We hosted a webinar on August 1st 2023 that was simulcast to youtube, linkedin, facebook, and also shared directly to our community through riverside.fm.
If you’d like to be notified in advance about our next one, click here!
A unedited recording is available below, along with an unedited (and for that matter, poorly formatted) transcript of the recording.
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Sloane: Hi, I don’t think anyone’s actually
listening yet, but welcome to the InvestVegan
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Sloane: Supermoon webinar.
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Sloane: Yeah, let’s make sure we’re actually
going live on our various platforms. This is
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00:00:16,131 –> 00:00:24,580
Sloane: going to be a pretty chaotic situation,
I think. From a, oh yeah, let’s see. So it’s
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00:00:24,840 –> 00:00:27,803
Sloane: started. Wait, how do I?
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Sloane: probably should have been doing this,
doing like making sure that we were set up
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Sloane: on YouTube rather than like, let’s
see, Full Moon Webinar upcoming. Let’s go ahead
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Sloane: and start that. Huh?
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Sloane: uh… wow reaction of people in the
in the chat that’s amazing uh… we’re just
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Sloane: sort of waiting out hanging out for
uh… together various you know other platform
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Sloane: streams going on i think we are now
up on youtube which rules uh… and we’re just
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Sloane: going to get up on LinkedIn. I mean,
like the fun thing about the modern economy
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Sloane: is that if you have something to say
or nothing to say, you can say it on a hundred
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Sloane: different platforms all at once. Don’t
you think that’s remarkable, Gabe?
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Sloane: Yeah, I think that, um, oh wow, here
we are on the, on book face. I’m going to go
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Sloane: ahead and share that to my, uh, you
know, human story. Um, the, uh, but yeah, like,
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Sloane: so I think, you know, really the goal
at a high level for this, uh, seminar series
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Sloane: and for, um, you know, really all
of our touches in general with the broader
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Sloane: public as invest vegan is to do what
we can to add, add any value that. you know,
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Sloane: we think might be broadly applicable
that we get out of our perspective. And I think
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Sloane: maybe as a starter, before we get
into the slides, Gabe, you wanna just introduce
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Sloane: yourself? You’re the first non-cat
that anyone has seen hanging around.
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Sloane: You’re so gentle in talking about
your experience. You know, thereafter, thereafter
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Sloane: I worked for Amazon for a little while
and did a little bit of fintech recruiting.
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Sloane: Uh. But yeah, we’re really glad to
have Gabe on the team. And if you guys haven’t
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Sloane: chatted with him yet, it really is
a matter of time. He is increasingly and very
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Sloane: rapidly demonstrating himself to be
super knowledgeable and useful across investment
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Sloane: research and the hundreds and hundreds
of other different weird angles of our business,
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Sloane: which include everything from hosting
a podcast to trying to figure out how to take
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Sloane: carbon out of the atmosphere. various
ways. And that’s something that we can kind
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Sloane: of talk to in the Q&A. But, you know,
I think while we’re waiting for people to come
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Sloane: in a really good, uh, you know, way
to kind of use up some time is to just kind
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Sloane: of give, uh, some quick, you know,
kind of overview slides of, you know, kind
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Sloane: of what we do around here. Um, and,
you know, I, I’m pleased to say they’re, they’re
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Sloane: kind of designy. Um, behold, we, uh,
we re we really went ham with the stock photos
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Sloane: on this one. I hope you guys appreciate
it. Um, You know, before we get into it, uh,
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Sloane: you know, just a quick disclaimer,
we are a Utah domiciled investment advisor.
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Sloane: This is not a solicitation. It is
also not investment advice. Uh, investment
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Sloane: advice is a thing that happens if,
and only if you have executed a contract with
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Sloane: us, um, and we make specific recommendations
to you. Um, so if you’re a client and, you
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Sloane: know, I think we’ve got a mix of,
uh, you know, kind of prospective clients,
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Sloane: current clients, and, um, you know,
people who are just kind of. Interested in
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Sloane: what the vibe is around here. in the
chat and the stream, just be mindful that while
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Sloane: we are trying to give you generally
useful information, we are not giving you investment
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Sloane: advice at this time. The real highlight
for today is, in addition to a treasure hunt
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Sloane: for typos in our presentation slides,
which I have a tendency to produce these pretty
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Sloane: quickly and roast myself in the process
of delivering them. I’m just going to give
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Sloane: a quick… you know, overview of our
firm, our strategy, our performance, et cetera.
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Sloane: Um, I’m going to talk to four questions
that we got in advance. Um, and then in the
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Sloane: process of, you know, kind of thinking
about this, I encourage you to, uh, be asking
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Sloane: your questions in the chat, either
on Facebook, on LinkedIn, on YouTube, uh, or,
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Sloane: or here on Riverside, where you’ll
actually be able to, um, you know, kind of
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Sloane: hit a little button and say, hi, I
would like to ask a question. And then you
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Sloane: can actually join us on the video
and ask the question, which is pretty. and
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Sloane: hopefully it doesn’t break our computers.
So at a high level what we do at InvestVegan,
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Sloane: we seek to invest in companies that
one, avoid preventable harm to living things.
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Sloane: That’s my personal definition of veganism.
It’s one that other people have used. You know
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Sloane: I think that there is sort of a nice
you know practicality embedded in that statement.
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Sloane: So avoiding preventable harm that
means are excluded, but as we talk more about
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Sloane: the way that we screen and think about
this stuff, I think you’ll see that it goes
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Sloane: on to encompass a lot more than that.
The other main criteria that we have is that
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Sloane: every company we invest in has to
make meaningful contributions to a better future
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Sloane: for all. And what we mean by that
is not like, with some sustainable investment
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Sloane: firms, you’ll see like, you know,
people who are like, oh, yeah, we like to invest
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Sloane: in women leaders or whatever, you
know, which is kind of the like, you know,
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Sloane: sort of a cursed version of progressivism.
You know, it kind of leads to people getting
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Sloane: really excited about like more female
drone pilots or something like that. What we
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Sloane: are focused on is companies that generate
impact in the same way they generate revenue,
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Sloane: that is by selling their product.
Right. So, um, I think that is, uh, one of
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Sloane: the only defensible ways to do this.
And quite frankly, I think it also gives us
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Sloane: a huge advantage in thinking about
how we manage risk as a company. Um, the, you
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Sloane: know, just quick overview of us. Wow.
Look, sweet typo. Number one. Uh, I, uh, I
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Sloane: didn’t really update the formatting
on Gabe’s headshot, but you know, isn’t he
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Sloane: handsome? I have worked in the investment
business since I was a young child. Both my
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Sloane: parents are finance industry brats.
There’s a post on the website that kind of
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Sloane: has some more detail about my own
personal history called how I became an active
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Sloane: manager. But what I would distress
on this experience thing is for basically my
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Sloane: whole life I’ve I was actually, you
know, angry slash energized by the problem
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Sloane: of, you know, how to deliver an ethical
investment solution to the kind of people that
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Sloane: I think need it, right? I, you know,
as a trans woman, part of the catalyst for
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Sloane: actually starting InvestVegan was
I was sitting around in a room with a bunch
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Sloane: of my trans friends in Brooklyn and
I realized that I was the only one who owned
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Sloane: any stocks at all. And, you know,
obviously, you know, that has some something
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Sloane: to do with the fact that trans people
don’t necessarily have the best jobs usually.
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Sloane: But I think it also has a lot to do
with trust. And so I set out to build a firm
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Sloane: that could deliver a, you know, an
investment solution that met my own ethical
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Sloane: criteria, which are pretty significant
and strict, and then make it available as widely
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Sloane: as possible.
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Sloane: available with an investment minimum
of $1 or maybe $0.01, but basically as low
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Sloane: as practically possible. You know,
our process really emphasizes some pretty exhaustive
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Sloane: ethical screening. Um, so, you know,
if you go onto our website, there’s a great
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Sloane: website, there’s a great kind of rundown
of how our process works. Um, but at a high
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Sloane: level, our criteria on ethics takes
the, you know, the broad universe of about
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Sloane: 10,000 stocks that one could invest
in and narrows it down really usefully to about
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Sloane: 1500 companies. And that makes it
possible for us. You know, a lot of people
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Sloane: are like, how do you cover all these
companies? You know, Well, honestly, we’re
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Sloane: able to eliminate a lot of companies
from consideration, which is a really big help.
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Sloane: And we find that, you know, as we’ve
kind of gone through this process over time,
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Sloane: you know, we’ve been at this for five
years or so. There’s sort of a cumulative research
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Sloane: process that’s at work here. So every
time we go back in and do our updates, we find
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Sloane: that we’re able to build on research
that’s been done three, four, five months ago,
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Sloane: more and more and more. So, you know,
I think that this foundation though allows
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Sloane: us to, you know, really kind of go
and say, okay. You know, any sort of thing
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Sloane: that we don’t want to be involved
in. I, you know, I think like, you know, some
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Sloane: people think that invest vegan is
just about veganism. Um, you know, but really
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Sloane: like, you know, I mean, and yeah,
like we don’t invest in companies that use
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Sloane: leather or, you know, make eggs, um,
but, you know, humans are people too, or animals
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Sloane: too, right? And, you know, we want
to make sure humans are people too. Uh, we
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Sloane: want to make sure that we’re not,
uh, participating either as a client, right?
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Sloane: We, we, we think this way. of the
software that we choose and the services that
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Sloane: we work with, but also as an investor,
that we’re not like… you know, holding any
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Sloane: sweatshops or, you know, participating
in predatory lending. Um, one of the big differentiators,
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Sloane: I think, between us and, um, substantially
every, uh, sustainable investment firm that
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Sloane: I’m aware of is our approach to surveillance
capitalism. Um, in other words, the, uh, the
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Sloane: kind of marketing and resale of your
information by a host of tech giants. Um, I
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Sloane: think that, uh, you know, a number
of firms have basically taken the view that,
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Sloane: um, as long as. as Facebook doesn’t
emit carbon, the fact that they’ve precipitated
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Sloane: multiple genocides and arguably turn
democracy upside down is not so important.
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Sloane: We take a very dim view of that. And
I think if you look at, we’ll get to this more
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Sloane: in the performance later, but if you
look at what underlies our portfolio, it’s
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Sloane: not just a bunch of big tech companies
that in a technical way, in a narrow view of
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Sloane: sustainability, look okay. The other
thing is I think when Gabe started here, I
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Sloane: said to him, look, our screens are
great. I think they’re the best in the industry,
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Sloane: but I guarantee you that 15% of the
executives at the companies that we invest
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Sloane: in think I shouldn’t be able to shit
indoors as a trans person. And there is an
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Sloane: ingrained paranoia
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Sloane: levels both from a financial underwriting
standpoint and from an ethical underwriting
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Sloane: standpoint that we use to that kind
of energizes us and motivates us to expand
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Sloane: the realm of things that we’re looking
at more and more and more. Our performance
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Sloane: inception has been really pretty wonderful.
This is our flagship ethical growth strategy
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Sloane: since it was a baby compared to its
benchmark which is the MSCI ACWI which is a
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Sloane: kind of global index of stocks. Whenever
I talk about performance I’m very quick to
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Sloane: remind everyone that it doesn’t matter.
Because at a high level, what I think you and
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Sloane: most people want from an investment
firm is the ability to trust that the decisions
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Sloane: that are made on their behalf will
make sense in a future where anything might
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Sloane: happen. things go well, right, you
know, we would expect to be working with all
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Sloane: of our clients for decades and maybe
even, you know, their families later on, right?
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Sloane: So this is an extremely long-term
partnership that we look to look to build and
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Sloane: look to craft. And, you know, yes,
it is nice that we have outperformed our benchmark.
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Sloane: However, what I think matters more
to you is that we’ve done it in a way that
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Sloane: aligns with this very strict and rigorous
ethical framework, which will allow you to
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Sloane: trust that we will continue to adhere
to that going forward. Right. So, um, again,
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Sloane: not about performance, performance
is nice. Um, but when I set out to invest in
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Sloane: this, in this way, the only way I
could do it, um, you know, and produce a product
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Sloane: that was intellectually honest. was
to say I don’t care about performance, I’m
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Sloane: just going to focus on building the
best portfolio that I can. We think very little
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Sloane: about the index, basically only when
we produce presentations like this one, where
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Sloane: we’re explaining ourselves to other
people. Little drill down on that, you know,
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Sloane: and you know, here’s our year to date
performance. You know, this is a, you know,
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Sloane: we’ve outperformed by a pretty healthy
margin. And, you know, I think, you know, I
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Sloane: feel good about our portfolio. I’m
happy to add, to take any specific questions.
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Sloane: We’re going to kind of show you some
of the holdings, but, you know, here’s some
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Sloane: of the nerd stats for anybody out
there who is a little bit overeducated. One
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Sloane: thing I would just sort of draw your
attention to is this upside capture, downside
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Sloane: capture. measure. So far this year
we’ve had some really excellent stock selection
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Sloane: going on and you know You know, not
to talk too much about how good my own cooking
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Sloane: is, but, um, the, you know, we have
been fortunate when the market is going up
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Sloane: that we’ve captured more than all
of our benchmarks performance. And when our
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Sloane: benchmark is going down, we’ve actually
gone up, uh, so far this year, so hopefully
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Sloane: we’ll keep that, uh, that up. Um,
but you know, the, what matters more than the
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Sloane: performance is the process that creates
it and the process that creates it will change
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Sloane: over my dead body. So, you know, I
mean, we’ll evolve it, we’ll iterate on it,
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Sloane: we’ll continue to improve it. But
you know, to the extent there’s a special sauce,
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Sloane: it’s our iterative, detailed due diligence
process that we’ll talk more about as we go
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Sloane: on. Another thing I’ll just kind of
emphasize is that our portfolio is super, super
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Sloane: different from the benchmark.
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Sloane: You know, how much like trying to
create, you know, a fossil fuel free portfolio
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Sloane: that still has the same sector weightings
as the broad benchmark. These benchmarks are
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Sloane: built by literally creating a list
of, you know, the biggest companies in the
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Sloane: world and just investing in them in
roughly the same order as how big they are.
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Sloane: Um, you know, so though that, that
is, that has proven over time to be a fairly
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Sloane: robust metric and robust way to build
a portfolio, um, you know, I don’t think that
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Sloane: it’s what you want because in general,
people who come to us are looking for, um,
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Sloane: a disciplined and principled ethical,
uh, portfolio, right? So, um, there are a couple
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Sloane: of things I’ll just highlight. Um,
we are significantly more invested in real
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Sloane: estate than a bench, than the benchmark,
something like seven times. in real estate
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Sloane: than the benchmark. And the fact that
we’ve been able to outperform the market while
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Sloane: also being heavily invested in one
of the worst performing sectors, I think speaks
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Sloane: volumes about the rigor of our processes.
You can reasonably expect us to be significantly
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Sloane: underweighted in things like energy
and materials, which are typically basically
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Sloane: extractive industries.
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Sloane: So, you know, pretty kind of over
invested in things like industrials, which,
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Sloane: you know, tend to have a lot to do
with the energy transition, with, you know,
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Sloane: kind of sustainable development and
with, you know, kind of broad, you know, long
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Sloane: lasting trends that we’re really excited
to participate in. Our top 10 holdings are
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Sloane: roughly 70% of our portfolio, right?
So this is a very concentrated stock portfolio.
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Sloane: There are not that many companies
that meet our ethical criteria and of the ones
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Sloane: that do, not that many of them are
great investments, right? So I often say that
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Sloane: we do sustainable investing in the
real world around here. And, you know, so the
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Sloane: way that we kind of manage for that
issue around how there just simply aren’t that
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Sloane: many companies to invest in is we
concentrate our holdings in, you know, companies
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Sloane: that we think are doing a really great
job and that have really exciting situations.
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Sloane: Most of our… our positions have
also been in our portfolio since the very start,
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Sloane: about 13 of 19 of our overall holdings.
So, you know, we do tend to be an extremely
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Sloane: low turnover portfolio, which means
that, you know, there are some tax benefits
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Sloane: for those of you that are invested
in us through a non-tax-deferred, like a standard
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Sloane: brokerage account. You know, and I
think that this focus on, you know, kind of
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Sloane: owning shares of companies, owners
and really never planning to sell them, allows
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Sloane: us to weather market volatility with
an incredible degree of discipline. We literally
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Sloane: trade once a month on the new moon.
We do not trade stock. you know, in between
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Sloane: that and whenever we kind of execute
our trades, we make sure that we look at our
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Sloane: entire investment universe before
we trade anything. You know, so we’re not only
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Sloane: accountable, you know, to the lunar
cycle, which is kind of a nice way to keep
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Sloane: us slightly off kilter from the rest
of the mainstream investment industry. But,
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Sloane: you know, our accountability to ourselves
is to update the way that we, you know, see
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Sloane: the spectrum of opportunities every
time before we You know, so in general, that’s
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Sloane: a pretty, you know, kind of evidence-based
approach to doing this sort of thing. Our fee
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Sloane: structure, I think, is remarkable
for being you know, both simple and easy to
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Sloane: understand. We charge 1% of assets
for clients who have less than a million dollars
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Sloane: invested with us. Clients that have
more than a million dollars invested with us,
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Sloane: you know, are able to, you know, kind
of get a slight break. Our portfolios are also
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Sloane: available to financial advisors to
use with their clients. And we don’t, we’re
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Sloane: extremely mindful that fees directly
reduce investment returns. You know, so in
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Sloane: constructing this fee structure we’ve
been very careful to make sure that we are,
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Sloane: you know, kind of leaving more value
on the table than we’re taking in compensation.
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Sloane: And that’s part of why we’ve been
able to outperform our benchmark, right, because
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Sloane: our fees are not, you know, some crazy
hedge fund structure. And, you know, I should
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Sloane: have noted earlier that all of the
performance figures that we shared here are
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Sloane: net of fees, which means that they
include the cost of, you know, our fee and
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Sloane: all the commissions and all of that
sort of stuff. Now it’s question time and I
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Sloane: think it’s lovely that we got so many
questions in advance. I’m going to kind of
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Sloane: walk through them in sort of the order
that they were received. The first question
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Sloane: that we got is what’s your process
rubric for scoring companies and This is something
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Sloane: I could talk about until I’m blue
in the face and everybody on this webinar is
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Sloane: dead. Um, the, I wrote a textbook
about this with my mentor, uh, Jason, Apollo
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Sloane: Voss. Uh, well, I was at CFA Institute
called the investment idea generation guide.
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Sloane: Um, that is a, you know, kind of used
in some MBA programs to kind of think about
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Sloane: how to talk about, think about how
to come up with investment ideas. Um, and I
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Sloane: also host a podcast, uh, with my homie
Ashby who teaches longterm investing at Stanford,
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Sloane: where we talk about, uh, you know,
all sorts of nuances of this question, right?
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Sloane: It’s the, what is your process is
sort of one of those questions. It’s kind of
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Sloane: like, um, you know, what is your,
uh, North star? What is your essence as a human
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Sloane: being? And it has infinite subtlety.
That’s important to honor. So, you know, the
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Sloane: first question is the first point
I would say is, you know, there’s the textbook
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Sloane: that has the, you know, roughly 200
page or a hundred page, um, you know, kind
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Sloane: of dive into, you know, kind of how
we approach thinking about, uh, you know, construction
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Sloane: and scenario analysis. And then on
free money, you know, we often do really deep
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Sloane: dives into particular nuances of this.
So, you know, for instance, we have one coming
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Sloane: out relatively soon about how a lot
of accounting techniques are based in plantation
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Sloane: slavery and what that means for us
and how we, how we think about them. We have
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Sloane: a, you know, a piece out just recently
on the cooperative on a really interesting
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Sloane: cooperative farming model that’s out
in India. I encourage you guys to check that
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Sloane: out. the podcast has also been accused
of being kind of funny. But this is probably
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Sloane: what the person who asked this question
is asking about, right? This is our kind of
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Sloane: rubric for what I call tick, which
is our… internal metric that is designed
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Sloane: to encompass, you know, kind of the
broad financial viability of a given company.
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Sloane: And this is not an exhaustive list
of the things that we look at, but it is a
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Sloane: pretty good indication, mapping of,
you know, kind of what we look, what might
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Sloane: flow into that, right? So, you know,
for instance, one of the things I think about
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Sloane: a lot is effective
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Sloane: composed. We like to see, you know,
non man children in charge of companies. You
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Sloane: know, a lot of our competitors are
heavily invested in Tesla, which I think I
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Sloane: think from a governance standpoint
is pretty close to indefensible given Elon
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Sloane: Musk’s proclivity to I don’t know,
I think he was he was literally banned from
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Sloane: various elements of being a public
company chairperson for a while. And yet, a
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Sloane: lot of investors that say that they
focus on environmental, social, and governance-driven
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Sloane: and driven investing, ESG, wind up
holding his company as one of their biggest
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Sloane: investments. We also look a lot at…
is this, does this culture work and what’s
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Sloane: it like to be, you know, either a
person of color or, you know, anybody, you
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Sloane: know, who’s not the modal or majority
person there. So we react extremely strongly
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Sloane: when we see evidence of workplace
discrimination and, you know, tend to operate
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Sloane: on the basis where, you know, we treat
smoke like fire, so to speak. We also want
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Sloane: to see a product that has a really
solid growth trajectory, right? Like, you It’s
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Sloane: all good to have a great mission,
but you also need a great product. And so,
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Sloane: you know, we like to see that a company
has a nice pipeline of potential ideas and
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Sloane: concepts and adjacent markets that
they can enter, that they’re focused on KPIs
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Sloane: which matter. One of my favorite CEOs
opens every earnings call by talking about
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Sloane: the wait times that his customers
experience when calling into their 1-800 number.
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Sloane: And he’s always like, it’s one minute
and 30 seconds. We are doing everything we
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Sloane: can to get it down. You know? In this
particular business, which is basically powered
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Sloane: by a large group of relationships
with kind of independent organizations, that
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Sloane: focus makes every lick of sense. We’re
also really interested in, is there risk of
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Sloane: disruption? We have never owned stock
and Beyond Meat, which is one of the companies
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Sloane: that people tend to assume that we
own. Because I named the firm this way. We’re
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Sloane: not really looking to score arbitrary
points on like. some random metric or have
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Sloane: hip stocks in our portfolio. We really
want to own companies that we think have a
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Sloane: really nice ability to not only, you
know, create value for their communities and
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Sloane: their shareholders through their direct,
through their direct actions, but also do it
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Sloane: for a long time. You know, beyond
meat was something that, you know, though it
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Sloane: is a really interesting thing and
I’ve certainly eaten plenty of it as a vegan,
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Sloane: you know, the, what you see now is
that there are plenty. of plant-based substitutes
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Sloane: that are coming out from all sorts
of different places that really are practically
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Sloane: equivalent to those Beyond Meat offerings.
The other thing, and just the last point on
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Sloane: this slide, which is kind of boring
visually, is that the potential for permanent
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Sloane: capital loss is something I think
about a lot. Right. There are all sorts of
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Sloane: different ways to think about risk.
Um, you know, there’s a statistical concept
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Sloane: of risk, right? How much, how, how
much the portfolio wiggles around relative
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Sloane: to the market and, uh, whether those
wiggles are, are based in certain things, but
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Sloane: really, you know, when you’re thinking
like an owner and investing for the long term,
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Sloane: what matters most is managing this,
uh, potential that a company you’re invested
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Sloane: in will go to zero. Um, and so, you
know, we spend a lot of time. going, okay great,
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Sloane: they’ve passed our ethical screens,
are they generating cash? Are they going to
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Sloane: need to raise money this year? You
know, are they able to fund stuff, you know,
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Sloane: properly and you know, what are they
banking on and what happens if that doesn’t
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Sloane: come through? So, you know, I think
that’s another kind of distinctive feature
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Sloane: for us, as distinct from a lot of
sustainable portfolios, which, you know, are
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Sloane: often comprised of a bunch of companies
that sound like a good idea, but don’t necessarily
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Sloane: have much substance behind them. in
terms of cash flow generation. Again, another
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Sloane: look at our screening criteria. Consumer
harm is another thing I’ll just kind of emphasize
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Sloane: There’s a couple of companies that
are hip in vegan spaces, like Celsius is one
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Sloane: of them. That’s a plant-based energy
beverage manufacturer that really stresses
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Sloane: its weight loss benefits. And particularly
with anything that focuses on weight or body
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Sloane: image, we’re incredibly mindful that
even though the consumer may say they’re deriving
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Sloane: a lot of value and be speaking to
that with their dollars, they may not actually
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Sloane: be helped by it. So we try to take
a really integrated view of harm and value.
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Sloane: This next question is really a fun
one for me. Can we really create a better world
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Sloane: through investment? And the thing
was cut off because I make bad web forms. But
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Sloane: I think what the question asker was
getting at was, are we sort of just tap dancing
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Sloane: on the deck of the Titanic as the
whole thing goes down? Or is there actually
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Sloane: a possibility to manifest some practical
impact on the broader world? And I would say
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Sloane: absolutely yes. But we promised to
do it in the most boring. imprecise, arcane
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Sloane: and obscure ways possible. And that’s
just kind of because of the structure of the
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Sloane: asset management industry and the
way that this whole thing works as a practical
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Sloane: matter. So I created this kind of
stylized hierarchy of value propositions that
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Sloane: our style of investing has. And we’re
gonna talk about each of these in some detail.
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Sloane: At the baseline though, where we’re
thinking about, okay, as the world changes,
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Sloane: as demand changes, as regulation changes,
some companies that fail our screening criteria
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Sloane: are basically benefiting from weird
laws, weird context, weird realities that we
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Sloane: don’t think are durable. So like if,
for instance, a dairy producer no longer gets
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Sloane: its subsidy, you know, it’s it’s almost
certainly the case that they will no longer
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Sloane: be able to produce their product profitably.
You know, so that kind of baseline, you know,
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Sloane: management of externalities is one
of the core value propositions that we offer,
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Sloane: right? Because, you know, we’re thinking
about and trying to anticipate those potential
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Sloane: shifts and just avoid companies that
are exposed to those issues. The next would
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Sloane: be, you know, aligning with growth
trends. You know, the we tend to take the view
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Sloane: that trends are poised to accelerate,
you know, and that they are likely to be, you
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Sloane: know, relatively durable if we align
carefully. We’ll talk a little bit more about
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Sloane: that. One really big thing is stranded
assets, which is if you think about the stock
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Sloane: market as a whole, like the S&P 500
or whatever, in that thing that you invest
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Sloane: in, if you buy your S&P 500 index
fund, is ExxonMobil, is Chevron, is a whole
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Sloane: bunch of oil refineries. What happens
to those oil refineries and the value of those
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Sloane: investments in an aggressive climate
transition scenario? the, you know, it’s, it’s
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Sloane: likely the case that they will significantly
decline in value or become valueless. Um, so,
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Sloane: you know, by, you know, focusing on,
um, you know, risk mitigation and due diligence,
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Sloane: we can kind of get ahead of that,
or we hope to get ahead of that a little bit.
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Sloane: Of course, uh, what the person who
asked the question almost certainly had in
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Sloane: mind is this concept of impact, which
is, you know, things that happen in the world
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Sloane: as a result of the way that we invest.
Um, and you know, that is is one of these things
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00:32:17,244 –> 00:32:22,206
Sloane: that has been super oversold by the
investment industry. We think we still deliver
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00:32:22,246 –> 00:32:30,689
Sloane: it. And I’ll zoom a little bit more
in on the way that we’re trying to report around
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00:32:30,749 –> 00:32:36,951
Sloane: it later on in this thing. Managing
externalities, right? Um, important to note
344
00:32:36,992 –> 00:32:42,015
Sloane: that this is not a sex thing, despite
the undertones of this photo, uh, which are,
345
00:32:42,515 –> 00:32:47,558
Sloane: you know, definitely BDSM aligned.
Um, I still included it because, you know,
346
00:32:47,658 –> 00:32:55,355
Sloane: I think that there is a, um, a nice,
you know, kind of encapsulation of the way
347
00:32:55,375 –> 00:33:00,357
Sloane: that many executives think about the
risk of externalities, i.e. let’s just ignore
348
00:33:00,397 –> 00:33:06,320
Sloane: it and hopefully it won’t actually
happen. And the way that we, queer, femmes,
349
00:33:06,360 –> 00:33:10,302
Sloane: whatever, think about it where we’re
trying to lead the industry forward a little
350
00:33:10,322 –> 00:33:17,465
Sloane: bit. In general, if you think about
stuff like, I just flew out to a family reunion
351
00:33:23,148 –> 00:33:29,452
Sloane: to get there I flew through Fort Lauderdale
on the way back, right, because it was a much
352
00:33:29,512 –> 00:33:35,636
Sloane: cheaper ticket. Now that, flying that
way probably doubled the overall carbon emissions
353
00:33:35,656 –> 00:33:43,261
Sloane: that I was associated with. You know,
there’s about a megaton, or, yeah, not a megaton,
354
00:33:43,281 –> 00:33:49,946
Sloane: that’s a huge amount, but there’s
about a metric ton of carbon emissions involved
355
00:33:49,966 –> 00:33:57,192
Sloane: in flying from Salt Lake City big
one to the East Coast. And the way that airline
356
00:33:57,232 –> 00:34:02,337
Sloane: tickets are priced now doesn’t really
account for that, you know, the cost of the
357
00:34:02,377 –> 00:34:08,903
Sloane: social cost of that carbon. And so
the, you know, what we hope is, you know, not
358
00:34:08,943 –> 00:34:13,788
Sloane: to get all economic see, but you know,
that regulators will come in and kind of shift.
359
00:34:15,638 –> 00:34:20,580
Sloane: you know, the quantity of certain
kind of harmful products that are sold, you
360
00:34:20,600 –> 00:34:25,882
Sloane: know, downwards over time as they
kind of tend to, as regulation comes to reflect
361
00:34:25,922 –> 00:34:30,024
Sloane: the social cost. And, you know, in
my view, we have a role to play, you know,
362
00:34:30,044 –> 00:34:38,508
Sloane: that’s, this is kind of me. We have
a role to play in, you know, helping the industry,
363
00:34:38,648 –> 00:34:42,230
Sloane: the investment profession and, you
know, the companies we invest in think about
364
00:34:42,290 –> 00:34:47,833
Sloane: these issues. You know, another with
growth trends. This is a locomotive. We don’t
365
00:34:47,873 –> 00:34:51,976
Sloane: invest in locomotives. I just didn’t
really have a good image for it. But you know,
366
00:34:52,216 –> 00:34:56,659
Sloane: when you think about like one of one
of our really wonderful holdings is a company
367
00:34:56,699 –> 00:35:01,302
Sloane: called Top Build that makes and is
probably, you know, I think that the country’s
368
00:35:01,342 –> 00:35:05,505
Sloane: biggest distributor of insulation
products. You know, if you think about global
369
00:35:05,545 –> 00:35:09,788
Sloane: warming, the, you know, there are
all sorts of things that need to happen in
370
00:35:09,828 –> 00:35:14,031
Sloane: order to harden ourselves and prepare
for the impact of that. One of them is we got
371
00:35:14,051 –> 00:35:18,794
Sloane: to insulate some houses and buildings.
And I realized this is kind of fun. I got like
372
00:35:18,814 –> 00:35:25,798
Sloane: a little mask coming on my face from
the light. But, you know, by kind of thinking
373
00:35:25,838 –> 00:35:30,321
Sloane: really carefully about what the climate
transition looks like, and you know, what we
374
00:35:30,361 –> 00:35:35,105
Sloane: see as likely, we’re able to identify
some of these trends and, you know, really
375
00:35:35,145 –> 00:35:41,049
Sloane: kind of, you know, invest in them
in a big way. And, you know, that, you know,
376
00:35:41,069 –> 00:35:46,973
Sloane: I think creates straightforward value.
It’s a big source of our performance. But it
377
00:35:47,013 –> 00:35:55,999
Sloane: allows us to say confidently to clients
that we are an ethical growth portfolio. That’s
378
00:35:56,019 –> 00:36:01,542
Sloane: what we do. We identify ethical growth
trends in alignment with them. And once you’ve
379
00:36:01,923 –> 00:36:08,347
Sloane: found durable, well-constructed, and
persistent trends, that generates a lot of
380
00:36:08,387 –> 00:36:15,712
Sloane: value in the investment equation.
I love the definition of stranded asset. assets
381
00:36:15,772 –> 00:36:21,013
Sloane: from one of the nonprofits that thinks
about this. You know, it’s just so English
382
00:36:21,173 –> 00:36:26,094
Sloane: assets that have suffered from unanticipated
or premature write downs, devaluations, or
383
00:36:26,134 –> 00:36:31,755
Sloane: conversion to liabilities. In other
words, stuff that’s become worthless. And you
384
00:36:31,795 –> 00:36:38,036
Sloane: know, the part of what I think our
impact will be over time will be an ability
385
00:36:38,056 –> 00:36:48,137
Sloane: to talk about this stuff in fucking
English. You know, the like Most of the leading
386
00:36:48,177 –> 00:36:53,982
Sloane: lights in sustainability tend to take
this very academic tone that is quite detached
387
00:36:54,002 –> 00:36:59,868
Sloane: from the way that clients, people,
the broader world see this stuff. Really when
388
00:36:59,908 –> 00:37:06,774
Sloane: I think about how InvestVegan contributes
to the broader industry, the broader world
389
00:37:06,814 –> 00:37:12,662
Sloane: over time, I think a lot about these
privileges that we have. You know where no
390
00:37:12,743 –> 00:37:16,884
Sloane: one expects it like I do not have
to justify taking an unabashedly progressive
391
00:37:16,904 –> 00:37:22,567
Sloane: worldview Our clients get that right?
You know We also have a really strong investment
392
00:37:22,607 –> 00:37:26,209
Sloane: process and really deep links to the
professional investment community around the
393
00:37:26,249 –> 00:37:33,172
Sloane: world And of course fabulous hair
and a sense of humor all of this You know allows
394
00:37:33,252 –> 00:37:37,874
Sloane: us to hope at least that will be leading
the investment professions thinking on how
395
00:37:37,894 –> 00:37:46,319
Sloane: they adopt to this stuff which should
in time play into the valuations of these securities,
396
00:37:46,339 –> 00:37:50,042
Sloane: like oil companies and whatnot, the
amount of capital they have available to pursue
397
00:37:50,062 –> 00:37:57,627
Sloane: their various plans, and kind of a
knock-on effect. And I think that because of
398
00:37:57,667 –> 00:38:01,830
Sloane: the way that I’ve constructed this
firm and the way that we’ve managed to find
399
00:38:01,890 –> 00:38:09,695
Sloane: clients who really share our vision
and values, we’re able to think without encumbrance
400
00:38:10,476 –> 00:38:16,839
Sloane: really special. Reporting on impact
is fundamentally kind of a cursed exercise.
401
00:38:17,680 –> 00:38:22,362
Sloane: Um, the, you know, we had, uh, you
know, we were evaluating a software vendor
402
00:38:22,382 –> 00:38:28,865
Sloane: a while ago that produced this, um,
you know, kind of impact, uh, metric thing
403
00:38:28,885 –> 00:38:33,587
Sloane: that, you know, includes a lot of,
uh, things that I think are, are silly, um,
404
00:38:33,867 –> 00:38:38,490
Sloane: right? Like, and you’ll see this commonly
from, you know, uh, financial advisors and
405
00:38:38,510 –> 00:38:43,072
Sloane: investment firms, you know, promoting
some ETF that like, oh yeah, owning this will
406
00:38:43,572 –> 00:38:50,574
Sloane: result in fewer fish harmed from plastic,
you know, or fewer chickens killed. I mean,
407
00:38:50,714 –> 00:38:54,716
Sloane: yeah, like probably fewer chickens
will be killed, you know, by the companies
408
00:38:54,776 –> 00:38:57,977
Sloane: in our portfolio because we explicitly
make sure that we don’t invest in companies
409
00:38:57,997 –> 00:39:06,218
Sloane: that kill chickens. But… This is
such trivia relative to the way that these
410
00:39:06,238 –> 00:39:14,486
Sloane: companies actually generate impact
and so indefensible from a fact-based level
411
00:39:14,526 –> 00:39:19,370
Sloane: that it’s hard to view this reporting
as anything but inaccurate and irresponsible.
412
00:39:21,312 –> 00:39:30,401
Sloane: We’re doing our best. to talk about
impact in a non-bullshit way. And probably
413
00:39:31,401 –> 00:39:35,263
Sloane: you may have noticed that at the end
of our monthly newsletters, we’ve been including
414
00:39:35,303 –> 00:39:41,146
Sloane: this odds and ends section that talks
a little bit about three of our companies and
415
00:39:41,506 –> 00:39:48,609
Sloane: something impactful that they did
recently. I think it matters more that, for
416
00:39:48,649 –> 00:39:55,012
Sloane: instance, Armada Hoffler was able
to save this historic mill as kind of a center
417
00:39:55,032 –> 00:40:00,236
Sloane: of economic activity in a small town,
then that they didn’t kill chickens in the
418
00:40:00,276 –> 00:40:06,140
Sloane: process of doing it. And I mean, it
would be interesting if they did kill chickens
419
00:40:06,300 –> 00:40:09,282
Sloane: in the process of doing it, because
I’m not sure what that would do for anyone.
420
00:40:09,342 –> 00:40:18,108
Sloane: So we’re trying to expose the underlying
detail in a way that’s useful. And over the
421
00:40:18,128 –> 00:40:25,854
Sloane: coming months or later on in this
webinar, that you can give or that might be,
422
00:40:26,835 –> 00:40:31,199
Sloane: or things that you’d like to see from
us in terms of how we think around these impacts
423
00:40:32,059 –> 00:40:36,123
Sloane: would be really useful for us. Because
it’s something that we really do strive to
424
00:40:36,363 –> 00:40:44,761
Sloane: do a better job at. Another question,
investment 101 tips for beginners. First thing
425
00:40:44,821 –> 00:40:49,624
Sloane: I have to say is that saving money
trumps everything else, right? What I’ve got
426
00:40:49,684 –> 00:40:55,628
Sloane: here is the impact of outperforming
the market by 1% versus the size of your portfolio.
427
00:40:55,688 –> 00:41:00,331
Sloane: So over here, if you have a $1 million
portfolio and you outperform the market by
428
00:41:00,532 –> 00:41:06,414
Sloane: 1%, that’s worth $10,000 to you. If
you have a thousand dollar portfolio and you
429
00:41:06,454 –> 00:41:12,226
Sloane: outperform the market by 1% that’s
worth $10 to you, right? Um, and so, you know,
430
00:41:12,667 –> 00:41:18,490
Sloane: it’s, it’s pretty obvious that if
you are just starting out and you’re, you know,
431
00:41:18,550 –> 00:41:23,653
Sloane: starting to build your portfolio,
that what matters more is how much money, what
432
00:41:23,673 –> 00:41:26,755
Sloane: matters more than even who you have
invested with. And, you know, though I think
433
00:41:26,915 –> 00:41:31,278
Sloane: that invest vegan will do a better
job than substantially anybody else in managing
434
00:41:31,318 –> 00:41:36,341
Sloane: your funds, um, it’s, it’s the most
important thing is that you invest in something.
435
00:41:37,946 –> 00:41:44,608
Sloane: Um, and do it regularly, right? Because
the, uh, you know, just identifying and honing
436
00:41:44,708 –> 00:41:49,851
Sloane: in on that process of taking cash
that you don’t need and putting it into a context
437
00:41:49,871 –> 00:41:54,392
Sloane: where it can grow is what forms the
basis for compounding and what allows you to
438
00:41:54,432 –> 00:41:58,842
Sloane: really experience the benefits of
investing over time. Um, the other thing that
439
00:41:58,882 –> 00:42:03,906
Sloane: I would really identify is, um, you
know, some specific investment goals, right?
440
00:42:04,286 –> 00:42:07,548
Sloane: And this can be a little fuzzy, you
know, most people that I talked to who are
441
00:42:07,568 –> 00:42:12,472
Sloane: in their twenties are like retirement.
Yeah, sure. I just don’t want to die super
442
00:42:12,532 –> 00:42:19,556
Sloane: poor. Um, you know, and like, it’s,
it matters more that you kind of identify when
443
00:42:19,617 –> 00:42:23,659
Sloane: the goal shows up than what it is
specifically. Right? So if you’re thinking
444
00:42:23,679 –> 00:42:28,750
Sloane: about buying a house in the next five
years. you know, that’s not really money that
445
00:42:28,790 –> 00:42:33,152
Sloane: you should put into the stock market
because the stock market can be pretty volatile
446
00:42:33,192 –> 00:42:37,494
Sloane: in terms of returns over five years,
you know, but if you’re able to invest for,
447
00:42:37,714 –> 00:42:43,576
Sloane: you know, kind of seven, 10 years
or more, um, the, you know, kind of distribution
448
00:42:43,856 –> 00:42:48,979
Sloane: of returns really narrows out a lot.
And so, you know, the, the big question that
449
00:42:48,999 –> 00:42:52,820
Sloane: you would identify once you sort of
go, how much money can I save is what I, what
450
00:42:52,840 –> 00:42:59,478
Sloane: am I saving for? Um, and when is that
going to happen? Uh, you know, and we can kind
451
00:42:59,498 –> 00:43:02,899
Sloane: of construct portfolios for, you know,
really anywhere on the spectrum and our kind
452
00:43:02,919 –> 00:43:07,621
Sloane: of onboarding process. If you go into
open an account, we’ll, you know, kind of ask
453
00:43:07,661 –> 00:43:11,882
Sloane: you questions that translate into
a score that help us identify, you know, whether
454
00:43:11,902 –> 00:43:17,903
Sloane: there are short-term needs that, um,
you know, it might be, you know, useful for
455
00:43:17,963 –> 00:43:23,005
Sloane: us to customize your portfolio around.
Um, but you know, in general, knowing what
456
00:43:23,025 –> 00:43:27,318
Sloane: you’re doing this for matters a lot.
Um, and then matching your money with your
457
00:43:27,358 –> 00:43:30,420
Sloane: goals, right? Like if you want to
buy a house in five years, you can start an
458
00:43:30,460 –> 00:43:36,643
Sloane: account. That’s for buying a house
in five years. Um, if you want to, uh, create
459
00:43:36,923 –> 00:43:42,425
Sloane: a portfolio that, uh, will basically
fund your charitable giving over time. Um,
460
00:43:42,465 –> 00:43:47,828
Sloane: that’s another thing entirely, you
know, so identifying, you know, different things
461
00:43:47,848 –> 00:43:51,070
Sloane: that you want to do with your money
and basically putting your money into sort
462
00:43:51,110 –> 00:43:58,076
Sloane: of buckets or as pictured here, sacks
that kind of give them a job, will allow you
463
00:43:58,116 –> 00:44:05,908
Sloane: to think in a more granular and practical
way about what’s going on and how to construct
464
00:44:05,948 –> 00:44:10,814
Sloane: your portfolio, especially if you
do it in consultation with an advisor. I’d
465
00:44:10,855 –> 00:44:15,559
Sloane: also say don’t be a sucker, right?
This comes from one of our pieces on our resource
466
00:44:15,579 –> 00:44:23,626
Sloane: center. It’s really important to think
critically about every step of the investment
467
00:44:23,646 –> 00:44:30,213
Sloane: process. And it’s a bright red flag
whenever you’re sort of asked to take something
468
00:44:30,273 –> 00:44:36,919
Sloane: on faith. Um, you know, so I think
that, you know, I operate and I do due diligence
469
00:44:36,959 –> 00:44:43,786
Sloane: in part because I just am inherently
kind of cynical and skeptical, uh, right. And
470
00:44:44,247 –> 00:44:48,511
Sloane: I view that as almost more important
than knowing how to do fancy stuff in spreadsheets.
471
00:44:48,531 –> 00:44:55,514
Sloane: Um, you know, and I think in your
case, uh, whoever you are, um, You know, it
472
00:44:55,574 –> 00:45:01,036
Sloane: matters a lot that you think carefully
about who you get into bed with. You know,
473
00:45:01,337 –> 00:45:09,721
Sloane: a lot of firms have left or abandoned
various sustainability-linked goals in the
474
00:45:09,741 –> 00:45:16,584
Sloane: last couple of months. And I’ve got
to say that anybody who is banking on some
475
00:45:16,624 –> 00:45:23,627
Sloane: multi-trillion-dollar asset manager
to deploy a progressive investment portfolio
476
00:45:23,727 –> 00:45:30,651
Sloane: is a silly goose. And, you know, don’t
be a silly goose. You know, there’s a lot more
477
00:45:30,792 –> 00:45:36,095
Sloane: in terms of, you know, kind of specific
resources on our website. You know, we’re kind
478
00:45:36,115 –> 00:45:41,639
Sloane: of always trying to build and kind
of flesh out that part of our site. So you
479
00:45:41,659 –> 00:45:46,062
Sloane: can kind of scroll to the bottom of
investvegan.org and go into the detail on any
480
00:45:46,102 –> 00:45:49,624
Sloane: of this, including, you know, the
article that I just kind of excerpted that
481
00:45:50,165 –> 00:45:54,888
Sloane: from, which is, you know, five vegan
investment tips for beginners, I think, something
482
00:45:54,928 –> 00:46:00,874
Sloane: like that. Last question is, you know,
how is Sloan’s hair always so sleek and shiny?
483
00:46:02,455 –> 00:46:06,099
Sloane: And the obvious answer is that I come
from a long line of irresponsibly hot women.
484
00:46:07,560 –> 00:46:11,304
Sloane: You know, this actually happens to
be a group of women who lived in the very house
485
00:46:11,324 –> 00:46:15,518
Sloane: that I am located in right now. I…
may have told some of you that I live in a
486
00:46:15,558 –> 00:46:23,120
Sloane: house that my family built in Utah
when Utah was still Mexico. And that’s because
487
00:46:23,160 –> 00:46:30,762
Sloane: I’m sort of an ethnic Mormon descended
from various early pioneers, but the real secret
488
00:46:30,802 –> 00:46:38,304
Sloane: is not dying it and using shampoo
quasi-regularly. I don’t know. That’s just
489
00:46:38,344 –> 00:46:44,198
Sloane: how I cultivate my immaculate vibes,
I suppose. And then, you know, do we have any
490
00:46:44,238 –> 00:46:47,487
Sloane: other questions from the gang and
any of the chats, Gabe?
491
00:47:00,690 –> 00:47:04,573
Sloane: Yeah, I don’t see anything on YouTube,
I don’t see anything in Riverside, which I
492
00:47:04,593 –> 00:47:07,415
Sloane: guess means that we’ve answered every
question that anyone has. Uh…
493
00:47:10,979 –> 00:47:19,106
Sloane: Yeah, I mean, like, I strive to give,
you know, exhaustive, uh, you know, presentations
494
00:47:19,126 –> 00:47:22,869
Sloane: that answer every question and also
tell you how hot my relatives are. Um…
495
00:47:27,314 –> 00:47:30,236
Sloane: Yeah, I feel like I ought to, you
know, be really stressed. I, you know, one
496
00:47:30,256 –> 00:47:36,479
Sloane: of the nice, uh, Oh, thanks Ray. Um,
yeah, absolutely. I, thanks for the, you know,
497
00:47:36,519 –> 00:47:41,982
Sloane: kind of inspiration to think about,
um, you know, how, how we do this and talk
498
00:47:42,002 –> 00:47:46,705
Sloane: in more detail about it, I think like,
um, it’s one of the bigger questions that we
499
00:47:46,725 –> 00:47:51,288
Sloane: need to contend with, and I think
like the industry as a whole really has a lot
500
00:47:51,308 –> 00:47:59,809
Sloane: of work to do in like finding. ways
that are not full of shit to talk about how
501
00:47:59,849 –> 00:48:06,039
Sloane: we do impact. And, you know, so I
think that it was a great kind of opportunity
502
00:48:06,199 –> 00:48:08,904
Sloane: to dig in on that and think about
what our theories of change really are.
503
00:48:12,982 –> 00:48:17,986
Sloane: Nope. That’s so awesome, Julia. I
mean, like, Hey, you know, it’s funny. I, you
504
00:48:18,006 –> 00:48:22,729
Sloane: know, I was an English literature
major, um, you know, and I think that a lot
505
00:48:22,830 –> 00:48:27,373
Sloane: of what distinguishes us from, you
know, other firms in the way that we, you know,
506
00:48:27,393 –> 00:48:33,478
Sloane: kind of approach this stuff is, um,
is that we like, uh, use critical thinking
507
00:48:33,538 –> 00:48:39,223
Sloane: and critical reasoning, um, you know,
so I think the investment industry as a whole
508
00:48:39,383 –> 00:48:46,183
Sloane: has benefited in a big way from. like,
you know, basically making it seem like this
509
00:48:46,223 –> 00:48:49,765
Sloane: is some arcane art that no one could
possibly understand unless they have a PhD
510
00:48:49,825 –> 00:48:54,688
Sloane: in physics. Um, and you know, yeah,
like you’re probably not gonna understand a
511
00:48:54,748 –> 00:48:59,090
Sloane: Martingale distribution and like a
Martingale and like what it means for. You
512
00:48:59,110 –> 00:49:03,833
Sloane: know, trading and whatnot, unless
you have a pretty advanced math mind. Um, but
513
00:49:03,853 –> 00:49:10,377
Sloane: the, you know, I think like, you know,
I love every opportunity to sort of bust some
514
00:49:10,397 –> 00:49:16,875
Sloane: jargon. Uh, and hopefully make this
whole thing seem less intimidating if nothing
515
00:49:16,915 –> 00:49:22,798
Sloane: else. You know, I think like, you
know, we’re always available, you know, as
516
00:49:22,838 –> 00:49:25,439
Sloane: a resource. And, you know, I think
one of the things I stress to our clients is
517
00:49:25,459 –> 00:49:31,122
Sloane: that they cannot possibly waste our
time. You know, so pretty easy to sort of book
518
00:49:31,142 –> 00:49:36,344
Sloane: time with us on our website. And also,
you know, just go ahead and open an account
519
00:49:36,424 –> 00:49:42,907
Sloane: as well on there. So I’d encourage
anybody who, you know, is kind of on the fence.
520
00:49:42,928 –> 00:49:47,330
Sloane: I mean, you know, obviously I have
a dog in this fight. I mean, you know, I can’t
521
00:49:47,451 –> 00:49:51,053
Sloane: say that, you know, on an impartial
basis, I recommend creating an invest vegan
522
00:49:51,073 –> 00:49:57,777
Sloane: account. Um, but, uh, you know, I,
I hope that, um, we’ve kind of inspired some
523
00:49:57,797 –> 00:50:02,320
Sloane: folks to, you know, kind of take the
plunge with us. And, um, I get really excited
524
00:50:02,340 –> 00:50:07,004
Sloane: about, you know, the prospect of doing
these sorts of things, uh, pretty regularly.
525
00:50:07,044 –> 00:50:10,186
Sloane: And I, and I hope that we’ll be, you
know, able to generate some pretty regular
526
00:50:10,226 –> 00:50:14,590
Sloane: touches with you, uh, you know, through
this web. our series which I hope to do every
527
00:50:14,630 –> 00:50:20,436
Sloane: full moon and yeah do you have any
questions Gabe?
528
00:50:37,538 –> 00:50:44,082
Sloane: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, like it’s, I think
that like, you know, I mean, as a finance industry
529
00:50:44,122 –> 00:50:49,606
Sloane: brat, I kind of like got to see a
lot of, you know, people who are, you know,
530
00:50:49,666 –> 00:50:57,752
Sloane: kind of famous investors, drunk and
like, just being humans, you know, like the,
531
00:50:58,272 –> 00:51:04,534
Sloane: and, you know. I think that there
is like this, you know, I mean, we, and the
532
00:51:04,574 –> 00:51:08,999
Sloane: industry benefit a lot from the perception
that we’re weird spreadsheet wizards whose
533
00:51:09,039 –> 00:51:14,945
Sloane: skills could not possibly be matched
by others. Um, you know, but like, you know,
534
00:51:14,965 –> 00:51:18,529
Sloane: another thing I’ll, I’ll just kind
of flag around that is that the, um, you know,
535
00:51:19,462 –> 00:51:22,924
Sloane: Yes, the industry is inaccessible.
Yes, the way that they talk about finance is
536
00:51:22,964 –> 00:51:28,427
Sloane: kind of hard to understand, you know,
but it’s also incredibly normative. Um, right.
537
00:51:28,487 –> 00:51:32,550
Sloane: So if you look at like, you know,
everyone has seen, uh, you know, an ad for
538
00:51:32,590 –> 00:51:36,132
Sloane: some kind of investment product in
the last seven days, because the industry is
539
00:51:36,152 –> 00:51:41,415
Sloane: an incessant advertiser. Um, but if
you think about, you know, what that looks
540
00:51:41,455 –> 00:51:48,002
Sloane: like, um, there is a, like, you know,
it’s so often active seniors on a sailboat
541
00:51:48,122 –> 00:51:53,564
Sloane: or something like that. Uh, you know,
and it’s like always people who are, you know,
542
00:51:53,964 –> 00:51:57,446
Sloane: either white or if they are kind of
brown, they don’t pass the paper bag test,
543
00:51:57,466 –> 00:52:03,788
Sloane: uh, you know, living out retirement
in a way that, um, you know, in their heterosexual,
544
00:52:05,188 –> 00:52:10,591
Sloane: uh, you know, monogamous relationships.
Um, You know, so we have a question from May
545
00:52:10,611 –> 00:52:16,916
Sloane: in the chat. Do frameworks for social
do good companies like B Corps or other social
546
00:52:16,956 –> 00:52:20,139
Sloane: justice frameworks factor into your
investment portfolio? Do you intentionally
547
00:52:20,179 –> 00:52:24,562
Sloane: seek them out? I’d be curious to see
if their finances live up to the rigorous environmental
548
00:52:24,582 –> 00:52:29,126
Sloane: and social aspects that go into being
certified to those standards. I mean, yeah,
549
00:52:29,266 –> 00:52:35,062
Sloane: it does play in to the way that we
think about stuff. I mean, it’s sort of. B
550
00:52:35,082 –> 00:52:41,345
Sloane: Corps in particular have kind of an
ignominious history in the public market. The
551
00:52:41,385 –> 00:52:48,048
Sloane: most famous B Corp situation that
out there is Etsy, which went public as a B
552
00:52:48,068 –> 00:52:54,331
Sloane: Corp and then encountered some trouble
financially, and then transitioned from a B
553
00:52:54,371 –> 00:53:04,117
Sloane: Corp into a regular for-profit corporation.
So in general, with any framework, and any
554
00:53:04,177 –> 00:53:09,967
Sloane: external verifier, you know, kind
of no matter what that says, personnel is policy,
555
00:53:10,307 –> 00:53:17,687
Sloane: right? So, you know, the like… Well,
it’s nice to have. We really look for leadership
556
00:53:17,727 –> 00:53:23,610
Sloane: that talks to impact in a way that
aligns with their business in a smart and useful
557
00:53:23,650 –> 00:53:32,574
Sloane: way. B-Corps, I agree, are a wonderful
standard. And if we were large or profitable
558
00:53:32,614 –> 00:53:38,857
Sloane: enough to go through the certification,
we would do it. And I think it’s really nice,
559
00:53:38,877 –> 00:53:40,438
Sloane: and consumers certainly recognize
them.
560
00:53:44,800 –> 00:53:50,626
Sloane: of standards out there like carbon
neutral standard and whatever that can be a
561
00:53:50,686 –> 00:53:58,294
Sloane: little bit hard to you know kind of
verify as far as the you know kind of brass
562
00:53:58,334 –> 00:54:00,537
Sloane: tacks of it all you know
563
00:54:03,888 –> 00:54:09,295
Sloane: The academic evidence around sustainable
investing usually emphasizes that companies
564
00:54:09,315 –> 00:54:15,003
Sloane: which have kind of rigorous environmental,
social, and governance programs are able to
565
00:54:15,063 –> 00:54:22,646
Sloane: access lower cost capital in the market.
And you know. There may be some truth to that.
566
00:54:22,667 –> 00:54:30,070
Sloane: If there is, it’s a relatively small
amount. I think that where these frameworks
567
00:54:30,090 –> 00:54:36,273
Sloane: for do good in companies really play
in is around recruitment and retention. How
568
00:54:36,293 –> 00:54:42,896
Sloane: do they pay their staff? Do they share
their profits equitably? Do they do what it
569
00:54:42,936 –> 00:54:48,238
Sloane: takes to cooperate with the relevant
union and keep their people happy over time?
570
00:54:50,480 –> 00:54:56,344
Sloane: senior housing where, you know, and
just demographically, it’s pretty easy to see
571
00:54:56,364 –> 00:55:01,567
Sloane: that, you know, we need more senior
housing than we have because the population
572
00:55:01,607 –> 00:55:07,292
Sloane: is aging dramatically. But the, you
know, what winds up separating the company
573
00:55:07,312 –> 00:55:12,700
Sloane: that we own, Will Tower, from a lot
of its competitors. is often that it partners
574
00:55:12,740 –> 00:55:18,529
Sloane: with better operators and those operators
are able to hire and retain better staff. So
575
00:55:19,370 –> 00:55:25,900
Sloane: I think that the integrated view of
the B-Corps, the sustainability, the whatever.
576
00:55:27,098 –> 00:55:32,320
Sloane: winds up showing up across the company
in ways that can be kind of unexpected. And,
577
00:55:32,520 –> 00:55:37,863
Sloane: you know, the better part of wisdom
and thinking about how to account for and understand
578
00:55:38,423 –> 00:55:43,905
Sloane: these standards is to think about
them, you know, not at a high level as a binary
579
00:55:43,945 –> 00:55:51,089
Sloane: checkbox, but, you know, in their
full nuance of how they play into the company’s,
580
00:55:51,109 –> 00:55:55,891
Sloane: you know, kind of operations. Like,
you know, there are plenty of tech companies
581
00:55:55,911 –> 00:56:00,814
Sloane: that can say that they have all of
great standards and still sell your data to
582
00:56:00,834 –> 00:56:10,360
Sloane: the highest bidder. One of the weird
things about this is that every company, with
583
00:56:10,400 –> 00:56:14,543
Sloane: few exceptions, has started trying
to make a case that what they do is very sustainable
584
00:56:14,563 –> 00:56:21,667
Sloane: and important. I like to use the example
of Enbridge, which is probably the dirtiest
585
00:56:21,967 –> 00:56:27,749
Sloane: oil and gas company in the world.
They do you know, extraction in the Canadian
586
00:56:27,849 –> 00:56:32,216
Sloane: oil sands. But if you go to their
website, they’ll talk all about the impact
587
00:56:32,236 –> 00:56:38,902
Sloane: they have. Um, you know, and so I
think like the, um, that stuff is all to the
588
00:56:38,922 –> 00:56:44,347
Sloane: good, but you know, it doesn’t, uh,
relax the need for a pretty good bullshit detector
589
00:56:44,928 –> 00:56:51,274
Sloane: on the part of gave it myself. Um,
because like, you know, I mean, just how many
590
00:56:51,314 –> 00:56:55,238
Sloane: times have we roasted a sustainability
presentation when we’re doing our little.
591
00:57:06,398 –> 00:57:12,346
Sloane: Yeah, I mean, I think that the, yeah,
I don’t know where mine came from, but yeah,
592
00:57:12,627 –> 00:57:19,087
Sloane: I think that’s, certainly your development
as an analyst, Gabe. Like the, you know, Gabe
593
00:57:19,107 –> 00:57:23,589
Sloane: already is very good at getting to
what matters in a thing, in a document or a
594
00:57:23,629 –> 00:57:28,853
Sloane: release, which is, um, you know, kind
of one of the biggest parts of doing this job,
595
00:57:28,893 –> 00:57:34,056
Sloane: right? Like there’s unlimited data,
unlimited information that I could spend time
596
00:57:34,216 –> 00:57:40,440
Sloane: reading, um, you know, and identifying
what matters and what matters about it is like
597
00:57:40,540 –> 00:57:50,433
Sloane: the whole job in a way. Um, But yeah,
figuring out who’s full of shit and why is
598
00:57:50,453 –> 00:57:51,996
Sloane: the growth journey that we’re on together.
599
00:57:57,330 –> 00:58:00,776
Sloane: uh… yeah i mean i don’t really have
anything else to say do you have anything else
600
00:58:00,796 –> 00:58:08,140
Sloane: to say Gabe? Yeah, yeah, this is really
fun. I think, you know, thank you all for,
601
00:58:08,480 –> 00:58:12,403
Sloane: you know, your questions, Ray, Julia,
and May, you know, awesome to have you guys
602
00:58:12,423 –> 00:58:18,387
Sloane: participating. And please don’t hesitate
to use this as a resource when the heck ever
603
00:58:18,407 –> 00:58:22,429
Sloane: you think we might be useful. Long
distance high fives all around.