Carten: It’s a wonderful industry for women to join. I know firms are looking to hire women, and they see the benefit of the diversity of thought. There’s huge opportunity because of that, so it’s a terrific time for women who find this to be an interesting career path.
We can help people in ways that a young woman working in finance may not initially see. The fact that you’re as important as a doctor, for example, because people’s financial health is one of the most telling factors related to how good their quality of life is going to be.
I think a lot of women choose careers because they believe they’re going to make a difference in somebody’s life. Making a difference in people’s financial lives is very important and can be hugely satisfying.
Ellis: Your dad is still chairman, a director, and a portfolio manager for Saturna Capital. What’s it like for you, being the second-generation future chair of the board and a director of the firm, to work with a slew of accomplished and senior male employees?
Carten: I think it solidifies my position on the investment committee, because they really need a woman’s perspective when evaluating the investments that we make. I take that role seriously and I believe that the rest of the investment committee feels that it’s a benefit to have that diversity of thought.
It is difficult to attract other women into executive roles in the financial industry, although we’ve had some success. Our vice president of technology is a very accomplished woman who came to us from E-Trade.
I feel good about building toward a more balanced executive team in the future. And I think being second generation is helpful in my role as CEO because I have been so close to the business my entire life, and have learned a lot of lessons along the way. I saw my parents sell their first investment firm, and I have no desire, based on that experience, to consider selling. I know exactly what it looks like in terms of changing the company and I don’t want to do that. I think that’s the most important thing that I’ve learned from being second generation.
Ellis: Low cost index and ETF portfolio strategies are gathering a lot of assets and putting downward pressure on management fees in the sustainable investment industry. How does an active manager like Saturna Capital compete with passive strategies?
Carten: One of the benefits of being an active manager is that we can identify companies that are just turning the page into the future, and realizing how important their part of being on our planet is. We believe that, going forward, they will take that responsibility seriously. Those are the companies we want to find. The ones that are committed to doing the right thing and haven’t yet realized the financial benefits of that, which we are confident will happen. The better corporate citizen a company is, the greater likelihood for it to do well long into the future. A passive strategy has to wait for those metrics to be fully formed. We can identify companies that are just on the cusp.
Ellis: The Saturna Capital sustainable and ESG funds are available on multiple platforms in the industry. How do you establish new platform and broker-dealer relationships for your portfolios?