Financial Planning: “Gender equality and financial success: Not mutually exclusive?”

ThirtyNorth Investment’s Managing Principle Suzanne Mestayer was recently featured in Financial Planning following a presentation she delivered at the annual IMCA Conference in San Diego on gender lens investing:

Here’s an excerpt:

 

Women hold only a fraction of roles in corporate leadership. Your clients probably notice.

One way to effect positive change is by helping clients engage in responsible investing through a gender lens, Suzanne Mestayer, managing principal at ThirtyNorth Investments told an audience during her presentation on women executives at the IMCA annual conference in San Diego.

“Why should gender lens investing be important to advisers?” Mestayer asked the audience. “It should be important to you because investors are genuinely interested in this topic.”

She says many investors learn they can effect change this way through unexpected sources.

“People are learning from what they’re reading, their friends and family ― they’re not hearing about it from their financial advisers.”

Mestayer, whose RIA has offices in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, says it’s time to move away from the assumption that making decisions based on the desire to do good deeds isn’t necessarily financially viable.

“We just assume ourselves that it’s not financially the best investment,” she says.
“It may be great for social causes but financially? Is that the best thing I can do for my client?”

Check out the full article by reporter Maddy Perkins here.