwhelming and absolutely a test of our collective conscience. As global citizens, we can use our awareness, energy and philanthropy to help. The impact investor has additional options.
How Climate Change Caused PG&E’s Bankruptcy
Veris Guest Blog: By Timothy P. Dunn, CFA
Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) Corporation, California’s largest investor-owned utility, which serves roughly 5.2 million households in central and northern California, filed for bankruptcy and is facing an estimated $30 billion of potential liabilities stemming from its equipment’s role in the historic 2017 and 2018 wildfires.
PG&E’s bankruptcy is indicative of how our changing climate presents real economic and financial risks for companies and investors.
What Will 2019 Bring For Investors
By Jane Swan, Partner and Senior Wealth Manager
Stock markets finished 2018 with the worst quarter in more than seven years and the first year of negative returns in 10 years. All major global risk asset classes had negative returns. This includes stocks, REITs, and high yield bonds. As we look to the year ahead, we work to keep all of this in perspective. In addition, as impact investors we consider long term implications of all opportunities.
Public Companies Are Driving Sustainability
By Anders Ferguson, Partner
Public companies committed to sustainable innovation are playing a growing role in transforming the global economy.
In the past year, we’ve seen this commitment translated into new thinking that is addressing climate change and the environment, while placing more emphasis on positively impacting the communities in which companies operate.
2017: Another Breakthrough Year for Impact Investing
Veris is proud to announce the release of its 3rd annual Impact Report, highlighting the collective achievements of its clients, the Veris team, and the investment managers we work with.
Gender Lens Investing: 2018 Is A Watershed Moment
By Patricia Farrar-Rivas, Alison Pyott, Luisamaria Ruiz Carlile
Linda Pei had a vision. In 1993, she launched the Women’s Equity Mutual Fund, the first U.S. fund investing in companies with positive track records ofhiring, promoting and generously compensating women.
Her fund marked the birth of “gender lens investing” (GLI), which is founded on the premise that investing intentionally for gender balance and equity can generate both financial and social returns.
What You Can Do To Address Climate Change
By Helene Marsh, Veris Client
Climate change can be an overwhelming topic for any individual or community. So how can anyone make a meaningful difference?
That’s the question my friend, Sarah Loughran, and I had been asking ourselves for several years. Today, supported by a concerted community effort, we’ve succeeded in helping eight Marin County municipalities reduce greenhouse emissions by purchasing 100% renewable energy for their government facilities.
Opportunity Zones
By Lori Choi, Partner
“Opportunity Zones” are a hot topic in impact investing these days, but what are they and why might they be important for investors?
Embedded in the new Tax Cuts and Jobs Act signed into law, December 2017, are provisions around “Opportunity Zones.” They ask governors of all states and territories to designate up to a quarter of low-income census tracts as investible zones.
Why is this program important?
Equity Markets Regain Footing in Q2 2018
By Jane Swan, CFA, Partner
After a rough start to 2018 in US financial markets, domestic equities are largely back on track. The charts below show the return for each asset class and highlight the strong return of US markets in the quarter. The losses of the first quarter were reversed. This wasn’t the case in international markets, which were very negative. Fixed income markets reacted to yet another interest rate hike and produced flat returns.
What’s Next In Community Wealth Building and Social Equality
By Luke Seidl
The past 12 months have been a big opportunity for investors interested in Community Wealth Building and Social Equality.
Judging by the growing number of product offerings, there will be many new ones in the next 12 months.
In this blog, we highlight a few of the opportunities.
Best For the World – Again
By Anders Ferguson and Nicole Davis
Veris was just named Best for the World by B Corp – for the sixth year in a row.
We’re very proud to achieve this milestone and are equally honored to be recognized among the best of the best. Veris was named in the top 10% of all 2,400 B Corps around the world.
Racial Parity in America: Making Progress, But Still A Long Way To Go
By Patricia Farrar-Rivas, CEO
At the recent Confluence Philanthropy’s Practitioners Gathering, I couldn’t help but notice the growth of interest and attendance in the panels with a racial equity focus. I left the conference more emboldened than I have been in a while.
Veris Views on Recent Market Moves
By Jane Swan, CFA, Partner
As of the close of Friday’s market, the S&P 500 was down 2.6 percent year to date, and 8.3 percent since the market high on January 26th. While this type of market decline (or correction) does not feel good to investors, it is not entirely a surprise.
What’s Next for Climate Change Solutions in 2018?
By Jessica Lowrey, Director of Research
Impact investing continues to be one of the fastest-growing segments of the wealth management business. This epic shift in investor behavior is increasingly fueled by innovation, especially as it applies to climate change.
Investing with a Gender Lens
On March 5th, Veris Wealth Partners and Criterion Institute hosted the webinar Women, Wealth and Impact: Investing with a Gender Lens. Increasingly individuals, families and foundations are exploring how to use their consumer dollars, philanthropy and now their investment portfolios to address gender inequality. This webinar outlines several easy steps to shift your investments to support and empower women.
Veris Hosts Gender Lens Investing Webinar
By Alison Pyott, Luisamaria Ruiz Carlile
Alison Pyott and Luisamaria Ruiz Carlile of Veris speak with Suzanne Biegel and Cynthia Nimmo about the state of Gender Lens Investing.
In Our Portfolios: Every Day Can Be International Women’s Day
By Luisamaria Ruiz Carlile, CFP®, Senior Wealth Manager
Once a year, the world celebrates “International Women’s Day.” With much fanfare, we cheer on women and their contributions to the world. But imagine the impact of sustained daily efforts to recruit, develop and promote women.
Economic Perspective Q4 2017
By Jane Swan, CFA, Senior Wealth Manager
Hurricanes, fires, earthquakes, marches, market growth, a new tax plan and some unbelievable tweets – 2017 was an unforgettable year. Markets typically do not like uncertainty, but were strong through a year of swirling unpredictability. What happened and what comes next?
Addressing Climate Change: The Role of Venture Capital
By Dave Kirkpatrick, SJF Ventures
Being a successful venture capitalist involves backing great entrepreneurs and helping them scale. Those activities are also important in fighting climate change.
Economic Perspective Q3 2017
By Jane Swan, CFA, Senior Wealth Manager
Despite hurricanes, earthquakes, wildfires, and ongoing political chaos, markets climbed higher in the third quarter.
10 Years Later – Headed Toward a Brighter Future
By Casey Verbeck, Director, Business Development
As Veris marks our 10th anniversary we are optimistic. We’re emboldened by the fact that we launched in the worst global financial crisis since the Great Depression…
Economic Perspective Q2 2017
by Steve Fahrer, Partner
An important milestone occurred in the second quarter. No, it wasn’t that the S&P500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average made new highs during the quarter.
Signatory Letters for Impact
By Danya Liu, Associate & Pat Addeo, Senior Associate
The power of a united voice cannot be overstated. In that spirit, we would like to share how Veris is exercising its voice on behalf of clients through what is known in the investment world as a “signatory letter.”
Uncommon Conversations: Rich and Timely
By Patricia Farrar-Rivas, CEO
A while ago, I had a provocative conversation with two good friends, Rha Goddess and Jessica Norwood, about how many of the issues we face in our country stem from inequality, lack of inclusion, and biased narratives around people of color. By the end of the conversation, we all recognized these types of reflective conversations are vital in moving us toward inclusivity.
Economic Update Q1 2017
By Jane Swan, CFA, Senior Wealth Manager
Equity market returns in the first quarter were very strong. Investors were seemingly unfazed as political commentators vacillated between exuberance and doubt over the potential for the Trump presidency to advance tax cuts and other pro-business policies.
Economic Update Q4 2016
By Jane Swan, CFA, Senior Wealth Manager
As the market adjusts and tries to make sense of the results of the U.S. election, financial markets have been mixed.
Analyzing The Phenomenal Growth Of Impact Investing
By Michael Lent, Partner, CIO
US SIF: The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Business released its 2016 Biennial Report on US Sustainable, Responsible and Impact Investing Trends, and there was much good news in it.
Economic Update Q3 2016
by Jane Swan, CFA, Senior Wealth Manager
In an election year with no shortage of drama and surprises, the market has been relatively calm and steady. Market volatility often increases during an election year as uncertainty looms over the potential market impact of a new administration.
What Is Sustainability, Anyway?
By Anders Ferguson, Partner
Most of us dedicated to sustainability tend to think about it terms of the big issues – climate change, food scarcity, clean water and other global environmental and social issues. After returning from Generation Investment Management’s most recent conference, my perception about creating sustainable businesses and systems evolved markedly.
Gender Lens Investing: Growing Interest, Increasing Options
By Luisamaria Ruiz Carlile, CFP, Senior Wealth Manager, and Alison Pyott, Partner & Senior Wealth Manager
In a few short years, Gender Lens Investing has moved from promising concept to potentially one of the next big things in impact and sustainable investing. That’s one of the clear takeaways from a new, joint analysis on Gender Lens Investing by Veris and Women Effect published this week.
Economic Update Q2 2016
By Jane Swan, CFA, Senior Wealth Manager
The surprise outcome of the Brexit vote was one of the second quarter’s biggest events. Citizens of the U.K. voted to leave the economic and political partnership of the European Union, roiling world markets and sending the British pound to 30 year lows. But the sharp and immediate negative market reaction quickly dissipated.
The Power of UNICEF’s Next Generation Program
By Rebecca Orlowitz, Wealth Management Associate
UNICEF USA’s Next Generation fundraises for different projects using our networks to increase our reach and our impact. To date we have raised nearly $6 million for 12 different projects. UNICEF has helped save more children’s lives than any other humanitarian organization. 90.2% of every $1 donated goes directly to children, and it has the highest rating by Charity Navigator.
Veris Wealth Partners Named “Best for NYC”
Firm Is Recognized For Making A Positive Impact On The Community SAN FRANCISCO, May 19, 2016 – Veris Wealth Partners, one of the nation’s leading independent wealth advisors for sustainable and impact […]
Reflecting on New Ways to Connect
By Lori Choi, Partner & Wealth Manager
I recently had the pleasure of attending the Transforming Family Philanthropy Retreat with an inspiring group of young people, all seeking to align their family giving and investing with social justice values. The retreat was a thoughtful combination of racial and economic justice education, skill-building workshops, impact investing, and managing family dynamics.
Veris Guest Blog: Navigating Rough Waters
By Timothy P. Dunn, CFA, Terra Alpha Investments, LLC
This blog post outlines the challenges facing companies and investors as water becomes a scarcer resource and discusses environmental productivity, an emerging idea in investment analysis. Environmental productivity focuses on the efficiency with which companies use and impact natural resources.
Happy International Women’s Day!
By Rebecca Orlowitz, Wealth Management Associate, and Luisamaria Carlile, Senior Wealth Manager
In honor of this occasion, our Veris offices recognize three amazing organizations that are advancing women and girls. Their work highlights what’s possible with a local community organization, a well-known global entity and a business oriented organization.
Impact Investing in Denver
By Casey Verbeck, Director, Business Development
It’s hard not to be awed by the natural splendor of the Rockies, or for that matter, the zeal with which Coloradans are now embracing impact investing. Over the past few years, the Mile High City, always known for its progressive thinking about the environment, has emerged as a hotbed of impact investing.
2016: What’s On Our Mind
By Patricia Farrar-Rivas, CEO
Fresh thinking: I wanted to share a number of enlightening points-of-view. They are from various media – books, newspapers, magazines, as well as a podcast. They are all terrific food for thought.
Veris Wealth Partners Receives Top GIIRS Rating
SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 16, 2013 – Veris Wealth Partners, one of the nation’s leading independent wealth advisors for sustainable and impact investors, today announced that it received a 5-star GIIRS rating for its commitment […]
Stranded No More
By Luisamaria Ruiz Carlile, Senior Wealth Manager
Impact investing is a disruptive innovation. It’s upending traditional investing, crashing through old assumptions about how investors determine risk and assess value. Take for example, the concept of “stranded assets.” These are assets which are losing economic value well ahead of their anticipated useful life due to changes in technology, regulations, legislation, societal norms, environmental shocks or other powerful forces.
Creative Destruction and Stranded Assets
By Anders Ferguson, Partner and Danya Liu, Associate
Over the next 30 years, whole swaths of the global economy will change dramatically. Innovation and technology, combined with global demand and shrinking resources, will fundamentally alter the way people do everything from getting electricity to sourcing their food.
Veris Guest Blog: Call To Action: Let’s Make 100% Clean Energy Our Goal
By Dave Kirkpatrick, Managing Director at SJF Ventures
Last week, I visited Dan Shugar, CEO of NEXTracker, a global leader in tracking systems for solar power plants. NEXTracker, which operates the 70MW Javiera Solar project in Chile, is one of the emerging leaders in the cleantech energy revolution now under way.
Creativity: A New Pillar of Sustainability
By Anders Ferguson and Laura Callanan
Creativity. We hack it. We map it. We study it. We rate it. We take it places. We build industries around it. We invest in it. We recognize we need it, even when it hurts. We know our future depends on it. This is the first in a series of blog posts which will explore the radical premise that creativity is a key driver of sustainability.
Creating Impact Through Gender Lens Investing
By Patricia Farrar-Rivas, CEO and Luisamaria Ruiz Carlile, Wealth Manager
Interested in a new way to create impact in your portfolio? Gender lens investing is emerging as one of the most exciting new ways of using capital to create positive social impact for women or girls.
Sustainability Is Not A Wind Farm Or Solar Array
By Anders Ferguson, Partner
Sustainability is a deep understanding that everything is seamlessly and beautifully interconnected. It is rooted in a mindfulness recognizing that each of us, doing our own work in our own field, is connected to others and impacts others, even if we don’t see it or realize it.
Veris Guest Blog: Gender Lens Investing 2.0
By Jem Hudson, The Caldy Group
In celebration of International Women’s Day on March 8th, we came across a myriad of thoughtful articles, studies, and other discussions focusing on women’s issues. One of the resources that especially caught our eye is a study by Veris Wealth Partners.
The Veris Agenda: Five Impact Investing Themes for 2015
By Patricia Farrar-Rivas, CEO
As impact investors, Veris Wealth Partners directs capital to support the varied goals of our clients, while helping create a more just and sustainable world. The process of aligning values with wealth through impact investing continues to revolutionize the capital markets in the U.S. and abroad.
Veris Guest Blog: What Is Community Wealth Building & Why Is It So Important?
By Ted Howard, Co-founder and Executive Director of The Democracy Collaborative
More than a decade ago, my colleagues and I at The Democracy Collaborative began using a term for a new kind of economic development – Community Wealth Building. For years, the term was so uncommon that it almost invariably appeared within quotation marks when used. Today, a Google search identifies 124,000 entries and is growing daily.
How Community Foundations Can Accelerate Social Change
By Patricia Farrar-Rivas, CEO
The time is now for community foundations to embrace a new vision that accelerates social progress and rebuilds local wealth.
The Time is Now for Mutual Understanding
By Casey Verbeck, Director, Business Development
Living in lovely Boulder, Colorado with my wife and two kids is an amazing and wonderful experience, but I will never forget where I came from: the other side of the tracks outside of St. Louis. Even amid this Rocky Mountain splendor, I’m reminded that not everyone is living the dream. We live in a time when 33 million people in the U.S. do not know how they will get their next meal.
What An Impact Investor Knows
By Luisamaria Ruiz Carlile, Wealth Manager
As impact investing gains momentum, a common question we hear is: “What does the new breed of impact investors know that traditional investors don’t?” What insights have transformed these impact investors’ approach?
The Dalai Lama, Science, Learning and the Sustainable Mind
By Anders Ferguson, Partner
On May 12 I attended a private meeting led by the Dalai Lama and walked away heartened. The key takeaway of the event for me – which is aligned with the Dalai Lama’s thinking for the past 50 years – is that science is confirming the benefits of meditation and mindfulness.
Sustainable Transparency for Prosperity
By Anders Ferguson, Partner
Over the past 20 years, businesses and their investors have made serious efforts to be sustainably responsible and transparent. The good news: We’re finally making real progress.
How Do Domestic Public Equity Impact Investments Perform?
By Michael Lent, Chief Investment Officer
One of the questions we hear often is whether there is a financial performance trade-off to impact investing. So, how does the domestic public equity segment of impact investing stack up? The short answer: Very well compared to relevant traditional benchmarks.
Become a B Corp – It’s Well Worth The Effort
By Patricia Farrar-Rivas, CEO
Veris is very proud to again be named Best For The World by B Corp. This is the second year in a row we’ve been recognized with this honor, which is given only to those B Corps that rank in the top 10% of all B Corps.
Impact Investing: A Smarter Way to Invest
By Patricia Farrar-Rivas, CEO
When we founded Veris six years ago, we were among the very few who believed in the power of impact investing to create wealth and improve the world. Today, with the planet’s long term viability at risk, we can no longer ignore the connection between global issues and individual choices. In their scale and complexity, today’s problems are unlike any we have ever encountered. And yet, big challenges create big opportunities.
What About the Women?
By Patricia Farrar-Rivas, CEO, and Luisamaria Ruiz Carlile, Wealth Manager
What about the women? That is the key question that “gender lens investing puts in front of thoughtful investors as they review their portfolios and select new investments.
All in the Family: Fossil Fuel Divestment
By Anders Ferguson, Partner
How does one respond to thoughtful criticism about divesting from the global fossil fuel companies?
Lebron, Bill & Fossil Fuels
In game 6 of the NBA championships, Lebron James led the Miami Heat past the San Antonio Spurs, winning 103-100–the same day the Miami heat index reportedly reached 103. If Lebron James is the face of the NBA champion Miami Heat, environmental activist Bill McKibben is the face of the national fossil fuel divestment movement led by 350.org.
Welcome to the Veris Blog
Welcome to the inaugural issue of IMPACT: Ideas and insights changing the world and the way we invest. We created IMPACT to share the latest thinking and perspective of the Veris Team and to highlight a couple of key trends and research about sustainable and impact investing.
Veris Named “Best for the World” By B Corp
Veris Named “Best for the World” By B Corp Veris Is the Only Wealth Manager to Earn This Distinction SAN FRANCISCO, April 17, 2013 – Veris Wealth Partners, LLC, one of the […]