Zhang says: “The ESG concept has been relatively slow to catch on in the US compared with Europe. But the demand is rising, with limited full blown ESG ETF managed portfolios in the market. I feel there is a business opportunity and I have a passion and belief in many values represented by the ESG principles.
“I believe our value system evolves. For the most part of the last 15 years, I have been one of many portfolio managers who focused just on performance. I realise now that returns should not have to be the only goal. Many investors look beyond that and want to have a positive influence on the environment and society. Many people want to satisfy their conscience as well as to meet their investment goals.”
“Protecting the earth is not a political issue. It’s an economic, generational and personal issue,” Zhang says. “Each one of us needs to think about how we can preserve the earth we all live on.”
Zhang also wants Purview Impact Solutions to represent other values that are important, such as gender diversity in workplace, investing in firms who promote female talents to management and boards. As a co-founder of Women in ETFs, she gets it that diverse opinions lead to better decision making.
For the full interview, please check the title of this post for the link to the article.