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 MarketsNatural
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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Our Approach 
