Insights

2025 Impact & Public Benefit Report

The 2025 Impact & Public Benefit Report outlines how Natural Investments creates positive social, environmental, and economic outcomes through its investments, internal practices, and industry advocacy. It showcases data and stories about the firm’s impact on communities, its work to advance a more just form of capitalism, and its leadership in promoting racial equity and inclusive ownership.

The Growing Presence of AI: What Does It Mean for You and for Our Planet?

Day in and day out, we continue to hear about artificial intelligence (AI). Whether it’s a new company introducing a faster, more cost-effective model or an AI capable of generating hyper-realistic images that blur the line between human and machine, AI is advancing at an astonishing rate. But what exactly is AI, and what impact

Leaning In: Adasina Social Capital Lights the Way

Before the turn of the century, sustainable and socially responsible investing (SRI) was a small portion of the overall financial system. Of the thousands of mutual funds in the market, a couple dozen carried the “green” or “socially responsible” description. Committed SRI fund companies had a general mission and vision to encourage greater corporate responsibility

In The News – Spring 2025

This quarter’s In the News recaps articles reporting on big banks reactions to the current political climate and the new buzzword for ESG.

Market Report – First Quarter 2025

The first quarter of 2025 has been a rollercoaster for investors, with the market reacting to the ever-evolving and often conflicting changes implemented since the new administration took control. For the quarter, large-company stock declined by 4.3 percent, small-company stock fell 9.5 percent, while foreign stock grew by 6.9 percent. Countering trends in the domestic

Fighting Back: Preserving Shareholder Rights and the Freedom to Invest Responsibly

The fate of capitalism is at stake. Those who want to remove government obstacles and revert to the good ol’ days of building a white empire by unethically exploiting labor, communities, customers, People of Color, immigrants, and the environment are having their moment. They’re weaving their dangling threads of power through tax loopholes and harmful

Investing with Intent – Winter 2025

This quarter’s issue of the “Investing with Intent” newsletter for clients and friends addresses responsible investing after the election, protecting the Amazon rainforest, investing in farming in sub-Saharan Africa, and an update on the firm’s internal racial equity work.

Resilience is (Still) the New Sustainability

Many people who embrace sustainable, socially responsible, and impact investing are feeling surprise, disbelief, and despair since the election. It confirmed that tens of millions of people have different values from ours, and it remains baffling that tens of millions of registered voters didn’t think it was important enough to vote. It is too early

Preserving Earth’s Lungs: Learning from the Guardians Protecting the Amazon Rainforest

The Amazon rainforest is the largest rainforest in the world and has often been called the “lungs of the Earth,” because of the billions of trees that absorb carbon dioxide, produce 20 percent of Earth’s oxygen, and slow climate change. Research conducted by the Brazilian Research Scientist Dr. Antônio Donato Nobre, and sponsored by several

Being the Change: Natural Investments’ Commitment to Racial Equity

Natural investments’ Racial equity team (RE team) was established in 2021 to champion our firm’s internal efforts to foster a just, equitable, and safe workplace for all advisors and staff members. The team is currently composed of five advisors who serve a term of at least two years, and participants are compensated for being part

Market Report – Winter 2025

The stock and bond markets were mixed over the fourth quarter, though up for the year. Large-company stocks rose 2.4 percent for the quarter, and 25 percent for the year. Small-company stocks were up just 0.3 percent for the quarter, and up 11.5 percent for the year. Foreign stocks lost 8.1 percent for the quarter

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