Dynasty Financial Partners (Dynasty) has partnered with technology-powered asset manager Ethic to expand environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing capabilities for its network of almost 50 independent advisory firms.
The addition of Ethic will empower financial advisors within the Dynasty network to create custom, tax-efficient passive equity portfolios that align clients’ personal values and financial goals. Advisors will have the option to either select from existing thematics, or to create a custom suite of investment portfolios/allocations that are based on a range of underlying benchmarks and reflect their firm’s sustainability priorities.
“We believe that sustainable investing represents a tremendous opportunity for advisors to forge deeper client relationships, increase retention and capture the next-generation of wealth holders,” says Nick Gerace, senior vice president of investments at Dynasty. “The addition of Ethic to our platform reflects our ongoing commitment to providing advisors with leading-edge solutions that empower them to better serve their clients and operate scalable, successful firms.”
According to the US SIF Foundation, USD12.0 trillion of professionally managed assets in the U.S. now employ sustainable, responsible and impact investing (SRI) strategies – an increase of 38 percent from USD8.7 trillion in 2016. Jay Lipman, co-founder and president of Ethic, added: “Advisors who can have authentic and informed conversations with their clients surrounding their distinct values, and offer them tailored investment solutions, will likely be well positioned for future growth. As client expectations continue to grow, advisors are seeking refreshing ways to deepen and enrich existing client relationships, as well as a consistent means to win new ones. We’re excited to work with Dynasty, a true industry leader that shares our enthusiasm for serving and supporting the advisor community.”
Ethic’s end-to-end-solution, which draws from a multitude of reputable data sources to aggregate, analyse and predict sustainability issues, uses quantitative portfolio construction to tightly track underlying benchmarks and match market performance. It also offers robust reporting capabilities that help advisors to clearly communicate clients’ underlying holdings, and how their portfolio allocations are translating to tangible social and environmental impact.
“Ethic’s technology solution is not only able to help our clients align their values with their portfolios, but also to demonstrate the tangible impact that their investing decisions are having on the issues they care about most,” adds Gary Hirschberg, founder and CEO of Aaron Wealth, a Dynasty network firm. “These crucial metrics have, for the most part, been elusive in ESG offerings until now. I’m confident that, as client interest in sustainable investing grows, other advisors in Dynasty’s network stand to benefit from having a dedicated technology partner that truly understands the space.”
