Sustainable Asset Management for Institutions
Clean Yield partners with family offices, endowments, foundations, and other mission-driven organizations to pursue their long-term financial objectives and fiduciary responsibilities while advancing their missions. We bring together deep expertise in sustainable investing and rigorous financial analysis to serve as thoughtful stewards of your institution’s capital.
Decades of Experience. A Distinct Approach.
For nearly four decades, Clean Yield has helped investors pursue long-term financial objectives while aligning their investments with their values and missions. We manage portfolios through separately managed accounts and bring our longstanding experience serving both private and institutional clients to each relationship.
Our approach combines rigorous investment management with deep expertise in sustainable and impact investing. We understand that institutional portfolios must balance multiple priorities – fiduciary responsibility, risk and return objectives, liquidity needs, governance requirements, and mission alignment. We work closely with boards, investment committees, trustees, and organizational leadership to translate those priorities into thoughtful investment strategies tailored to each institution.
What distinguishes Clean Yield is our ability to bring public markets, sustainable investing, shareholder engagement, and private impact investments together within a cohesive portfolio. Rather than applying a standardized solution, we work with each institution to determine how its financial assets can best support both its long-term financial objectives and broader mission.
A Disciplined Sustainable Investment Approach
Our investment process combines disciplined financial analysis with the integration of environmental and social criteria at each stage of portfolio management. We begin by applying our sustainable investment criteria and screening process, followed by bottom-up fundamental research to identify companies with attractive, high-quality long-term financial characteristics. Our portfolio managers then construct diversified portfolios aligned with each client’s objectives, risk profile, investment guidelines, and mission, with ongoing monitoring and rebalancing as market conditions and client needs evolve.
Our investment capabilities span public equities, fixed income, and alternative investments, including impact investments, allowing us to construct diversified portfolios across asset classes. Across these investments, our goal is to balance long-term financial objectives, prudent risk management, and each institution’s sustainability and impact priorities.
A Portfolio Built Around Your Institution
\We develop a clear understanding of your institution’s financial objectives, risk tolerance, liquidity and spending needs, time horizon, and sustainability and impact priorities. We can manage your portfolio within an existing board-approved Investment Policy Statement (IPS) or work with your organization to develop or refine an IPS that establishes appropriate asset allocation parameters, investment guidelines, restrictions, and other portfolio objectives.
We then construct and manage a portfolio tailored to your institution’s needs, incorporating equities, fixed income, and impact investments as appropriate. We can accommodate organization-specific investment screens and restrictions while integrating Clean Yield’s sustainable investment approach across the portfolio.
Clean Yield offers three equity strategies, providing flexibility to align equity exposure with each institution’s objectives, risk profile, and long-term goals.
Equity Income Strategy:
Designed to generate a consistent and competitive level of income while seeking long-term capital appreciation.
Core Strategy:
Seeks balanced long-term capital appreciation through a diversified portfolio combining growth and income characteristics.
Aggressive Strategy:
Focused on long-term capital appreciation through investment in companies with above-average growth potential.
We recognize that institutional investment management often involves multiple stakeholders. Your dedicated Clean Yield portfolio manager can work directly with boards, investment committees, trustees, finance staff, legal counsel, accountants, and other advisors to support effective oversight and ensure that the portfolio continues to reflect your organization’s financial objectives, fiduciary responsibilities, and mission as they evolve.
Investing for Impact
While impact investing has many definitions, Clean Yield uses the term to refer to investments that direct capital to mission-driven funds and enterprises seeking to drive catalytic, measurable change in the world. Our impact investing program enables institutions to play a role in building more just and sustainable communities by investing in community organizations, funds, and companies addressing areas such as regenerative agriculture, community economic development, clean energy, social justice, racial equity, green chemistry, and sustainable forestry — as well as opportunities at the intersection of these themes.
We take a disciplined approach to private impact investing, evaluating opportunities across financial performance, impact potential, management quality, strategy, risk, and alignment with client objectives. We work with each institution to determine the appropriate role for impact investments within its broader portfolio, taking into account return objectives, risk tolerance, liquidity needs, time horizon, and mission priorities.
Community Investments:
Investments that direct capital toward community development, affordable housing, economic opportunity, and other locally rooted needs.
Private Funds:
Investments with mission-aligned managers across private equity, private credit, real assets, and other impact strategies.
Direct Investments:
Selective investments in mission-driven businesses and projects seeking to generate measurable social or environmental impact alongside financial returns.
Engaging for Impact
Clean Yield’s active ownership and engagement programs further our clients’ positive impact, as we engage with corporate executives about their companies’ policies on important social and environmental issues. We dialogue with companies to show them that adopting progressive policies can add value to the company. We have pressed companies on a wide range of issues, including greenhouse gas emissions targets, political contribution transparency, and reproductive rights policies. In addition, Clean Yield’s custom set of proxy voting guidelines aligns with the social, environmental, and governance screening criteria we apply in our investment process and ensures that clients’ votes are consistent with their mission.
Reporting & Ongoing Partnership
We provide comprehensive quarterly reporting designed to give your organization clear visibility into portfolio performance, positioning, and investment activity. Reports include portfolio performance, holdings, and valuations, asset and sector allocations, transaction activity, and commentary on market and economic conditions.
In addition to quarterly financial reporting, clients receive an annual impact report highlighting the social and environmental impact of their investments and Clean Yield’s broader engagement and impact investing activities. Reporting can also be tailored to support your organization’s governance and oversight needs, including board and investment committee-ready materials and information to support audits and other organizational requirements.
Clients receive regular statements directly from their custodian, and Clean Yield works with established custodial platforms, including Charles Schwab. Your portfolio manager is also available throughout the year to review performance, discuss portfolio positioning and market developments, and participate in meetings with boards, investment committees, and other stakeholders as needed.
