Contact Us
Please contact us for a free consultation to see how we can help you create a personalized portfolio that supports a just and sustainable society. Call us at 1-800-793-7512 or click here to send us an email.
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How We Invest
What can you expect when you contact us about investing?
If there's one thing we've learned through the years, it's that clear communication is the bedrock of our work with clients. Your first conversation with an NI financial advisor might feel a bit like a first date. You're going to "check us out", and that's fine! We're passionate about the work we do and are happy to answer any and all questions.
As the initial step in designing your NI portfolio, we will ask you to fill out our Social Questionnaire, which will help you to clarify your personal financial goals, tolerance for risk, and social-impact priorities. After that, further conversations with your NI advisor will inform our specific recommendations for you.
We take our fiduciary responsibility seriously. After all, it's your life savings we're managing! We're committed to fiscal discipline, using an asset allocation approach that is customized to your financial situation. We follow rigorous professional standards, with Accredited Investment Fiduciaries (AIF®) and a Holistic Financial Planner in-house.
Through our relationships with Charles Schwab & Co, First Affirmative Financial Network, the Center for Fiduciary Studies, and other service providers, we have access to research tools that enable us to give sound financial advice while keeping custodial and transaction costs low.
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New York Times Mutual Fund Study |
In 1993, the New York Times initiated a 7-year study of mutual fund investment approaches. The paper asked five of the nation's leading investment advisers to design model portfolios for a hypothetical investor having $50,000 and 20 years to go until retirement.
Jack Brill, founder and current Senior Advisor of Natural Investments (Natural Investment Services at the time), was asked to participate, along with four other highly regarded investment professionals. On the heels of his first book, Investing From the Heart, Jack was the only socially responsible investment (SRI) advisor in the competition.
As such, whereas the other four advisors had access to the entire investment universe, Jack's portfolio used only socially screened mutual funds; back in 1993, there were only 20 SRI funds available! While we always maintained that this would not limit opportunities for successful results (and we appreciate today's array of 200 funds), skepticism about SRI was the prevailing attitude at that time.
During the course of the study, the Times published a quarterly article detailing the investment process of each adviser and comparing their quarterly and cumulative performance. Beginning July 1, 1993 and ending 28 quarters later on June 30, 2000, the landmark study served as a high profile opportunity to highlight both SRI funds' competitive returns and Jack's success as an investment advisor.
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While investors are interested in helping people and the planet, we also want our investments to generate sufficient return. Decades ago, when there were only a handful of managers willing to conduct ethical screening and shareholder advocacy, it was more difficult to create fully diversified portfolios which offered competitive financial returns.
Today, with hundreds of socially responsible funds and managers investing in virtually every asset class, it is possible to design and maintain investment portfolios that consistently perform similarly to the conventional investments.
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Our Approach to Investing-Diversification, Model Portfolios, Monitoring the Markets
Natural Investments conducts extensive research on the wide array of investment securities available to socially responsible investors. Equally important is the understanding of how combinations of securities work together to reduce risk and enhance performance. With the work we've put into our investment research, we have confidence in guiding our clients through the sometimes-challenging securities markets.
We believe that an Asset Allocation approach is the most reliable and consistent way to earn competitive investment returns and manage risk levels to the comfort point of every investor. Asset Allocation is the practice of dividing investments among a variety of securities categories. There are lots of categories, and we encourage diversification into a wide variety because they tend to have different characteristics. When some of them may be performing poorly, others may be performing well. This makes for a smoother ride.
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Giving Back
We donate 1% of our sales to environmental organizations, including:
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The Heart Rating
How do you measure if an investment is socially responsible? Consult our Heart Rating.
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Our Approach 
