Research-driven investment consultant challenges the industry to invest forward for a sustainable, inclusive, and innovative tomorrow

October 28, 2019 — Boston — NEPC, an independent investment consultant and private wealth advisor, unveiled the Future Fundamentals of Investing today. The research-driven firm identified sustainability, diversity and inclusion, and innovation as the three new future fundamentals of investing and the largest drivers of investment success.

“It’s a new, more complex world for investment professionals and the old handbook simply doesn’t work anymore,” said Krissy Pelletier, Partner and Co-Head of NEPC’s Impact Investing Committee. “In this new world order, our professional purpose goes beyond simply recommending an asset class or an investment product. It requires us to construct an investment philosophy that is an amalgamation of who our clients really are, where they come from and where they want to go. The Future Fundamentals of Investing is the new manual designed to do just that.”

The Future Fundamentals of Investing defines three key forces transforming the investing landscape:

  • Sustainability: Once the domain of philanthropies, sustainable investing is now a widely implementable idea whose execution should be thoughtful and deliberate, and its efficacy measurable. Plan sponsors and investment committees are increasingly held accountable for delivering both monetary and social returns. To help guide investors forward, NEPC unveiled their own ESG rating system earlier this year. 
  • Diversity & Inclusion: Investment programs benefit from the different perspectives and ideas that come from a diverse and inclusive workforce. Investors are proactively requesting diversity figures in investment manager searches, and factoring inclusivity and diversity of thought into their selections. As a commitment to diversity and inclusion, NEPC recently implemented a data-driven Diverse Managers Policy. Additionally, NEPC continues to hold the investment community to a higher standard with a committee dedicated to reviewing actions taken by managers that may violate our inclusive code of conduct. 
  • Innovation: The quest for alpha drives innovation in the financial markets as investors deploy new technologies, data and investment models to access an ever-changing investment landscape. Forward-looking investors require new data analytics, investment structures and risk management models to provide access to new markets and asset classes with a proper balance between risk and long-term returns. 

“‘The Future Fundamentals of Investing’ is a simple phrase that highlights what we do best: Staying ahead of the curve with regards to industry trends and research,” said Steve Charlton, Partner and Director of Consulting Services at NEPC. “While there are many concepts and ideas floating through the investment world, we believe that sustainability, diversity and inclusion, and innovation will be the largest drivers of success in the coming years.”

NEPC created the Future Fundamentals of Investing in response to the investment community’s calls for greater transparency, speed, and accountability in an environment where investors’ perceptions of risk and return are actively changing. Additional factors influencing the modern investor include paradigm shifts in technology, the mayhem caused by the global financial crisis, higher costs of living and education, greater awareness of the environment, concern around gender and racial inequities, and longer life expectancies. 

NEPC is firmly committed to educating the investment community at large about the Future Fundamentals of Investing and will continue to act as a trusted source of research-driven expertise as these fundamentals continue to evolve. 

You can learn more about the Future Fundamentals of Investing and make a commitment to invest forward for a sustainable, inclusive, and innovative tomorrow here.

ABOUT NEPC, LLC

NEPC is an independent investment consultant and private wealth advisor with more than 30 years’ experience creating research-based, bespoke investment portfolios that align to the goals of its clients and their constituencies. Combining a proprietary research team dedicated to the long-term challenges facing institutional and high-net-worth investors with our unique client-centric model, NEPC builds investment portfolios defining the future of finance.

We service over 380 retainer clients with $1.1 trillion in assets from our offices in Boston, Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Detroit, Las Vegas, Portland and San Francisco with a forward-thinking approach to solving the most complex challenges facing the investment industry.

To learn more about NEPC, please visit https://www.nepc.com/