Social Responsibility

Investing with a Racial Equity Lens

Zevin Asset Management was founded on the belief that active investors have an important role to play in advocating for social and environmental progress. Since our founding in 1997, we have widened our panorama of risk and opportunity by conducting research on corporate environmental, social, and governance-related impacts to inform our investment approach. Through active ownership, we encourage companies to adopt more sustainable business practices that we believe make sense in the long term. 

We describe racial equity investing as a lens applied to companies to identify and change inequitable policies, practices, and behaviors to advance meaningful racial and ethnic diversity, equity, and inclusion. We accomplish our work through research and stakeholder collaboration, shareholder engagements, submission of shareholder proposals, proxy voting, and public policy outreach and support.

Root Out Impact Washing in Your Portfolio

Time and time again, I am disappointed to see the actively blurred lines between environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing, values-aligned investing, and impact. By conflating these concepts, investors who are intent on making a difference with their investments are often misled. Taken in by false promises of the positive change their investments can create, investors can be persuaded by impact washing to allocate assets to products or strategies that do not actively create change.

Investors Support FTC Proposal to Ban Noncompete Clauses

Zevin Asset Management and the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, on behalf of investors representing $436 billion in assets under management and in partnership with the American Economic Liberties Project, submitted a letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) vocalizing our support of the FTC’s proposed ban on noncompete agreements.

How We Are Responding to the Climate Crisis

The most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report concluded, once again, that unless there are immediate, rapid and large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, limiting warming to close to 1.5°C or even 2°C in the next few decades will be beyond reach. Climate scientists continue to warn that structural changes in our economy are needed to mitigate the greatest harms of climate change. Meaningful policy changes are the most important strategy to address this, but the role of sustainable investing is also key.

Zevin Asset Management Joins 2022 Global Investor Statement to Governments on the Climate Crisis Ahead of COP27

Zevin Asset Management joins over 600 investors, representing almost USD $42 trillion in assets under management, in signing the 2022 Global Investor Statement to Governments on the Climate Crisis. We urge governments to radically raise their climate ambitions ahead of COP27 this November, which will provide a crucial opportunity for governments to step up their climate commitments and focus their attention on adopting and implementing policies to enable large scale zero-emissions and climate-resilient investments.

Pressure and support from the investor community are necessary to achieving the goals outlined in the Paris Agreement — and we are stepping up to the challenge. Zevin Asset Management is committed to influencing corporate behavior and creating more sustainable outcomes through shareholder advocacy, public policy action, and proxy voting.

Read our statement to learn more.