Our History
For more than 40 years Clean Yield has used the power of investment and markets to meet the financial goals of our clients and move society toward a more just and sustainable future.
Our History
1983
Our founders, Doug Fleer and Rian Fried, first meet at a neighborhood gathering in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. The two find they have strong common interests in social justice, the environment, and financial markets. Within a few months, they form Fried & Fleer Investments and begin publishing a monthly stock-market newsletter, including a socially screened model portfolio they call The Clean Yield.
1986
Before long, subscribers begin asking for portfolio management advice, and Clean Yield Asset Management is incorporated as a registered investment advisory firm.
1998
Clean Yield discontinues newsletter to focus resources on shareholder advocacy and social research.
2005
Clean Yield’s shareholder proposal at Met-Pro Corporation regarding Board diversity results in the company adding women to its board for the first time.
2006
Dorigen Hofmann joins the firm. Clean Yield begins to offer clients high-impact investments.
2009
As part of succession planning, Elizabeth Glenshaw and Eric Becker join the firm.
2010
Elizabeth, Eric, and Dorigen join the leadership team of the firm. Clean Yield moves its main office from Greensboro, VT to Norwich, VT.
2011
Clean Yield becomes a registered B Corp and one of the first Vermont Benefit Corporations—certified to meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance and transparency.
2012
Doug Fleer retires from Clean Yield.
2013
We are deeply saddened by the loss of Rian Fried in July 2013.
2015
Clean Yield surpasses $10 million in client assets invested in impact investments.
2022
Clean Yield reaches $500 million in assets under management.
2024
Kofi Kodua and Liz Levy join the firm’s leadership team.
Remembering Rian Fried
(1948-2013)
Second only to his family, Clean Yield Asset Management was Rian’s greatest passion and source of pride. His vision, skill, and care kept us attuned to our social and financial mission in the almost 30 years since he started the company with Doug Fleer.
Throughout his adult life, Rian positioned himself astride two worlds, the nonprofit and the for-profit. In the ’70s, he made notable contributions to nonprofits, especially the community action agency serving the disadvantaged in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. When he and Doug founded CY in 1984, they envisioned a for-profit with ideals and practices characteristic of nonprofits. The company has been run that way ever since. Most notably in the past decade, Rian began directing some of his clients’ capital in support of small business ventures like High Mowing Seeds and Vermont Smoke & Cure, which were, like Clean Yield, progressive in product, employee relations, community support, and the environment. In a moving tribute to Rian, the Vermont journalist Joseph Gresser wrote of his legacy:
The new agricultural businesses that have flourished in the Northeast Kingdom over the past decade could not have grown so quickly without capital. Many of the necessary resources were found by Rian Fried, a pioneer in the field of socially responsible investing who preferred to work quietly behind the scenes.
We are committed to keeping his legacy of innovation alive and keeping Clean Yield true to the ideals he cherished.