I’m so pleased at the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s announcement this week. They’re joining Ethic as investors and impact partners, which basically means that they’re going to serve as prominent inspiration for investment funds to work harder on ethical investing. Meaning, investing in companies which are environmentally-conscious, companies which are not polluters, companies which do not get in bed with fascist dictators, and on and on. While the Sussexes gave their exclusive to the NY Times, they also updated the Archewell site with a brief post called “Investing In Each Other.”
When we invest in each other we change the world…
Be it through the investment of time (as with mentoring), investment in community (as with volunteering), or the investment of funds (for those who have the means to), our choices—of how and where we put our energy—define us as a global community.
We believe it’s time for more people to have a seat at the table when decisions are made that impact everyone. We want to rethink the nature of investing to help solve the global issues we all face.
Our impact partnership with Ethic is one of the ways we put our values in action.
Ethic also updated their site with the announcement, likely because they’re hoping to bring in tens of millions in investment from the Sussex name. From Ethic:
At Ethic, we don’t shy away from taking on big challenges. Since our founding more than five years ago, we’ve strived to help redefine the fundamental nature of the relationship between corporations and the world around them. Our efforts to make capital markets a powerful force for good involve having hard conversations, putting real action behind our words, and not being afraid to do things a bit differently.
Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, share a lot of values with us, and we suspect, with many of you as well. That’s why we’re so excited that they’re joining us as impact partners. They’re deeply committed to helping address the defining issues of our time—such as climate, gender equity, health, racial justice, human rights, and strengthening democracy—and understand that these issues are inherently interconnected. So much so, in fact, that they became investors in Ethic earlier this year and have investments managed by Ethic as well.
Now they want to shine a light on how we can all impact the causes that affect our communities, bring transparency into how the corporate world sets the tone and shapes outcomes for everyday families, and believe that more people should have a seat at the table when it comes to making progress. With their partnership, our shared vision for a world in which all investing is sustainable investing can reach many millions around the globe.
That post keeps going, but it’s basically just Ethic’s mission statement and you get it. What’s also pretty funny is that it’s been almost 24 hours and the British papers don’t have much. They don’t really have a big slam on Harry and Meghan beyond the general “how dare they.” I think maybe the galaxy-brains at the Mail realize that they can’t really compare and contrast what the Sussexes are doing with the royal family’s money moves, because then it gets pretty complicated with all of the Queen’s dodgy tax shelters and all of the secrecy about royals’ personal money, etc. Basically, the DM is calling the Ethic people a bunch of hippies and making fun of their dog.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.
I’m certain that Meghan was appalled by the spongy finances attached to royal philanthropic work. Good for the Sussexes for once again walking the walk.
The tabloids, derangers and the gammonry are absolutely squealing with rage. Their pathetic attempts at calling them hippies, woke are pitiful. The Sussexes are building a billion dollar empire and are going to be incredibly rich. No more begging the first and second in line for crumbs.
Yup!! And the DF, the Lamebridge klan and the rest of the salty, angry and hypocritical bunch can go suck on an egg and wallow in their greed and jealousy that they all played a part in destroying!!!!
I knew that Harry and Meghan would be successful, though my first wish was for them to be utterly and blissfully in love with each other!! Spend their days sitting on the bench watching their lovely children run about, as they laugh and play with the dogs!! Followed by ending each day, glowing in their happiness and the blissful peace and comfort of no outside intrusions or worries!! Harry and Meghan hold hands as they climb into bed which brings sweet dreams and peace. But, my gosh!! They have taken off like rockets!! They certainly have the golden touch that someone the other day pointed out, so I can’t take credit for this analogy. But my gosh, they DO have the golden touch!!! I don’t think that any decision that they have made has NOT been thoroughly thought out and mapped ahead.
Yes!!! I am so incredibly impressed and absolutely thrilled at their accomplishments and they haven’t been working an entire year yet, in addition to a global pandemic!!!!
F*** off Salty Island of Petty, Pissed and Pathetic!!! They belong in the US now!!!
I think this was a huge part of the issue with Meghan and the courtiers and the Cambridges. Besides the whole “working” thing, I think she saw what was going on with some of the finances and thought NOPE.
@ Becks1, it all come down to the grubby, clenched fists of tiny brain with his ongoing temper tantrums that make up his entire days!! The audacity for Burger King to try and take the funds for the Grenfell Tower cook book is despicable, not matter how you look at it. His actions were and are still unacceptable.
They mentioned the other day that the anniversary for the Grenfell fire was, yet after all of these years, they still do not have a cause….?
The BP are so thick…
Anybody who works with non-profits and government agencies in the US understands the complexity and rigorous nature of the work. I work with government funding and audits. Her fame comes from acting, but she’s worked at these places from the ground up. She started in high school. She’s not going to mess this up. And she sees impropriety without any trace moral ambiguity. She doesn’t sound like the Texas T-Rex, hemmin’ and hawin’ some “other sides” shit. Everything The Duchess does is ready for prime time.
I really thought it was going to be okay for her all those years ago because of what she’d done before. She is younger, but we grew up near each other. I spent a lot of time in her neighborhood growing up. She’s such a wonderful human being, like many people I knew growing up, and now everyone knows how special she is because of who she married. Seeing her success with him brings me so much joy. It saddens me that it had to be because of a high profile marriage for a Black woman to have a seat at the table to influence international corporate finance, but I am so grateful that she is there. She is someone who understands what people need the way that Diana did.
That is great that you knew about her from way back when. Looking back you can absolutely tell those people who are going to be the movers and shakers, sometimes one falls through the crack, but there is almost always a glimmer of something. You are confirming what others have said about her, so that’s consistent. Thanks for sharing, though don’t be surprised if one of MM stalkers from across the pond attempt to contact you, they are nothing if not predictable.
-They don’t really have a big slam on Harry and Meghan beyond the general “how dare they.”
Yup the latest investment news gave the royal roaches whiplash but they are slowly warming up to spew their bile….In 2020, the royal rats song was “Sussexes: Penniless in London”; in 2021, it’s the racist chant “[only] Meghan is earning TOO much and spending too much of her OWN money.” True story!
Yup! The fact that they’re only going after Meghan, yet think they can get Harry back…but with Meghan and the kids for a maybe grandpa engagement, is proving how delusional these ppl are.
It makes me so sad looking back at all the photos of Meghan and Harry before their wedding and the events just after. They had so much potential and as a huge Meghan fan pre- engagement I was super excited for her to join the royal family. My naive mind thought that Meghan would have interesting events with Kate and she would thrive and everyone would be welcoming. But because I was really young around the time Princess Diana died I didn’t realise that these people (the royal family) are the absolute worst people. I just hope now that Meghan and Harry continue to thrive in the best possible way and try as little as possible to come back here to the U.K. or bring their kids as little as possible because honestly this country does not deserve to see these gems again. And I really hope the royals fall into deeper potholes because these “people” (calling them people is an insult to people really) deserve just that.
Now when I see William and Kate or Charles and Camille or any of the others (sans Eugenie. She’s cool) I want to slap them so hard, but I can’t because sh*t splatters. I don’t need that dirt all over my hands
I totally agree. I thought the royals would be so much more fun now! I thought that the two couples would team up and we would have pretty photos, like them with laughing and enjoying each other. Like a hallmark movie.
@ Layla and @ Ericka, I had the same hopes as you two!! I was so enchanted with Meghan during their engagement shoot and interview. Not only did I think she was stunning but she has an excellent education, she has been working towards better conditions since she was in elementary school and is extremely smart and compassionate.
And @ Layla, when you are in the position to slap, call me!! I m happy to get my hands dirty……😏
@Layla, I think I can safely say that I’m older than you (born 2 years before Diana), and I didn’t realize, either. I thought the PR debacle around Diana’s death had given the RF pause, made them reflect, made them want to do things differently. Even up to and including the wedding, it looked like the beginning of a sparkling new chapter, with Diana’s sons leading the way.
But, as so many here have pointed out, it all started going south with H&M’s first overseas tour, when they announced Meghan was pregnant with Archie. The smiling façade fell away, and we realized that the RF wanted Meghan to be Harry’s short-term “starter” wife, hoping to convince him to divorce her and marry someone more “suitable” (ie, white). Meghan’s competence, connectedness, and charm on that tour, along with Harry’s clear adoration, made the RF realize that she wasn’t going anywhere, especially now that she was with child, and that’s when the knives came out. Simply because Meghan’s a WOC and an American. It’s still hard to wrap my head around that kind of petty, pointless hate.
@iconoclast59, Actually it was more than the pregnancy announcement. I’m the same age as Diana, and I’m Australian, and we all saw the similarities long before anyone else did. H&M’s first tour to Australia was simply a rerun of Diana’s first: she bowled everyone over, the entire country went wild, fell in love with her, and asked Prince Charles constantly to swap sides of the road with Diana! H&M’s impact was the same, and it mirrored Diana’s own in that she also announced her pregnancy there. It was and is history repeating itself. The Salty Isle are so pi$$ed because H&M are huge in the way Diana was: ie., no one can predict nor control!
I think “calling the Ethic people a bunch of hippies and making fun of their dog” is not a bad move on behalf of Daily Mail. Making investment managment firm looking not serious, not trustworthy is very powerful attempt to discredit such firm.
As we all know, Daily Fail is good at brainwashing and destroying people’s reputation and public image. I don’t underestimate them, they aren’t idiots. And they are powerful, they influence even those who “don’t read tabloids”, as far as I know.
I’d like to think that most people use critical thinking and factual analysis while consuming information, but my experience doesn’t fully support that.
I really doubt that anyone with a large amount of money to invest would care what the Daily Fail or the Daily Fail commentariat thinks.
However, small UK investors might be put off by the the Daily Fail or the Daily Fail commentariat. It is sad but most investment banks or asset management companies are not really interested in the small investor.
I want to agree with you about this particular case. Maybe, DF attempts to damage the firm are pointless.
It’s just bothers and annoys me all the time that such “poison” is so powerful, and pityfully, so popular.
The poison may be powerful but not everyone is taken in. In fact, a lot of it is having the opposite effect. Hating the Sussexes has not turned the public opinion towards the rest of the royals. Even the queen whom I would have thought immune has been booed a few times. The Sussexes have managed to make every kind of lemon product from lemons.
I don’t know about “hippies,” but on their website the Ethic team looks a little like an ad for Nickelodeon – all bouncing photos of cute cheerfulness, along with their happy dogs. It’s a far cry from the old City types, with their striped suits and stiff shirts, and the collar bar that makes a Hermes tie look like it has a hard-on. If I were looking for a portfolio manager, I wouldn’t give them a dime based off the website – but I would pay attention to recommendations of others and want to talk to the principals directly.
I think they’re aiming for a demographic a little less straitlaced lol
@Emma – oh, absolutely. We used to make fun of the stuffed shirts even when I was in the business. And this is what we used to call a “quant” team, now “tech-driven,” – those were the people who wore ratty t-shirts and were kept in the basement so the clients couldn’t see them. I was one of them for a time, until I worked up to portfolio manager and had to put on a suit.
Having been a quant, I’m a bit wary of tech-driven solutions, because markets work on human psychology, and a lot of people I know lost a lot of money by focusing only on the math and ignoring the culture and history behind how people make money decisions. But, best of luck to them.
@Eurydice
I’m still so, so wary of this. I feel like this is the first time they’ve opened themselves up for legitimate reputational, financial, and possibly even legal risk. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about working in the regulatory space for securities, it’s that there is no financial institution that can keep its hands pristine, no matter the intentions of the founders. It’s a feature of the industry— a majority of the people working at a hedge fund/brokerage/whatever might do everything right but there’s always going to be one or two people who walk the grey line (or cross it) because they decide it’s worth the risk. And if/when the wrongdoing is uncovered, it reflects poorly on the institution.
And just because a company starts out looking friendly and cheerful with good intentions and smiling faces does not mean it can’t go horribly wrong. See: Google, one of the most egregious violators of individual privacy in the world. I know I’m being paranoid, but that’s been my experience. The team being young also doesn’t fill me with a lot of confidence because it means they probably don’t have as much experience or exposure to the regulatory side of things.
H&M currently have a stellar reputation and that feels dangerous to me because it gives this hedge fund the appearance of a moral high ground. H&M attract a lot of names who want their philanthropic light to rub off on them. A trap that people often fall into is that because a person believes they’re doing something morally right, it’s the same as being legally compliant. I’m not saying that morality and legality are always aligned in a way that respects human rights, (see: Civil Rights), but I can’t think of an example when this was true in finance.
To be clear, I’m not saying they shouldn’t take this step. It’s clear they believe the risk is worth the reward, so I respect them for that.
@LaraW” – yes, I find this queasy-making. It’s one thing for H&M to make their own choices as to how to invest their money, it’s another to be seen as giving investment advice. And the youth of the team means they’ve only worked in an up cycle.
All I know about this company is from their website and some news stories – it seems to be an algorithm for creating portfolios for asset managers. So, for me, the question is one of supply. When too many clients are clamoring for a particular type of investment vehicle, parameters can get loose and that’s where the grey line appears. And, just as a personal knee-jerk, when I see “tech-driven” portfolios, I think “black box” and “garbage in, garbage out.” But, as you say, they’re trying to do good and I hope it works out the way they want.
You are giving those people way too much power!! Calling them hippies and making fun on their dog is not gonna damage anything lol. These people run billions of dollars in investments and have been around for a few years.
I’m sure they’ll be fine just like better up and everybody else that has worked with Harry and Meghan
You make good points, especially about the power they actually have. It’s like Fox’s sway over Trump supporters.
But I also think that legitimate companies and funds will help them because they have the right lawyers and know what they are doing. The proof will be in any change they can make. And the conservative media won’t believe that any positive change will be because of their influence, anyway. Corporations want to look good, and H&M make everybody look good, save the Royal family and the old guard. England is lovely, but small. What they think really doesn’t matter at this point.
Yay!
The Sussexes have pretty much been influencers since the beginning of their relationship, but this partnership with Ethic has moved them into the stratosphere of this arena.
To use the platform they have to shift the thinking of corporations (present and future) and help them focus on the values stated by Ethic truly demonstrates how phenomenal they are. Harry and Meghan are visionary leaders but even more rare, they have shown that they understand how to execute their vision and their amazing networking ability/soft skills/charisma attract highly credible and valuable allies/support. (Celebitchy and Sussex fans included in there, lol!)
The way I see it, the shrill noises from the tabloids are not having the effect they hoped it would. Everything they deride about the Sussexes brings them even more support. The other members of the family are the ones who should be worried. They have been eclipsed, overshadowed and deemed irrelevant in a modern world.
Not to mention, the Royals are routinely sent by the British Government to the Middle East to secure arms deals. There’s really nothing the press can say except Ethic is a bunch of hippies. I predict the new angle on this will be Harry and Meghan are spreading themselves too thin. I’ve already seen one royalist, who claims she’s a PR expert, concern trolling about that.
Meg could be photographed drinking water and they’d accuse her of being a hippie drinking some so “all natural” and then they’d blame her for CA’s drought.
Everything H&M do will be spun as “woke liberal California Hollywood hippy dippy yoga avocado toast progressive commie bullshit” which “taints the monarchy” and is “faux charity grifting” by “money hungry golddigger” Meg who “joined the BRF to steal Harry away so she could merch and run for president. ”
They. Cannot. Win.
Anyone who associates with them better understand that, quickly.
They’ve already won. They left toxicity behind and they are thriving. All the squealing is free marketing and PR. Long may it continue.
I meant cannot win nice press from the RRs
The rota’s scope of influence is tiny compared to the global relationships the Sussexes have already established. Lol.
@ Merricat, but couldn’t the companies that Harry and Meghan work with file for libel or slander against the DF? Or any other programs/organization they are working for?
I remember being on this platform worrying out loud about what these two would do to make a living outside the family, they have exceeded my and many others’ expectations. I didn’t see this power player pivot for them, but they’re going at it with a zeal and determination that could’ve only been borne out of having suffered and overcome.
As is, the conversation happening in the British tabloids is so far beneath them that it’s almost laughable they ever attempted making it work on such a small, restrictive and unfathomably ghetto scale. The universe will plunge you into the depths of hell to help usher you towards your destiny… It’s all so inspiring. Makes me look at all the ways I could be playing small in my life for an audience that isn’t even aligned with my purpose.
I am not all surprised by their ascendancy and there is a lot more to come. Painting the Sussexes as supervillains through oversmearing was the RFs undoing. Plus Harry has had the foresight to build his networks independently. As for Meghan she had built relationships at the highest levels prior to joining the RF. As a team they are unstoppable.
@SunRae Such an interesting point to ponder: “Makes me look at all the ways I could be playing small in my life for an audience that isn’t even aligned with my purpose.”
@NightOwl yes I resonate with that statement too. It’s beautiful
The BM could have shown their actual relevance by welcoming her in and harnessing her enormous popularity into proving their worth anything, but nope. It would have been a RIDICULOUSLY easy accomplishment to “sell” a package deal to America: royals haven’t really been popular since Dianna, and Megan COULD have changed that. America will ALWAYS pick the underdog (even just to kick around later), and I think Americans are just rolling their eyes at “royalty” as a concept in general now.
I love how they understand that shifting the balance of power involves “voting with your dollars.” I personally was always investing in broad ETFs so it’s good to be informed to look for socially responsible (ESG) funds. They’re educating people on what to do to make a difference and I love it. They’re going to leave a powerful legacy.
I recently graduated from a business school that a lot of investment funds recruit bankers from – ESG is the future. Our whole finance curriculum was based on this fact. Young people who are going to be wealthy in the future are not interested in investing the way it used to be done (invest in tobacco, guns, whatever is most profitable) It’s continuously hilarious to me how behind the BRF and their lackeys are.
Out of curiosity, how much does business school go into discussing the legal side of things?
This is just so great. These two are just moving forward doing the things that they need to do to secure their futures as philanthropic figures in our global world. They know they need to earn enough to secure their family for at least a couple generations or until they can shake the UK stalkers and they need to fund their Foundation. They’re so unpredictable and yet when they do something, you think, of course, that makes so much sense.
All the comments here basically support the Sussex and express the loss to the royal family due to their decision to move on. But here’s the thing.The royal family isn’t a family like you or I have.They are weird little cult of people still living like it’s 1946. And they don’t want change . That’s why Meghan and Harry had to leave. I believe Meghan could have handled staying but Harry had to leave and that’s what has the Fail so upset. Life must be great in California for them.
Meghan literally wanted to kill herself.
I know things like financial ventures can be a bit more risky, but these guys are risk takers and do their homework. Hope it pays off, and as it’s an investment/partnership, if it doesn’t work for them they can sell their stake in it or move to another fund. It’s interesting how they always seem to have things going on in the background, even when we have forgotten about it. For example, I thought Travalyst would peter out because of the pandemic and it still all seems so vague to me, but now it’s ramping up and now they have partnered with Google to track ones carbon footprints and travel more efficiently. There is always something going on.
I love Hary and Meghan’s work ethic-Go Sussex Family