When heading into a new calendar year, our clients are interested in addressing their financial planning and investing goals. In our opinion, having a written and formalized update to one’s retirement plan at the beginning of the year can be very helpful in setting the right tone for pursuing financial goals throughout the year. According to the study UBS Investor Watch: Return On Values, September 2018, people are especially interested in sustainable investing at this time. We make an effort to incorporate investment opportunities that are consistent with client values when we update their retirement plan.
From our interactions with our clients, charitable donations are another focus point at year-end. Clients have seen many benefits when making charitable donations, including helping those in need.
• Why are people interested in sustainable investing?
For many of our clients, investing is about more than just money. It's also about benefiting causes and missions that are in line with their values. When someone can invest with the intent to perform comparably to traditional investments, while at the same time having a positive impact on the environment and society, it can be very empowering.
• What kinds of clients are interested?
In our experience, many of our clients are passionate about leaving a legacy and/or making a contribution to the world. We discuss what is most important to them and incorporate those values into their overall financial plan.
Interestingly, we have also observed that there is no one particular type of client that values sustainable investing opportunities -- there’s widespread interest. In fact the UBS Investor Watch report recently noted that although only 12 percent of U.S. investors currently hold sustainable investments, that is expected to increase by 58 percent over the next five years. We want to be the advisory team that brings this opportunity to our clients’ attention.
• How can sustainable investing help clients pursue their goals?
Once a client’s retirement goals are clearly defined and in place, the next step is to dive deeper into passions and values and how to best incorporate those into the overall plan. We find that many clients much prefer discussing opportunities for making a difference, than discussing their retirement goals.
We utilize global resources of our firm to find the best ways to diversify our clients' portfolios. It is my belief that diversification is a very important part of having a solid financial plan.
Interestingly sustainable investing varies significantly by market, UBS notes that globally the overall percentage of investors who say they are invested sustainably is 39 percent, but in the U.S. alone it’s only 12 percent.