It’s a toss-up; I don’t know which I love more: connecting with and “loving on” my clients or really digging in and doing the research and analysis to find the very best new investment ideas for those same customers. What’s really great is when I can do both! I have a terrific new client. She is a smart, savvy, successful entrepreneur who has almost 20 years of experience running her own business. She wants her investment dollars to both work for her and do good for the world at large. Some call that “sustainable Investing” or “green investing” and not every financial advisor does it. In fact, her husband was of the opinion that those two goals are mutually exclusive, thinking that such investments couldn’t possibly yield lucrative results. I disagree. Now there are some “green” mutual funds and exchange-trade funds (ETFs) that some planners use, but my client and I decided instead to invest in individual companies that are truly making a positive impact on our world.
Last Saturday night, I was in my “happy place”. My husband was at a ballgame and I was on our screened-in porch, my favorite candle and a hot cup of cherry herbal tea at my side with our dog, Lucy, at my feet, curled up with the latest copy of Forbe’s. I read a fascinating article about a young black woman, who at 15 years of age, was a self-taught web developer. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Stanford and a master’s degree in the same discipline from M.I.T. After she completed her studies, she applied for a tech job at Google and was rejected. REALLY?!?!? Instead of giving up, she decided to launch her own company and start doing consulting work to help Fortune 500 companies navigate the hiring and onboarding tasks for employees without bias. How cool is that?!?! Additionally, since she founded her company, she has published an annual list which rates companies on a scale of 1-100 on diversity, inclusion, social goals and corporate governance. I had to find the 2018 list!! Dig, dig, dig…I was on a mission! After several dead-ends, I finally found it, and, lo and behold, one of my very favorite stocks had the top ranking on that list for 2018. That had to be one of our stocks!
It was 9 pm on a Saturday evening, but I was so excited that I had to immediately reach out to my client and tell her about the amazing female entrepreneur and her company and “the list” and my stock pick for her. Has your financial planner ever sent you great news on a Saturday night at 9 pm?? Because who you do business with really does matter!