Investors want ‘more personalization’ when it comes to ESG

investmentnews.com:

Is the controversy and skepticism around environmental, social and governance investing finally easing? Holly Mazzocca of Cincinnati-based Bartlett Wealth Management, one of the oldest RIAs in the country, believes it is.

Despite the controversies that have dogged ESG investing strategies, she says has seen “a tremendous shift” towards personalization.

“The idea of greenwashing and some of the worries about just slapping ESG labels on to a fund that isn’t necessarily an ESG fund scared many investors,” she says. “They don’t want to have a label on it, they really want to understand it, which can be hard to do with the size of public companies and the size of public investments.

“By having a more personalized approach and individualized conversations with our advisors, many of our clients are starting to dig deeper and understand, ‘What am I trying to accomplish and how can my advisor help me accomplish that?’”

Mazzocca, who is Bartlett’s president, principal and also serves as a wealth advisor, highlighted how the firm has invested in the ESG space since the 1970s, when the focus was on value-based investing. Bartlett’s clients were from religious or non-profit organizations, who wanted to ensure they weren’t investing in ways that were conflicting with their personal or organizational mission and values.

Those organizations have generally stayed with Bartlett and 15 percent of its client base are those in social services agencies and educational organizations. Mazzocca says that while her clients want to have conversations around ESG investing, they often don’t fully understand what kind of fund they want to invest in., focusing instead on how their portfolio compares to the broader market.

“If there’s one thing that