There was an article in FT Adviser this week titled “Elton John urges a focus on ESG through LGBT+ lens” . The visionary icon was quoted as saying “We are delighted to see the investment industry stepping up its leadership for LGBT+ equality around the world”.
From slowing down the pace of climate change or improving gender equality to putting pressure on authoritarian regimes, there is a growing interest from individuals to use their savings as a way to find the agency they do not find anywhere else. This agency can extend to other global issues including the one Outperform responds to: the oppression of millions of LGBTQ+ people that still are criminalized, marginalized or denied public services around the globe. It can also expand beyond just beyond buying shares to activating shareholder power or providing seed funding for ventures that will benefit the community.
Behind the acronyms ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) and SRI (Socially Responsible Investing) is a rather simple duty for the many gay men and women that have benefited from growing acceptance in society like I did and their allies. Our duty is to make the money we earned, in part thanks to the sacrifice of the gay and lesbian people that came before us, work for our community, our values and the change we want to see.
The reality is that today you can very easily build an ethical portfolio. Hundreds of NGOs are monitoring the companies that are behind global issues such as the deforestation in the Amazon (see Follow the Money to the Amazon), the impunity of the Saudi leader (see Aramco IPO), the gun epidemic (see Business Must Act), or even which business people are donating to Rep. Marjorie Greene (see Big campaign donors stick by […] Marjorie Taylor Greene). That would be SRI: avoiding the “bad” companies. Similarly, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has an index showing efforts by a number of companies to provide LGBTQ+ employees with opportunities and dignity at work. That would be ESG: investing in the companies that do “good”. By recouping the two groups, you can identify where to put your money to be of service to our community. Outperform is a composite of various investments which we believe ultimately benefit the community.
And what is even a better argument than duty, is that studies have shown over and over again that companies that are socially conscious perform better in the longer term. This is rather intuitive: an environment with values such as tolerance and coexistence will always align better with the human spirit and therefore lead to better outcomes. This is the reason coaches across America are building their teams around shared values.
The investment tools at your disposal to support the LGBTQ+ liberation movement are far and few, but they do exist. As early as 2016, Out Leadership published with partners a guide titled Investing in equality: Integrating LGBT Issues into Total Portfolio Activation which highlight the many vehicles at the disposal of LGBTQ+ people and their allies. Yet, impact investing on LGBTQ+ issues has remained under the radar until today.
In a country where retirement is self-funded, there is no reason we cannot make the decision to join the movement for socially responsible investment. If you are resolved that no child anywhere should go to bed lying to their parents, teacher or priest about something as essential to their identity as their sexual orientation or gender identity, Outperform is a good place to start.