Sustainable & Responsible Investing

On September 26th, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of downtown Montreal to take part in the Climate Change rally. Prime Minister Trudeau and other political leaders, Mayor Plante, and teen environment activist Greta Thunberg were also in attendance.

Seeing people in my neighborhood heading to the march was uplifting. Seeing students with homemade signs and parents with small children in tow made me feel that our community is truly uniting under this common cause, which was comforting and inspiring. But at the same time, I felt a little afraid. I’m afraid that despite all this goodwill and unity, our efforts to fight climate change may be too little, too late. What can we really do to slow down the freight train of environmental disasters that is heading our way?

Climate change and the environment is clearly an important issue to Montrealers, and to Canadians at large. But besides taking a day off school and work to join the crowd at the rally, what are we actually doing about it? When all those people came home from the march at the end of the day, how many of them used their fossil-fuel burning cars and furnaces? How many ate meat for dinner that was raised in mass-production livestock farms? How many of those people are going to vote for the Green party in our national election on October 21st?

I am not calling everyone a hypocrite. I am guilty of these inconsistencies myself. I truly believe that climate change is coming fast, and will have an enormous and lasting impact on the way we live. At the same time, I do not buy organic groceries, I drive an SUV, I take long, hot showers with chemical-laden shampoo, and sometimes I throw recyclables into the trash.

Rather than feel overwhelmed by the enormity of the challenge we face, I believe it is important to focus on the small things that we as individuals can do to make a difference. As a financial advisor and mutual fund representative, I have exposure to the Sustainable and Responsible investment options that are out there. I recently completed a designation as a Responsible Investment Specialist from the Responsible Investment Association of Canada. This allowed me to become much more knowledgeable about the choices that Canadian investors can make that will reflect their desire to address the issue of climate change.

Up until recently, the prevailing belief was that if you invested in Ethical or Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) funds, then you would be sacrificing returns. This is false. Historical performance studies show that these investments have achieved similar or even better results than traditional non-SRI investments. This means that you are not penalized for investing according to your values.

Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) principles are now being widely integrated into traditional investment analysis. This is good news, because it means that many of the investments you already hold may be screening out “bad” companies.

However, there are excellent mutual funds offered by several companies that take this type of screening several steps further. They offer funds that are more focused on Environment and Sustainability, social responsibility, positive corporate governance practices, etc. They are also available across several risk levels and geographic allocations. You, my caring and socially-conscious reader, now have many choices.

So if you care about climate change, and you’d like to use your money to make a difference, ask your advisor about how to invest in SRI funds. Even better, come to my event!

I am holding an information session about Sustainable and Responsible Investing on the evening of Wednesday, November 6th in NDG (details on the Events page). This event is open to the public, and will include a presentation from NEI Investments, a leader and pioneer in SRI mutual funds. I will also be welcoming a Sustainable Construction expert to talk about lessening the environmental impact of your home's design, and a representative from the Climate Reality Project Canada, to speak about their charity’s mission. I hope to see you there!