NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

By Vicky Ge Huang

Wealth management firms are rushing to grow their environmental, social and governance investing capabilities, introducing high-profile marketing and analytical tools aimed at both advisors and their customers.

Morgan Stanley Wealth Management in late July launched Impact Quotient, an investing data and analytics application designed to help brokers assess client portfolios’ exposure to, and alignment with, ESG objectives.  The firm oversees more than $28 billion in client assets on its impact investing platform of some 120 strategies, and says 75% of its advisors use at least one strategy while 37% of them use five or more.

Bank of America in January rolled out a fund research tool called Fund Story for self-directed Merrill Edge clients. BofA oversees $22.65 billion of assets in ESG mutual funds, ETFs, separately management accounts and directly in equities, green bonds and other “sustainable impact” investments across its Merrill Lynch and private bank platforms.

Photo courtesy of GotCredit.