In her feature story in the Summer issue of NAPA Net the Magazine, Judy Ward looks at how some of NAPA’s 2021 Top Young Retirement Plan Advisors view Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investing in 401(k) plans.
“I have seen more interest in ESG investing, and in ESG analysis, within the past 24 months than in the past 15 years that I’ve been in this business,” says Jessica Fitzgerald, a Rochester, Michigan-based senior vice president at The Fitzgerald Group at Morgan Stanley. “It’s a conversation I find myself bringing up more often, with existing clients and new clients, and clients are bringing it up with me in numbers that I’ve never seen before. In the past nine months alone, I’ve onboarded two new clients that both said, ‘We really appreciate your commitment to ESG investing, and the fact that Morgan Stanley can deliver investment analysis that aligns with the values we have as an organization.’
It’s a shift brought about by all the recent talk about climate change, social justice issues and corporate governance responsibilities, Fitzgerald thinks. She started learning more about ESG funds and ESG investment screening a few years ago, after she asked her college intern how she felt personally about ESG investing. The intern replied that she wants to invest her money only in socially and environmentally responsible companies, and that most of her friends feel the same way. “I thought, ‘Wow, I better brush up on this a lot more, because this is where things are going,’” she says. “This is the future.”
And who better to weigh in on the future than the voices of NAPA’s 2021 Top Young Retirement Plan Advisors—the “Aces”?
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