Ethical Investing VS Impact Investing
I used to eat Special K with the dried red berries, it was what slim, happy, good-looking people ate.
On the front of the packet was a lean woman wearing a red dress, and the ad on tv showed the same women brightly trotting down chic' Parisian lane ways turning heads of everyone she passed. It was sold as low fat, low calorie, healthy way to start the day.
The average bowl of Special K contains more sugar than a Krispy Kreme donut, but without looking under the bonnet you would never know.
PR and marketing can create a nice glossy narrative that can be quite far away from reality.
The consumer eventually catches on, I think most of us now don't take the branding of a product as 'healthy' because it says so and instead we actually read the ingredients.
The same is required when it comes to investing and spending our money. If that's important to you.
Support businesses that are aligned to your values and avoid the ones that are not. So it's important to look behind the bonnet and not words like 'ethical' and 'socially responsible' at face value.
There are some very shiny promises I see with investments. The bulk lies with a promise of low risk and high returns that make no sense. There are also 'absolute' return funds that aim to return the same amount each year no matter the cyclical environment- which no one has delivered, and then of course the 'ethical' label with only a very light screening process over the top. Oh and then there is the crypto marking which is a whole program in itself.
Of course, this only matters if you do want to invest for profit and also care about what you're supporting, which some people don't, and that's also ok.
For those who care about what they are supporting and also see investing as a way to support long-term independence then knowing how to look beyond PR and long-legged Special K women is fundamental.
If you want to know more I'm running a free masterclass called VALUE this Friday on Ethical investing, you can join here https://www.freyasavage.com/value