Ep 419: Attracting Clients Who Want To Align Their Investments With Their Values With A Sustainable Investing Approach with Peter Krull
Jan 7, 2025
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Peter Krull, Director of Sustainable Investing at Earth Equity Advisors, specializes in aligning investments with personal values. He shares insights on the evolution from traditional investing to sustainable practices, emphasizing the importance of ESG factors. Peter discusses how focusing on specific sectors can boost business and adapt to changing client demographics post-pandemic. He highlights practical steps for building diversified sustainable portfolios and the value of self-awareness in investment strategies, ultimately guiding clients toward investments that reflect their vision for the future.
Peter Krull differentiates sustainable investing by focusing on identifying future-focused sectors and companies that align with client values rather than merely avoiding 'bad' investments.
His balanced portfolio construction approach integrates individual stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds to maintain diversification while meeting sustainability criteria.
Specializing in sustainable investing not only attracts like-minded clients but also minimizes competition, creating unique growth opportunities for financial advisors.
Deep dives
The Unique Approach to Sustainable Investing
Peter Krull employs a sustainable investing strategy that fosters alignment between clients' investments and their personal values. Unlike traditional approaches that focus on exclusion or ESG metrics, his method is bottom-up, seeking out sectors and companies poised to succeed in a more sustainable economy. This progressive framework looks beyond merely avoiding 'bad' investments and prioritizes actively supporting businesses that embody environmental and social responsibility. By integrating industry news and quantitative data, Krull effectively identifies opportunities that align with both client values and sound financial practices.
Building Robust Client Portfolios
Krull's portfolio construction process hinges on a balanced approach, incorporating both individual stocks and a wide range of funds. He believes that blending stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds enhances the pool of potential investments, allowing him to maintain portfolio diversification while meeting sustainability criteria. This strategy emphasizes that sustainable investing should not be a thematic addition; rather, it should serve as a core component of client portfolios. Ultimately, this approach aims for a mix of equity and fixed-income investments that align with clients' risk tolerances.
Navigating the Landscape of Sustainable Investing
The podcast illuminates the differences among various investing styles such as socially responsible investing, ESG investing, and sustainable investing. Krull highlights how sustainable investing encompasses a broader, forward-looking perspective, positioning it as a pivotal strategy for addressing future economic and environmental challenges. His emphasis on understanding these distinctions is crucial for financial advisors promoting sustainable strategies, as clients are increasingly seeking impactful investment options. Such clarity not only enhances client satisfaction but also enables advisors to differentiate their services in a competitive market.
The Evolution and Demand for Sustainable Investing
The growing demand for sustainable investing is evident as more clients express a desire to align their portfolios with their personal beliefs. Krull notes that this convergence of financial acumen and ethical consideration has created niche opportunities that further promote business growth. For instance, by specializing in sustainable investing, his firm has not only attracted clients motivated by values but also minimized competition from firms lacking expertise in this area. This strategic niche focus has thus expanded his business opportunities rather than constraining them.
The Future of Sustainable Investment Practice
Looking ahead, Krull aims to scale his sustainable investing strategies further by enhancing partnerships and expanding his advisory firm. Since merging with a larger entity, he has been focused on creating an extensive outreach to progressive cities and advisors who are aligned with sustainable principles. His commitment to thought leadership continues as he engages in dialogues and educational initiatives surrounding sustainable investing. By leveraging a mix of personal passion and industry knowledge, he seeks to make a lasting impact both within the investment community and among individual investors.
Peter Krull is the Director of Sustainable Investing of Earth Equity Advisors, an RIA based out of North Carolina that oversees approximately $200 million in assets under management for 250 client households. What sets Pete apart is his ability to grow his firm by helping clients align their portfolios with their personal values, turning investments into a reflection of the businesses they want to support. He achieves this while maintaining well-diversified, market-aligned portfolios that are prudently allocated to sound businesses.
Listen in as Pete shares how his sustainable investing approach focuses on identifying sectors and companies poised for future success, differentiating it from socially responsible and ESG investing by taking a bottom-up, forward-looking perspective. He explains how he uses a combination of industry insights, quantitative metrics, and third-party evaluations to construct client portfolios with a mix of equities and fixed-income investments that align with sustainability criteria while meeting clients' risk tolerances. Pete also discusses how serving a well-defined niche has expanded his business opportunities, enabling him to attract clients who want their investments to support the future they envision, and how merging with a larger firm has allowed him to scale his offerings and reach even more like-minded investors.