Veris visited Washington D.C. Our firm's delegation to US SIF Capitol Hill Day and Member Day events share their insights.

Veris Goes to Washington: Insights from US SIF’s 2023 Capitol Hill Day & Member Day

The US Sustainable Investment Forum (US SIF) is a member-based organization, established to be the leading voice advancing sustainable investing across all asset classes. Their mission is to rapidly shift investment practices toward sustainability, focusing on long-term investment and the generation of positive social and environmental impacts.

Veris was proud to co-sponsor US SIF’s 2023 Capitol Hill Day and Member Day in Washington D.C. this summer. Our firm sent Veris CEO Stephanie Cohn Rupp; CIO Michael Lent, Managing Director of Research Roraj Pradhananga, and Director of National Client Service Karen Walls deRochemont to Washington to participate in both events. 

Roraj Pradhananga, Michael Lent, and Karen Walls of Veris Wealth Partners in front of the US Capitol building.

Roraj Pradhananga, Michael Lent, and Karen Walls of Veris Wealth Partners in front of the US Capitol building.

Capitol Hill Day Activities

As part of Capitol Hill Day, approximately 50 US SIF members met with the offices of 40 different Representatives and Senators from both sides of the aisle to help educate members of Congress on financially material Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors and data and why they are important to investors, urge them to support SEC disclosure proposals around climate risk and human capital issues, ask members to support the Congressional Sustainable Caucus in the US House of Representatives and to not allow riders to be attached to the Authorization’s bills that would limit the SEC’s authority. 

The delegation from Veris spoke with congressional aides who work with members of Congress including Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) Corey Booker (D-NJ), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), and Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Angus King (I-ME), Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Representatives Chris Pappas (D-NH) and Ann Kuster (D-NH). 

It was an honor to walk the halls of Congress in support of our firm’s mission and our clients’ vision for the future. 

Member Day Activities

The delegation from Veris also participated in US SIF’s Member Day event, which gathers together some of the leading voices of the sustainable investment movement for knowledge sharing and field-building conversations. 

At 2023’s Member Day event, we heard remarks from Representative Sean Casten (D, IL-6), Co-Chair of the Congressional Sustainable Investment Caucus, engaged in a listening session with incoming US SIF President Maria Lettini, and heard from industry experts on topics including refocusing the narrative around anti-ESG messaging and the Environmental Protection Agency’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. 

Stephanie Cohn Rupp, CEO of Veris Wealth Partners and US SIF's Director of Education and Outreach Michael Young.

Stephanie Cohn Rupp, CEO of Veris Wealth Partners and US SIF’s Director of Education and Outreach Michael Young. 

The Veris Delegation’s 6 Major Takeaways 

1. Congressional offices are knowledgeable about ESG topics. 

During our Capitol Hill Day experience, the Veris team saw high levels of conviction and interest from legislative aides who were extremely well versed in the legislative issues around ESG topics. It was inspiring to see so many passionate young professionals who are working to educate our congressional representatives and senators about pending legislation. 

We also saw signs of progress made in terms of greater congressional awareness of relevant critical issues surrounding ESG and in the depth of the questions that had to address their concerns. For example, Senator Chuck Schumer and his aide were very aware of EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB). Their primary questions were around avoiding the pitfalls they have seen Europe face. They wanted our thoughts on the best approach for how to incorporate and codify disclosure rules going forward. They were digging into these topics in detail to inform decision making and rulemaking. 

Hopefully the Congressional Sustainability Investment Caucus, which was created to help inform Congress about ESG topics, will continue to look for new Representatives to join to continue to be internal advocates for these critical issues.

2. There is strong support for SEC disclosure rules. 

All the Democrats that the Veris delegation spoke with were supportive of SEC disclosure rules on Climate Risk and Human Capital Management. 

When we advocated for the passage of SEC disclosure rules, we heard aides say that they see it as a way of increasing transparency for investors so they can better understand the potential impacts of their investment. We heard some aides emphasize the need for public messaging around the potentially negative impact of not including financially material ESG factors in investment decision making. 

The primary concern we heard from our Congressional representatives around standards requiring Scope 3 emission measurement and reporting, was that the requirements might place regulatory burdens on corporations and small businesses. They are concerned about the impact on farmers and the restaurant industry especially and are seeking ways to address these issues. 

Veris' Managing Director of Research Roraj Pradhananga with members of US SIF.

Veris’ Managing Director of Research Roraj Pradhananga with members of US SIF.

3. We heard support for universal global standards. 

One major refrain we heard concerned the need for universal global standards for measurement and reporting of material ESG factors to make it easier for businesses to comply. Linda-Eling Lee, Head of ESG research at MSCI, said that it will be important to ensure that the US  standard is consistent with the regulatory framework in Europe. Universal global standards would make it easier for businesses that operate both in the US and in Europe to comply, because they would not have to abide by two separate sets of rules. 

4. US Congress members on both sides of the aisle need to hear from ESG supporters.

We heard it expressed that our field needs to have a strategy for engaging Republican members of the Senate who seem to be persuadable to vote for policies that support ESG investing. This is particularly important because there are concerns that SEC rulemaking could be blocked by attachments to the appropriation bills in September. 

We also heard from congressional staffers that Democrats need to hear from their constituents on these issues just as much as Republicans do. Hearing from constituents is very important for driving action in Congress across the political spectrum. 

As part of the conversation with Senator Mendez’s office, we discussed the fact that the House passed the Corporate Governance Improvement and Investor Protection Act, which would require disclosure of racial, gender, ethnicity of the board and C-suite members of public companies, in June of 2021 but it still hasn’t passed in the Senate. This Act includes many provisions we want to see, including disclosure on diversity, lobbying, C-Suite compensation, climate related risks, and more. Senator Menendez is pushing for more corporate governance disclosure and there is the potential for movement on that soon. If you support that, you may wish to write to your senators to express your views. 

5. We need to get better at explaining ESG. 

One of the major themes of the conversations that took place at US SIF’s Member Day event was that, as a field, we need to do a better job of explaining what ESG is and why integration of financially material ESG factors is so important in investment decision making. 

Most of the anti-ESG sentiment is broad and focuses on terminology instead of real-world concerns. Critics of ESG tend to attack the acronym in general ways – calling it “woke capitalism” instead of pointing to specific issues. 

We heard an idea expressed that the best approach would be to focus on our shared values and find ways to talk about financially material ESG factors and ESG in personal terms so that it’s more relatable. One powerful way to do this would be to offer real-world examples of environmental, social, and/or governance factors guiding decision-making. For example, increased wildfire risk due to climate change has already led at least two major insurance companies to stop offering homeowners insurance in the state of California.

Take a look at ESGtruths.com to get specific talking points to help connect with people – your friends, family, colleagues and elected representatives alike. 

6. US SIF seeks to further build the field. 

US SIF is helping to build the field of sustainable investing through research, education, media outreach, and policy advocacy. Your voice and perspective can help accelerate that work. 

If you are not already a member, consider joining US SIF. Membership is open to asset owners and asset management firms, and other types of organizations and service providers that are active in the field of sustainable and responsible investing.

If you are a member, US SIF’s New CEO Maria Lettini said at Member Day that she is actively seeking feedback on the future of the organization. She wants to hear from Members on what vision for the future we collectively want to see the organization advocating for. If you are a member, you can contact US SIF to express your ideas about the best path forward.

Disclaimer 

The information above is provided for informational purposes only, represents only a summary of topics discussed, does not constitute investment advice, and solely reflects the views of the authors, which are subject to change without notice. Additionally, this document contains information derived from third party sources. Although we believe these third-party sources to be reliable, we make no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information derived from such third-party sources and take no responsibility, therefore.

Although Veris has highlighted herein various initiatives relating to policy activism in which it has participated, no inference should be drawn as to the success or failure of such initiatives or the ultimate impact on the financial or impact results achieved by our clients.  

Veris wins 3 Wealth for Good Awards in 2023

Veris and Firm CIO Michael Lent Honored With Three Wealth for Good Awards

NYC, San Francisco, Portsmouth, – Veris Wealth Partners, an independent, woman-led impact wealth management firm, won two Wealth for Good Awards and the firm’s Co-founder and Chief Investment Officer Michael Lent was honored for Outstanding Individual Contribution in Wealth for Good. 

The Wealth For Good Awards recognizes the most innovative and exceptional firms, teams, and individuals in the global wealth management industry. Winning these Wealth for Good awards, “validates what I’ve been doing for 30 years and what Veris has been doing for 16 years,” said Veris’ CIO Michael Lent. Veris won in the following categories: 

Outstanding Individual Contribution in Wealth For Good (Americas) – Michael Lent 

Award organizers noted that Michael Lent was selected to receive this award as “a pioneering impact investing leader who has been delivering financial planning and investment consulting services to high-net-worth families, family offices, and foundations.” The judges noted that Michael’s “leadership and contributions to the impact sector have been immense” and praised him for his “vision, commitment, and achievements.”  

Best ESG Communication Strategy (Americas)

The ESG communication strategy category applies to internal and/or external communication and also includes a review of how the strategy has been implemented. The judges noted that Veris was selected because the firm has been “a trailblazer” in their distinct focus on ESG and impact investing themes and communications highlighting their belief that the integration of material ESG factors can mitigate risk and have a positive impact on returns.

Best Diversity and Inclusion Program (Americas)

In their award citation, judges highlighted evidence that “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging influence all aspects of work” at Veris, including company culture, vendor selection practices, and investments as well as the firm’s “aim to foster an inclusive economy, expand economic and financial access and cultivate a sense of belonging internally and externally.” 

A Look Towards the Future

Speaking to what he hopes the future impact of the Wealth For Good awards will be, Michael Lent said, “we believe that, as a firm and as a field, we will need to rise to meet new, complex challenges related to poverty and climate change. We want to see more investment managers focused on opportunities to create authentic positive impact. Veris participates in efforts to build the field and expand the amount of assets and the number of strategies built to address critical challenges. We believe that investors can play an important role in solving these challenges and that Veris can play a role in helping make that happen.” 

About the Wealth for Good Awards

The Wealth For Good Awards are part of a global program run by WealthBriefing and Family Wealth Report. The awards have been designed to showcase outstanding organizations deemed by a panel of independent judges to have “demonstrated innovation and excellence during the last year.” The judging process was conducted by a panel of experts from family offices, private banks, trusted advisers, consultants, and other service providers with deep knowledge and experience in the industry. 

“I offer my congratulations and best wishes for the future to all winners and highly commended firms – they are all worthy recipients” said Stephen Harris, ClearView Financial Media’s CEO, and publisher of WealthForGood. 

Winners and highly commended companies were announced on July 6, 2023.

About Veris Wealth Partners 

With a mission to create an equitable, just, and sustainable world through capital markets, Veris Wealth Partners is a wealth management firm that builds customized, well-diversified portfolios that focus on creating long-term, sustainable social and environmental impact. 

With offices in New York City, San Francisco, and Portsmouth, NH, Veris helps high net worth individuals, families, and foundations achieve their financial goals while aligning their wealth with their values. Veris believes investors can have positive social and environmental impact across all asset classes and strategies through ESG integrated investing, shareholder advocacy, and thematic impact investing. The firm’s four impact themes are Climate Solutions & The Environment, Sustainable & Regenerative Agriculture, Community Wealth Building, and Racial & Gender Equity. 

For more information, visit www.veriswp.com.   

About ClearView Financial Media Ltd (“ClearView”)

ClearView Financial Media was founded by Chief Executive, Stephen Harris in 2004, to provide high quality ‘need to know’ information for the discerning private client community.  London-based, but with a truly global focus, ClearView publishes the WealthBriefing group of newswires, along with research reports and newsletters, while also running a pan-global thought-leadership events and awards program. 

Contact 

Mandy Gardner, Marketing Associate, Veris Wealth Partners 

mgardner@veriswp.com

Veris Wealth Partners Recognized as Best ESG Investing (Advisory) Firm at the 2023 Family Wealth Report Awards

NYC, San Francisco, Portsmouth, – Veris Wealth Partners, an independent, woman-led, B Corp certified impact wealth management firm, has been selected as the winner in the Best ‘ESG Investing (Advisory)’ category at the Tenth Annual Family Wealth Report Awards.

The annual Family Wealth Report Awards program recognizes the most innovative and exceptional firms, teams and individuals serving the family office, family wealth, and trusted advisor communities in North America. Award organizers announced that Veris was selected for Best ESG Investing (Advisory) because “the firm’s 100% focus on impact investing and ESG investing made it a clear winner in this category.” They noted that the judges were also impressed by our firm’s community lending platform which enables Veris clients to invest in entrepreneurs in low-income communities across the United States.

“We are honored to receive this recognition of our firm’s leadership in our industry and dedication to ESG in our investment approach and platform,” said Veris CEO Stephanie Cohn Rupp. “This is a testament to everyone’s hard work at Veris and our leadership in the space of ESG investing, sitting on the shoulders of our founders.” 

Veris Wealth Partners is named the winner in the Best ‘ESG Investing (Advisory)’ category at the Tenth Annual Family Wealth Report Awards.

Veris’ General Counsel Richard Chen, COO Sheryl Kucer & CEO Stephanie Cohn Rupp receive the award for best ESG Investing (Advisory) firm.

About the Family Wealth Report Awards

The Family Wealth Report Awards’ judging process was conducted by a panel of experts from family offices, private banks, trusted advisers, consultants, and other service providers with deep knowledge and experience in the industry. 

“Every category winner and highly commended firm has been subjected to rigorous and independent judging process” said Stephen Harris, ClearView Financial Media’s CEO, and publisher of Family Wealth Report, “and (can) be rightly proud of the success they have achieved this year.”  

Winners and highly commended companies were announced on May 4, 2023 at a Gala Ceremony at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Manhattan, New York. 

About Veris Wealth Partners 

With a mission to create an equitable, just, and sustainable world through capital markets, Veris Wealth Partners is a wealth management firm that builds customized, well-diversified portfolios that focus on creating long-term, sustainable social and environmental impact. 

With offices in New York City, San Francisco, and Portsmouth, NH, Veris helps high net worth individuals, families, and foundations achieve their financial goals while aligning their wealth with their values. Veris believes investors can have positive social and environmental impact across all asset classes and strategies through ESG integrated investing, shareholder advocacy, and thematic impact investing. The firm’s four impact themes are Climate Solutions & The Environment, Sustainable & Regenerative Agriculture, Community Wealth Building, and Racial & Gender Equity. 

For more information, visit www.veriswp.com. 

About ClearView Financial Media Ltd (“ClearView”)

ClearView Financial Media was founded by Chief Executive, Stephen Harris in 2004, to provide high quality ‘need to know’ information for the discerning private client community.  London-based, but with a truly global focus, ClearView publishes the WealthBriefing group of newswires, along with research reports and newsletters, while also running a pan-global thought-leadership events and awards program. 

For More Information 

Contact Mandy Gardner, Marketing Associate at Veris Wealth Partners mgardner@veriswp.com

Veris Wealth Partners celebrates Transgender Day of Visibility

Transgender Day of Visibility 2023

March 31st is Transgender Day of Visibility. Today, we celebrate the transgender and gender-expansive community, honor the contributions of transgender individuals to society, and work to raise awareness of the challenges and discrimination that trans and non-gender conforming people face every day.

Rachel Crandall Crocker, a transgender psychotherapist and activist based in Michigan, founded Transgender Day of Visibility in 2009 to address the lack of positive representation of trans people in American media and culture. The event has since grown into a globally recognized celebration of the courage and resilience of transgender individuals that also raises awareness of the challenges and discrimination trans people face.

The mission of Transgender Day of Visibility is especially critical now as a wave of laws targeting the transgender community are being introduced across the country. As of today, Trans Legislation Tracker is tracking 492 anti-trans bills from across the United States that are designed to “block trans people from receiving basic healthcare, education, legal recognition, and the right to publicly exist.”

Ways to Support the Transgender Community

There are a number of ways that allies and advocates can support the trans community:

  • Listening to the stories of trans people and educating ourselves about the unique experiences and challenges that transgender individuals face
  • Supporting organizations that are working to advocate for and protect transgender rights and promote education and awareness about transgender issues
  • Speaking out in support of transgender-inclusive policies in our schools and workplaces
  • Challenging harmful stereotypes and misinformation about transgender people and standing up against discrimination and hate crimes

Below is a list of organizations that provide support Transgender individuals and are working to help build a more inclusive and welcoming world:

Transgender Law Center

Trans Lifeline

National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE)

Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund

LGBT Foundation

2022 Impact Report

Veris Celebrates 15 Years of Impact in our 2022 Impact Report

In this season of thanks, we are grateful to be celebrating our firm’s 15th Anniversary with the release of our 2022 Impact Report.

In this year’s Impact Report, we illustrate the positive social and environmental progress we have helped create, thanks to our wonderful clients, team, investment managers and industry partners.

Download Report
2022 Impact Report

As our CEO Stephanie Cohn Rupp writes, “Through a great recession, volatile markets, a global pandemic, and attacks against our sector steeped in deep misunderstanding, Veris has grown. We owe this to our wonderful clients who believe finance can be a force for justice and sustainability, to our talented team, and to our founders – whom I thank for making such a powerful dream a reality.”

This Impact Report also offers highlights from our history as one of the oldest independent wealth management firms with a 100% focus on authentic ESG and impact investing, our work in shareholder activism, efforts to dismantle obstacles to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging within Veris and across the industry, and much much more. We hope you enjoy it and we welcome your thoughts.

From all of us at Veris, we wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving!

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Download 2022 Impact Report
Don't Say Gay

Veris Condemns Violence Against the LGBTQ Community

“Places that are supposed to be safe spaces of acceptance and celebration should never be turned into places of terror and violence. Yet it happens far too often. We must drive out the inequities that contribute to violence against LGBTQI+ people. We cannot and must not tolerate hate.”
– President Biden’s Statement on the Shooting in Colorado Springs 1


Veris Wealth Partners is outraged at yet another violent attack on the LGBTQ+ community and we are heartbroken for the victims. We honor the memories of the five people who were killed in the Saturday night shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs and express our sympathy to the wounded.2

Veris firmly believes that LGBTQ rights are human rights and that violent acts like these are intended to harm not only the victims, but the entire community by destroying any sense of safety in the spaces where lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer people gather. We also believe that the rise of cruel anti LGBTQ rhetoric and legislation like the “Don’t Say Gay” law in Florida has contributed to a rise in violent acts against this community.3

We believe that the shocking number of mass shootings in the United States4 shows that all Americans are at risk of gun violence, but the data shows that LGBTQ individuals are particularly vulnerable – especially trans people of color.5 This cruel and cowardly act in Colorado coincided with the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance. The LGBTQ rights advocacy group Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has tracked the deaths of over 300 transgender people due to violence over the last decade and that two-thirds of those deaths were caused by gun violence.6 Before the shooting in Colorado, HRC had tracked the deaths of 32 transgender and gender non-conforming people in 2022 alone.7

We agree with the statement issued by HRC President Kelley Robinson in the aftermath of the attack in Colorado: “We must rise against hate in the strongest possible terms, we must stand together in solidarity and love with our LGBTQ+ family in Colorado Springs and demand an end to this epidemic of gun violence. From Pulse to Colorado Springs to so many other lives stolen from us— this has occurred for far too long.”8

Organizations Providing Support to the LGBTQ Community



The information above is provided for informational purposes only and reflects the views of the authors. Additionally, this document contains information derived from third party sources. Although we believe these third-party sources to be reliable, we make no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information derived from such third-party sources and take no responsibility, therefore.


Sheryl Kucer Businesswire article

Sheryl Kucer Named COO of Veris Wealth Partners

We are thrilled to welcome Sheryl Kucer to Veris as our new Chief Operating Officer.

Sheryl brings to the role over 15 years of operational and human capital experience and her deep commitment to the Veris values of social justice, racial and gender equity and environmental sustainability.

Sheryl Kucer

Sheryl’s experience will help ensure that Veris continues to innovate and evolve while remaining a leader in the impact investing movement. She most recently served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Compliance Officer at Dyson Capital Advisors.

Sheryl said that she is excited to be joining Veris at this moment in history because “thoughtful and forward-thinking impact investment is needed more than ever” and that she is “grateful to have the opportunity to align with a firm and a client community whose values so deeply mirror my own.”

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Read more about our new COO
Sheryl Kucer Businesswire article

Veris Wealth Partners Signs Onto The SME Climate Commitment to Achieve Net-Zero Emissions

Veris Wealth Partners is pleased to announce that we have formalized our longstanding goal to achieve Net-Zero carbon emissions by signing onto The Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Climate Commitment. By making this commitment, Veris has pledged to:

  • Reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 50% before 2030*
  • Achieve Net Zero Emissions before 2040
  • Disclose our progress on a yearly basis

Reducing our carbon footprint has been important to Veris since our firm’s inception. Long before we took this pledge, we made an internal commitment to reduce our carbon footprint and offset 100% of carbon used in our operations. We currently offset 100% of carbon emissions through fellow B Corp NativeEnergy, which uses high quality offsets certified by third parties such as the Gold Standard and Verified Carbon Registry. By signing onto the SME Climate Commitment, Veris publicly reconfirms our belief that climate change poses grave threats to the natural world, humanity, and the global economy and our conviction that all businesses have a responsibility to be part of the solution.

Net-Zero Action Steps

In accordance with our Climate Commitment, Veris will take the following action steps: Measurement – Veris will continue to measure our firm’s carbon footprint on an annual basis. Reduction – Veris will continue to seek innovative ways to reduce our emissions firmwide and adopt new practices to make progress towards our goal of net zero. Reporting – We have historically included data about our firm’s annual carbon footprint in our annual Impact Report and we will continue to do so to mark our progress.

Join the Effort to Achieve Net-Zero & Fight Climate Change

The SME Climate Commitment was designed to spur more small and medium sized organizations to take bigger steps to achieve our shared goal of emitting Net-Zero carbon emissions and is part of the United Nations Race to Zero Campaign. We believe that public accountability is a powerful tool to drive behavior change and we encourage more business leaders to join us in signing onto a Net-Zero commitment.

*Veris uses 2019 GHG emissions as the baseline year for GHG emissions to reduce by 2030.

Veris Wealth Partners’ Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Task Force Case Study Published as Part of the JEDI Investing Toolkit

by Roraj Pradhananga, Partner – Senior Research Analyst

GenderSmart, a global field building initiative dedicated to unlocking the deployment of strategic, impactful gender-smart capital at scale, recently launched a Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) toolkit. This JEDI toolkit is designed to encourage allocators, investors and intermediaries to understand the dimensions of JEDI investing and start applying gender and JEDI lenses throughout their investment processes.

The GenderSmart JEDI working group created the toolkit with the hope of improving investment decision-making, bringing on board new portfolio or fund managers, improving existing portfolios and enacting organization change for both people and processes. These goals are in line with Veris Wealth Partners’ vision, our firm’s emphasis on our Racial and Gender Equity theme, as well as the recommendations our own EDI taskforce – consisting of Patricia Farrar-Rivas, Jane Swan and myself –  have made over the last two years.

As part of the JEDI Toolkit, GenderSmart published a case study profiling the work of Veris Wealth Partners’ EDI Task Force. As Partner and Chair of our EDI Task Force, they asked me to describe our approach and I responded, “For Veris, EDI is not an exercise in box-checking. The financial services industry’s approach too often strives to increase diversity in management without sufficient consideration of embedded structural EDI obstacles. Black, Brown and Indigenous voices remain severely underrepresented across the financial services industry. To truly scale up impact and drive racial justice across the industry, a majority of firms will need to adopt an EDI approach that is similar or better than ours.”

How is Veris developing this EDI strategy and applying an EDI lens in investments?

Veris’ Investment Committee approved the EDI task force’s recommendations to significantly increase the number of EDI managers and managers with an explicit EDI lens in their investment process over the next five years. This requires us to be intentional in building our priority pipeline and due diligence and approval processes. We have approved funds with an EDI lens – including funds that focus on employee ownership and combine gender, race and community voices.

Veris’ EDI task force is mandated to assess existing investment practices, make recommendations on EDI goals and integrate EDI in our investment decisions. In 2020, we enhanced and amplified EDI elements throughout our due diligence questionnaire. This new data was instrumental in creating our EDI Manager framework and an Advancing Racial and Gender Equity (ARGE) assessment tool that classifies our approved managers in five different categories – from EDI watchlist (needs improvement) to EDI manager (best-in-class). The other categories are EDI aspirational, EDI firm and EDI investment process.

The ARGE tool measures diversity at all levels of the firm and assesses EDI lens of the investment process of the various fund managers. Pay equity, employee benefits, implementation of EDI policies, portfolio company engagement, shareholder proposals and disclosure of EDI proxy voting guidelines and records are among some of the reviewed data points.

Our next steps include engaging our fund managers, communicating best practices and helping them make improvements. We also performed a self-assessment using the ARGE tool and Veris is not yet an EDI manager. We are asking our non-EDI managers to join us on this transformation journey. Collecting data continues to be our biggest challenge. The success of our EDI approach is dependent on our managers’ willingness to engage, share data and implement changes themselves.

Veris Wealth Partners’ EDI Vision and Commitments

Veris is an impact wealth management firm with a vision to build a just, equitable and sustainable world and we believe equity (which is purposefully listed first), diversity and inclusion (EDI) must touch every aspect of our work. Veris strives to transform our firm and the industry in pursuit of this vision, such that along with this vision, mission and values, EDI is an integral part of our investment philosophy. Veris strongly believes EDI should be embedded firm-wide in every aspect: mission, vision, values, culture and policies (including hiring, retention, mentoring, promotion, and vendor/supplier selection). Our signatory commitments include Confluence Philanthropy’s Belonging Pledge, Due Diligence 2.0, Investor Statement of Solidarity & Call to Action to Address Systemic Racism and Women’s Empowerment Principles. Veris approaches commitments with great intention, evaluating internal changes required to ensure they are accountable.

Click here for a recording from the launch of the GenderSmart Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Investing Toolkit

Roraj Pradhananga is a Partner and Senior Research Analyst at Veris Wealth Partners. He leads the Investment Research team and is a voting member of the Investment Committee.


The information contained herein is provided for educational purposes only and is subject to change without notice.  

2022 CEO Letter

by Stephanie Cohn Rupp, CEO

It’s with great pleasure that I share with you reflections on 2021 from my perspective as CEO as well as Veris Wealth Partners’ vision and priorities for 2022.

2021 in Review: A Year of Growth

I am excited to report that 2021 was a year of significant growth for our firm. Veris exceeded $2B in Assets under Management (AUM) by October. Many new clients joined us in 2021, which resulted in 15% organic annual growth rate for the year.

Last year was also a year of growth for our team. We were extremely pleased to welcome Roraj Pradhananga, our Senior Research Analyst who leads investment manager due diligence, thematic research and evaluation of impact metrics, as a Partner in the firm in December of 2021. Veris also recruited fabulous new colleagues in 2021: Sandra Guerrero joined us as a Wealth Manager in San Francisco; Tracey Lynch became part of our client service team in Portsmouth; Susan Daly took the role of Executive Assistant to the CEO; and Mihir Mehan joined the Veris team as a Research Analyst in NYC after completing his Berkeley Haas MBA. With resumes featuring firms such as JP Morgan and BlackRock, these talented individuals bring deep experience in the worlds of finance and investment across the globe – from the U.S. and Mexico to South and East Asia. However, by joining Veris, our new colleagues were looking for closer values alignment. Each has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to our mission in addition to impressive skill sets, track records and professionalism.

DEI

On the research side, Veris developed a novel, thorough and longitudinal approach to due diligence focused on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion under the leadership of our CIO, Michael Lent. We are applying this framework to all our managers – and to ourselves – to ensure that we increasingly have more diverse managers on our investment platform. We are systematically monitoring the EDI commitment and progress of our current managers and as part of our commitment to equity and inclusion will give precedence to managers who are more diverse. We have 30% minimum requirements of racial and gender diversity at the ownership and staff level of our managers. For those managers who are not yet sufficiently diverse, we request a commitment and a DEI action plan.

We also have implemented changes to our recruiting approach by using best practices in the industry. For example, all resume names and addresses are deleted so that hiring managers cannot unconsciously exert gender, ethnic or other biases in their selection process. We also have undergone thorough DEI training on the nature of privilege and racial inequality – which is an ongoing journey for each of us and for the firm as a whole.

Policy & Shareholder Engagement

In 2021, we offered our clients 560 shareholder engagement options and our clients chose to sign 101 of these letters to corporate boards. The initiatives ranged from diversity data disclosure, consumer packaging, executive pay, and pesticides – to name a few. We are working with our partner As You Sow to implement a Shareholder Engagement Tracker which will help us see real time updates on shareholder initiatives.

Veris was also a signatory to many important initiatives in 2021, including an investor Policy Letter to President Biden to advance sustainable investment expertise at the Department of Labor and the SEC. Our engagement ranges from sending letters to Congress and the White House to advocating for positive change at the state-level on issues such as energy efficiency  and the need for parental leave benefits. Veris also participated in a Dept. of Labor comment period to share how fiduciaries consider ESG Funds for retirement planning in partnership with US SIF.

We will continue to strive to help our clients become more active asset owners to express their values through the corporate shareholder engagement process and we will, as a company, expand our policy advocacy initiatives in 2022. We believe these levers will advance our clients’ mission.

Our Focus in 2022

We started 2022 with an exciting new Partner, Rosemont Investment Group, which joined Veris as a minority passive investor. Rosemont brings an incredible depth of expertise to the firm and will help us think through our next challenges as we further modernize our systems and client service and scale. Our goal is not to grow at all costs – we remain squarely focused on our clients and mission. We hope to set a new precedent by demonstrating that even in an ocean of consolidation and acquisitions companies can remain independent while remaining 100% focused on ESG and impact investing.

This year, Veris will be focused on three main priorities: to advance our leadership role through innovation in impact investing, improve client service and operational efficiencies, and invest in human capital and DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion). We will be hiring many more “Verisians” to meet our high client demand and we will keep you updated on our new client impact report and updated offering.

Lastly, as COVID cases are declining, we hope to be able to safely meet again in person soon – as our team has missed interacting with our clients, colleagues, and our friends in the industry. Together we form a true community of change-makers and we look forward to being able to celebrate our causes and our work together again.

Yours in Impact,

Stephanie Cohn Rupp, CEO

Veris Wealth Partners