Secondly, our investment dollars do matter. According to Nasdaq, retail investors like you and I own 77% of the US stock market capitalization. And let’s set aside the moral high ground for a moment – from a purely selfish perspective, investing sustainably is good for us. Beyond achieving returns, it makes us feel good about where our money is going, which means we’re more able to stick with our investments for the longer term, which we all know is the key to successful investing.
Thirdly, ESG has developed a lot over the last decade, and there’s a lot of easily accessible sustainable investing options out there. That said, you want to be thoughtful about how you implement. If you just sprinkle an ESG fund here or there, you run the risk of pushing your portfolio into too much of an asset class or sector. That could drastically alter the risk/return profile of your overall portfolio.
Most of us are already conscious consumers. We realize that when it comes to laundry detergents and the products we buy, we have a choice to put our money where our values lie. The same is true of investing. We have a choice. And when we choose to be conscious investors – it’s not only good for the world, it’s also good for our wealth.
