Envestnet revs up socially conscious practices

Envestnet Asset Management today announced enhancements to its sustainability platform in response to a growing interest in socially conscious investing, which accounts for one in every nine dollars under portfolio management in the United States. The enhancements enable financial advisers that rely on the platform to customize traditional investment portfolios with SRI overlay screens that reflect the convictions of clients. There will be 17 different screens, broken down into two categories, that will exclude companies deriving significant revenue or with poor standing on issues such as the environment, alcohol, human rights, firearms, gambling, military weapons, nuclear power, tobacco and adult entertainment. “Our new enhancement enables investors to customize portfolios in a way that matches their investment objectives with broader environmental and cultural perspectives,” Bill Crager, president of Envestnet, said in a statement. Envestnet of Chicago initially announced its SRI platform last spring, offering mutual funds and exchange traded funds selected from companies judged to be socially conscious and having strong environmental records (InvestmentNews, Feb. 18). Envestnet developed the enhancements to its platform in conjunction with New York-based Veris Wealth Partners LLC and Boston-based KLD Research & Analytics Inc.