Investing for a Sustainable Environment

In this course you will explore a broad range of environmental issues and learn how you can support innovation, sustainability, and positive environmental outcomes across your portfolio. Upon completion, you will have a set of criteria and tools you can use to shift your assets to mitigate climate change and protect the environment for yourself, your family, and future generations.

Express Your Interest

Course Structure

Investing for a Sustainable Environment is a 3-part series that was designed by two Chartered Financial Analysts (CFAs), who are passionate about redirecting financial flows in support of environmental health and sustainability. Together, they brought their extensive knowledge, experience, and commitment to the course, which will be delivered through a combination of self-study, as well as large and small group meetings.

Outcomes

By the end of the course, participants will have:

Discussed investment opportunities that support and strengthen environmental sustainability across all asset classes
Worked with the resources you need to consider shifting your cash so you can bank for good
Learned how to research broad market stock and bond funds that are fossil free or that seek positive environmental impact in other ways
Discovered investment opportunities in the private markets and alternative investment spaces that can further the positive environmental impact you make with your money
Made decisions about the next steps you want to take in your environmental investment journey and the assets you want to use in support of those goals

Prerequisites & Level of Effort

There are no pre-requisites for this course.

Time Commitment: About 2 hours per week for 6 weeks

Approximately 30 minutes of self-study is required prior to each live Zoom meeting, which are expected to last about 1.5 hours. In addition, you will join a small group with two other women. This triad will meet for about an hour on the weeks the course doesn’t meet. The triads are very popular and provide a way for you to personalize the material you are learning through intimate conversations.

Course Content

Investing for a Sustainable Environment consists of a combination of reading, joint exercises/research, and discussions. In the first session, you will explore the role banks play in the financial crisis and discover financial institutions that use their assets to mitigate climate change. Then in the second session, you will be shown how to find, analyze, and choose stock and bond funds that support positive climate outcomes. And finally, in the third session, you will be introduced to investment options that span asset classes as they address a broader array of environment issues, such as deforestation, plastics, and other forms of pollution and toxicity.

Module 1:
First Steps: Your Cash
In this session, you will meet other participants and learn about any environmental investing they are already doing. You will discuss your thoughts and concerns about the environment, as well as your goals for the course. Then you will delve into the role banks are playing in the climate crisis, discover more environmentally-friendly financial institutions, and leave with the knowledge and resources you need to shift your cash so you can bank for good.
Module 2:
Core Moves: Broad Market Stocks and Bonds
In the second month, you will discover where you fit along the Spectrum of Capital, a framework that describes the risk/return/impact choices you will make as you decide where to invest your money. You will also learn how to find and analyze broad market stock and bond funds that meet your investment criteria. Research will be shared with other members of the course, enabling you to learn more with less effort.
Module 3:
Branching Out: Targeted Investments
In the final module, you will learn that our money can be invested in targeted ways to support innovative, new business models, and solutions to pollution and other environmental challenges. Examples include cradle-to-grave business models, reforestation, and clean water infrastructure. You will also make decisions – and commitments – about the next steps you want to take with your money. And you will discover some simple actions you can incorporate in your daily life to extend the positive impact you can have on the environment even further.

Course Creators

William Tickle, CFA

Partner, Senior Investment Advisor, and the Director of Impact Investing at Ballentine Partners

William Tickle, CFA is a Partner, Senior Investment Advisor, and the Director of Impact Investing at Ballentine Partners. For 15 years he has been responsible for market research, due diligence, and oversight of the firm’s impact investment program across asset classes and in public and private markets. Will is passionate about making investments about more than just a return.

He graduated from Brandeis University with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics with minors in International Business and Spanish. While in college, Will spent his summers working at the firm and upon graduation joined the company full time in 2003.

Julie Pulda, CFA

Impact Investment Manager at Ballentine Partners

Julie Pulda, CFA is an Impact Investment Manager at Ballentine Partners, where she has an instrumental role in identifying impact opportunities by conducting market research and providing recommendations to the investment team. Julie received her Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy at the Fletcher School of International Affairs at Tufts University. While there, she interned for Trillium Asset Management. Her master’s thesis, “The Case for SDG Investing: A Portfolio Building Exercise” focused on integrating the UN Sustainable Development Goals into financial strategies. Julie finds great joy in helping families align their social values with impact-focused investment opportunities.