SMA Manager of the Year Geeta Aiyer on Creating Value in ESG Investing

(Video by Mimi Productions. Headshot by Tom McKenzie.)

Some advisors have hesitated to put their clients into socially responsible or ESG investments because they believe they don’t provide the same rates of return as traditional investment products, a study by TIAA found. Boston Common Asset Management believes otherwise.

The firm’s International Equity SRI Strategy was launched in 2004 and as of Dec. 31, 2015, had $1.2 billion in assets under management. It has annualized alpha of 90 basis points, and standard deviation is roughly 1% lower than its benchmark, the Russell Developed ex-North America Large-Cap Index.

Boston Common’s president and founder, Geeta Aiyer, sat down with ThinkAdvisor’s Bernice Napach at the Envestnet Advisor Summit in May to discuss how the firm analyzes ESG criteria and financial performance, and how it engages with companies to improve their ESG factors.

— Read Torchbearers: The 2016 SMA Managers of the Year on ThinkAdvisor.