Envestnet has enhanced the capabilities of its Envestnet Impact Investing Solutions program, and now offers these impact investment services through its Portfolio Management Consultants group, Envestnet | PMC.
Envestnet was one of the first in the industry to launch this type of impact investing program, which provides financial advisors and institutions with access to a comprehensive set of impact strategist portfolios, specialists and sustainable, responsible investing impact (SRI) screens.
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Investors are allocating more assets than ever to impact investing strategies, which now account for nearly one out of every nine dollars invested in the US Strategies combining environmental, social, corporate governance and/or faith-based criteria with traditional investment approaches saw their assets under management grow by 37% between 2007 and 2012, and reach $3.7 trillion at year-end 2012, according to the US SIF (Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment) biennial report on Sustainable and Responsible Investing Trends in the United States.
Lori Hardwick, executive vice president of Advisory Services, Envestnet, said: "For advisors to truly support their clients, they must increasingly align investors’ wealth with their worldview. Investors now realize that the way they direct capital can impact the world and people around them. This is especially true with younger investors, and advisors are experiencing much greater demand for impact investing solutions that meet a variety of customized investment mandates."
During the past year, Impact Investing Solutions’ assets under management have grown by 82% to $750 million as of March 31, 2014. Envestnet supports substantial additional assets in impact investments through its administrative and reporting capabilities. The program’s adoption by advisors has also increased by 44% during the year ended March 31, 2014.
The Impact Investing Solutions program was first launched in 2008 as the result of a partnership between Envestnetand Veris Wealth Partners, one of the nation’s recognized pioneers in sustainable and impact investing.
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By GlobalDataThe two firms have worked consistently to strengthen this capability, sourcing and adding innovative separately managed account, mutual fund and exchange-traded fund strategies. Recent additions include sustainable fixed-income strategies from Breckinridge Capital Advisors and equity offerings from Dana Investment Advisors and Trillium Asset Management.
Benjamin D. Kille, CFP, AIF, co-founder, Private Capital Group, said: "Envestnet has improved our practice’s ability to compete by providing easy access to recognized impact investing managers. The system’s overlay capabilities are robust and expansive — allowing us to screen out investments that don’t meet the standard of our clients’ values."
As an open-architecture program, Impact Investing Solutions is available to all advisors, and can be integrated and branded within any advisory practice. MSCI ESG Research, which provides in-depth research, ratings and analysis of the social, environmental and governance-related business practices of thousands of companies globally, offers additional resources as a partner in this initiative.
The revamped tool offers 17 well-defined personal conviction screens to managed accounts run by traditional and impact investment specialists. These refined screens support advisors in addressing a diverse set of client issues, including community development, affordable housing, climate change, fossil fuel limitation, worker safety, women’s empowerment and numerous other customized investment mandates.
Patricia Farrar-Rivas, CEO, Veris Wealth Partners, said: "The investment public is highly attuned to the ways they can make a positive difference with their wealth. Advisors have an opportunity to strengthen client relationships and build a new component to their practice. Our partnership with Envestnet positions advisors to deliver a powerful combination of access, knowledge and technology."
