Emerging Innovations In ESG

Plus Wealthtech And Recruiting News, Concourse’s New CEO And Morningstar’s Reasons Not To Worry About Politics

To My Fellow WSR Community Members:

We’re still in the early days of ESG development as regulators, advisors, investors and asset managers grapple with the moving targets of ESG standards, metrics and methods. Corporations examine themselves in light of ESG and attempt to chart a course to satisfy various stakeholders. Hydrocarbon-rich states sometimes push back.

What may appear as chaos is actually the messiness of creativity as our industry and others attempt to improve in all three areas – environmental, social and governance. Now is the perfect time for innovators to present new methodologies and investment types into the creative process.

This week, we hear from two ESG innovators, one an investment firm that provides opportunities to invest in water and the other a wealth management firm that actively engages with companies to foster improvement.

In addition, we have two news roundups for you: Our monthly wealthtech column covers the latest innovations and people moves and showcases our new Wealthtech Leader of the Month, while our weekly recruitment roundup covers small and large transactions, including a $12.7 billion breakaway.

We also bring you coverage of the new CEO of an independent broker-dealer and reasons not to worry about next month’s elections.  

This Week’s Issue

Here’s what we have this week:

• Who’s our latest Wealthtech Leader of the Month? In Digital Domain, our Wealthtech Roundup features Colin Falls, President at GeoWealth, about its latest TAMP enhancements. Other entries include Pontera appointing startup veteran Nicole Zheng as its first Chief Marketing Officer, Advisor360° enhancing its advisor-client toolkit, Snappy Kraken integrating data synchronization with three leading CRM platforms and Docupace expanding its executive and management bench with five key appointments.

• What’s the widest range of deals yet to occur in one week? In Newsmakers & Roundups, our Weekly Recruitments covers deals across almost every size of firm in the wealth management industry. We look at Mariner Wealth Advisors acquiring $256 million Executive Wealth Counselors, Stratos Wealth Advisors recruiting the $400 million advisor Kenneth J. Gimbel, UBS recruiting ten Merrill Lynch advisors who together oversee $2.85 billion and Concurrent Advisors exiting its independent affiliation with Raymond James to form a $12.7 billion hybrid RIA.

• Who’s the newest major industry boss? Also in Newsmakers & Roundups, Concourse Financial Group announced the appointment of David Perry to the position of Chief Executive Officer. Perry had been serving as Chief Operating Officer since the company launched in July 2021. Doyle Williams, the former CEO, was appointed Chief Marketing Officer of Concourse’s parent company, Protective Life, which itself is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tokyo-based Dai-ichi Life Holdings.

• How do you encourage companies you invest in to go green? In Investment Solutions & Gatekeepers, Dany Roizman, Founding Partner ofBrainvest Wealth Management, shares best practices on avoiding greenwashing, encouraging companies – especially in alternative investments – to improve their ESG compliance and creating tracking systems to gauge progress.

• Worried about the November elections? Also in Investment Solutions & Gatekeepers, we spoke with Joe Saari, the Founder and Chairman of Morningstar’s long-standing partner,Financial Fitness Group, which tracks 95 years of data on economic parameters, including equity markets and the political party in power in the House, Senate and White House. His conclusions may relieve stress about what politics can do to your clients’ portfolios.

• Do you brush your teeth with the latest in alternative investments? In our third article in Investment Solutions & Gatekeepers,David Grumhaus, President and Chief Investment Officer at Duff & Phelps Investment Management, an affiliate of Virtus Investment Partners, tells us about investment opportunities in water, the pros and cons of water investing and how water investing fits in the broader ESG picture.

Please share your thoughts, ideas and suggestions with us on ESG, wealthtech and more.

Your friends and colleagues benefit from this week’s stories when you share via email or social media, especially LinkedIn.

Enjoy your holiday weekend!

Cheers!

Larry Roth, CEO

Wealth Solutions Report