Editor’s note: This article is part of a continuing series in which Paul Ellis, a well-known advisor and consultant on sustainable investing strategies, interviews industry professionals on the topics of millennials and sustainable investing. What follows is an interview with two industry experts from Pax World Investments: Christopher Brown, chief investment strategist and Greg Hasevlat, sustainability research analyst.
To read the first article in the series, click here: /news/the-wise-woman-and-the-millennial-23738.html
Paul: Chris, you’ve been with Pax World Investments since 1998. Prior to that, you worked for a firm that is now part of Oppenheimer.
Chris: That’s right, Paul. But I’m a little biased. My father was one of the founders of Pax World, so I grew up around SRI investing. I went to business school and concentrated on finance at Boston University, but talking to my father about analyzing companies from a sustainable perspective was compelling, and I was interested in doing it myself.
Paul: I didn’t know that! So you grew up with this approach to investing.
Chris: I did. Starting in 1998, I co-managed Pax’s Balanced Fund for four years, then became sole manager and ultimately chief investment strategist. Now, as a portfolio manager, I’m dedicated to the Balanced Fund, which is our largest fund.
Paul: And now you have a millennial working with you.
Chris: We can learn a lot from the millennials. My daughter is in college now. She wanted a Prius for her first car. That was a great lesson for me as a parent that she cares about the future. The world’s resources are finite, and I’m learning about energy efficiency from my daughter.
Paul: Greg, you were working for a consulting firm before you joined Pax World, right?
Greg: Right. Most of what I did was public policy oriented. My firm represented a diverse range of clients before the New Hampshire legislature, from utilities to financial services companies.