Aligning Investments with Values: With Jeff Shafer
In this episode, Eric and Laurie interview Jeff Shafer, CEO and co-founder of Common Good Capital. They discuss impact investing and how aligning investments with values can make a positive impact on people's lives. Jeff shares his personal journey and how a back surgery and subsequent crisis led him to shift his focus to impact investing. He explains the work of Common Good Capital in sourcing, due diligence, and educating wealth advisors to help investors align their investments with their values. Jeff also provides examples of impact investments in affordable housing, environmental stewardship, lending to small and medium-sized enterprises, and supporting formerly incarcerated individuals.
In this conversation, Jeff discusses the concept of impact investing and how it differs from traditional investing. He explains that impact investing focuses not only on financial returns but also on the positive social and environmental impact that investments can have.
Jeff emphasizes the importance of due diligence when evaluating impact investments, including assessing the manager or sponsor, understanding the investment thesis, and considering the impact and faith integration. He also highlights the potential for individuals to use their charitable capital for impact investing and the role of financial advisors in facilitating these investments.
Jeff encourages listeners to think more broadly about generosity and to consider investing in causes they care about as a way to make a lasting impact.
Takeaways
Impact investing involves aligning investments with values to make a positive impact on people's lives.
Investing with a focus on impact can bring joy and freedom, in addition to financial returns.
Common Good Capital sources, conducts due diligence, and educates wealth advisors to help investors align their investments with their values.
Examples of impact investments include affordable housing, environmental stewardship, lending to small and medium-sized enterprises, and supporting formerly incarcerated individuals. Impact investing focuses on both financial returns and positive social and environmental impact.
Due diligence is crucial when evaluating impact investments, including assessing the manager or sponsor, understanding the investment thesis, and considering the impact and faith integration.
Individuals can use their charitable capital for impact investing, and financial advisors can help facilitate these investments.
Generosity should be thought of more broadly, and investing in causes can have a lasting impact.
Investing requires faith and a willingness to take risks, trusting that the outcomes are in God's hands.
Quotables
"Investing has an impact on people's lives, whether you care or don't care."
"Once we surrender and start looking at our own value set and how it's impacting others, then we experience joy and freedom."
"We believe if we can get more and more people to align and think about their capital more intentionally, we actually will open their hearts towards whatever they're investing in."
"It's not just the returns that they're going to get."
"The world is trying to figure out how do you allocate capital within this investment and business world to influence good."
"You have to think about these that you are marrying them as opposed to dating them."
