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

Friday, June 7, 2019

By Rey Mashayekhi

Asset management platform OpenInvest is at the intersection of two of the most prevalent trends in the financial world today. Not only is the company a fintech startup, but it’s also specifically focused on “impact investing” and making it easier for people to invest in companies that meet environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria.

Now, the San Francisco-based startup is introducing its latest investment offering: a “Racial Justice” indexing tool, which allows investors and asset managers to customize their portfolios to prioritize companies committed to values like workforce diversity—and divest themselves from those that aren’t.

“There’s been a huge gap in the ESG and SRI [socially responsible investing] world around ethnic diversity, which is frustrating because it’s obviously the most pernicious issue in American society,” OpenInvest co-founder and chief strategy officer Josh Levin told Fortune.

Photo courtesy of pxhere.