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Articles & Commentary

November 3, 2021

How Can We Efficiently Mobilize Impact Capital for Climate Action and Justice?

By Nicole Davis, Partner and Senior Advisor

In 2021, Veris partnered with the Shift event series to bring together a variety of impact leaders for a conversation focused on climate action and climate justice. As moderator, I asked each of our panelists – Alex Amouyel, the Executive Director of MIT Solve; Christian Okoye, a Partner in Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners; Geoff Eisenberg, a Partner at Ecosystem Integrity Fund; and Melissa Weigel, Senior Director of Investment at NatureVest – to tell us about the climate solutions they are most excited about currently and examples of how they are bringing a climate justice lens into their own decision-making processes. Below, I share a few of the key insights that I took away from our conversation.

September 16, 2021

The SECURE Act New Era – Retirement & Financial Planning Reminders

By Tim Kingsbury

The December 2019 passage of the SECURE Act may feel like ancient history, but its effects resonate within a few key financial planning issues relevant to investors today. In this blog we will highlight some of the major changes between year-end retirement and financial planning issues.

August 18, 2021

The Money Talk: Talking to Your Children About Money

By Alison Pyott

There is no single best way to talk to your children about money, but many experts agree that a series of age-appropriate conversations are better than THE one big money talk. This includes weaving money conversations and lessons into everyday life to help your children build perspective, skills, and confidence.

Children are naturally curious and perceptive. They likely are creating assumptions and making judgments about their family’s financial situation vs. their peers. Starting a series of age-appropriate money talks early in life can help them understand what they need to know in the present while preparing them for the future.

June 9, 2021

There is a Strong Business Case for Racial Equity, But Investors Must Look Beyond the Data

By Stephanie Cohn Rupp

George Floyd was murdered by a white police officer on May 25th, 2020–just a few days before the anniversary of the Tulsa Massacre on June 1st. On that day in 1921 a white mob attacked, burned and bombed Tulsa’s Greenwood District; a thriving Black business area known as Black Wall Street. Hundreds of Black Tulsans were murdered and over thirty-five city blocks of homes and businesses were destroyed. Overnight, one of the most prosperous Black communities in the nation was reduced to ash and rubble.

May 11, 2021

Shareholder Advocacy Update: Veris Clients Leverage their Equity Ownership to Advance Diversity, Racial and Social Justice, and Environmental Stewardship

By Pat Addeo and Karen Walls

Our shareholder proxy engagement initiative with Aperio and As You Sow this 2020 – 2021 proxy season once again demonstrated that engagement with corporations on ESG issues is an effective tool for bending the arc of capitalism to benefit all stakeholders. This year was a transformational year and shareholders took little time to address issues concerning COVID-19 and the social justice and wage inequities many in our country experienced. The Trump administration also proposed and then enacted changes to the SEC shareholder engagement Rule 14a-8 before the election of a new administration.

March 31, 2021

A Much Needed Equitable Growth Era for Community Wealth Building

By Michael Lent, Roraj Pradhananga, & Casey Verbeck

Community wealth building solutions aim to help address racial and gender discrimination and spread prosperity while ensuring sustainable economic growth in historically marginalized and under-resourced communities.

Tragically, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the inequalities and inequities faced by our most vulnerable communities. The poorest populations, both here in the U.S. and globally, have been the hardest hit in terms of disproportionately worse health outcomes and in loss of income, jobs and educational opportunities.¹ The World Bank projected in 2020 that extreme poverty and income inequality for low-income and emerging economies, especially communities of color would rise because of the pandemic.²