INVESTMENTS
LLC
NATURAL
New York
Services:
Fee-only investment management
For clients with investment assets of more than $500,000, we will manage your investments in a socially responsible, impact strategy for an on-going fee, utilizing a third party custodian so that your assets are always transparently available to you. We will develop an appropriate understanding of your investment goals and priorities, discuss your tolerance for risk and your investment horizon, and use this information to craft an investment policy statement (IPS) tailored to your needs and sense of social responsibility.
The IPS will be used as a guiding document for how the portfolio account is managed over time, guiding the development of your portfolio, the approach to screening appropriate investments, and how the portfolio will be rebalanced over time as the assets hopefully grow over time.
Hourly financial planning for advisory clients
At present, I am not accepting new financial planning-only clients, however, I continue to do financial planning projects for my investment clients. Financial planning is a multi-step process that provides you with two important things: (1) An in-depth review of your current financial situation, and (2) a blueprint that shows you how to achieve your goals and objectives for the future.
I work with people from all walks of life who seek guidance in any or all of the following areas of personal finance, including investment advice (but not management) for smaller accounts:
Cash Flow Management
Sustainable Investing
Estate Planning
Debt Management / Elimination
Retirement Planning Strategies
Tax Planning
Risk Management / Insurance
Education Funding
Life Planning
• "FEE-ONLY" means compensation comes solely from you and so the advice is not influenced by, or limited to, any particular financial products. For those clients who have a desire for on-going management of their assets, Natural Investments does offer a fee-only AUM (assets under management) approach for sustainable and responsible investing as a representative of Natural Investments. Fees are based on a modest percentage of assets being actively managed, rather than an hourly fee.
• HOURLY means you can utilize these services for as much or as little as you need (with a minimum of 2-hours), as you would with many other professional services.
YOUR FINANCIAL PLANNING PROCESS MAY INCLUDE:
• Connect your values and your investments
• Develop an achievable retirement strategy
• Minimize your tax burden
• Establish a charitable giving strategy
• Plan for a child or grandchild’s education
• Create and preserve personal wealth
• Minimize the erosive effects of inflation
• Reduce the risk of financially devastating events
• Foster peace of mind through proper planning
• Generate a life plan and begin working toward it
HOURLY FINANCIAL PLANNING PROCESS:
Step 1: Initial Inquiry / Outreach
Step 2: Get Acquainted Meeting / Teleconference
Step 3: Data Gathering and Initial Preparation
Step 4: Interactive Goal Setting
Step 5: Analysis and Plan Development
Step 6: Presentation of Your Plan
Step 7: Periodic Review / Tuneup
TO HELP YOU REACH THESE GOALS, MY SERVICES INCLUDE:
• Retirement Planning Strategies.
• Cash Flow / Spending Planning
• Debt Management Planning
• College Funding Advice
• Stock Option Advice
• Pension Distribution Advice
• Life and Disability Insurance Needs Analysis
• Second Opinion Current Financial Plan
• Financial Seminars for your organization
• Shareholder Advocacy & Engagement
SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE INVESTING:
SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE INVESTING (SRI) also known as Sustainable and Responsible Investing is an approach to investing that integrates environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) criteria with financial analysis and decision-making. Increasingly, this may also be referred to as Impact Investing, where a beneficial social or environmental impact is measured along side a financial return. Socially responsible and impact investing seeks out well-managed, forward-thinking organizations with the thought that they will have better long-term financial prospects.
With trillions in assets in the US today, SRI is catching on with many individual and institutional investors who seek to:
• Align their investments with their personal values by avoiding companies that do not meet certain standards.
• Encourage improved corporate social and environmental performance through an active investment strategy.
• Identify companies with better long-term financial performance through the analysis of social and environmental factors.
SRI was first formally practiced by faith-based investors who, over 100 years ago, avoided companies involved in tobacco, alcohol, and gambling. More recently, however, SRI has evolved beyond simple avoidance screening to include the following four aspects:
RESEARCH & SCREENING - Examining the social and environmental records of companies to determine which companies to include or exclude in an investment portfolio. Historically, screens were employed to screen out investments that did not meet an investors ethical standards. Since then, screens have evolved to also seek out investments in companies that are taking progressive steps to address important social and/or environmental issues in the course of working to be a profitable enterprise.
COMMUNITY INVESTING - Providing access to capital for individuals and organizations in communities under-served by traditional financial institutions so they can create jobs, build homes, and finance community facilities. Community investors may accept slightly below-market rates of return to encourage investment that can build or rebuild communities. Community investors seek social returns in addition to financial returns.
SHAREHOLDER ADVOCACY - Using your position as an owner in a company to actively encourage a company to improve. Shareholder advocacy can take many forms, from something as simple as a phone call, to writing a letter, to filing a shareholder resolution calling for a company to take a particular action (which can ultimately come to a vote in front of all shareholders). Advocacy also includes proxy voting, or simply casting your vote as a company shareholder.
SOCIAL VENTURE CAPITAL - Seeking out early-stage investments in companies that have identified profitable ways to meet societal needs (such as alternative energy companies), before they are publicly traded. This early stage investing can help these companies secure necessary funding to grow and often leads to healthy returns for shareholders.
THE MYTH THAT YOU CAN'T EARN COMPETITIVE RETURNS through socially responsible investing is just that: a myth.
Mounting research shows that companies that integrate social, environmental and governance concerns into their business practices perform better over the long run.