Learn how to find sustainable and impact investments and monitor your portfolio's impact.
How to Invest with an Impact
On screen copy:
How can I make an impact with my investing?
Disclosure:
Please see important information at the end of this video.
What if you could make investments that have the potential to provide a financial return while also focusing on companies committed to making the world a little bit better along the way?
It's possible, through something called Sustainable and Impact Investing. Now I say "possible" because let's face it, all investing comes with risk.
But with that in mind, you can make investments with the potential to generate a measurable social and environmental impact while also gaining value over time... and Merrill Edge Self-Directed has ways to help you find them.
I'll show you where to start looking on my screen, so you can do it yourself.
Once you log in to your account, you're going to be looking for information on ESG investments – that stands for environmental, social and governance.
So, you can choose the kind of impact that's important to you, and invest in something that might help build the future you want to see – like a world where companies treat their workers and customers fairly and help keep our environment healthy.
But whatever your priorities are, you can find your inspiration here, under "Investing Ideas."
It's an uncluttered, intuitive way to find investing themes that might interest you. There are pre-screened lists of environmental leaders, and you can even search topics you're interested in, like "water" to see choices that line up with what you're looking for.
And if you find a stock or fund that aligns with your priorities, it only takes a few clicks to dig deeper.
Whether you're looking at a particular stock or a fund like this one, you can see an overall ESG score or read a full ratings report from MSCI, who provide investors all over the globe with insights to better understand the potential impact of their investments.
Another feature within the fund's story is here. You can see each fund's top holdings and then take a closer look at those companies to see how they rate.
With access to tools like these, you don't have to be a research expert to find and validate how the stocks or funds align with the impact you'd like to make.
Merrill even has tools to help you review your current portfolio through a social and environmental lens. They help you become aware of what you own, and where opportunities may exist.
So, when you visit your portfolio's dynamic insights page, just expand your Impact Investing window to see what your portfolio's overall ESG score is.
You can also click over to your portfolio story to find the ESG details for your individual holdings too.
As always, additional help is just a click or call away. And if you ever decide that you'd like a bit more advice and guidance, Merrill can also connect you with an advisor to talk about other sustainable impact investing choices.
So that's it. If you're interested in trying to do some good for the world while you invest, now you know where to find ideas that can put your values into action.
Thanks for watching, and for choosing Merrill.
On screen copy:
What would you like the power to do?®
Merrill logo
Bank of America logo
Disclosure:
Investing involves risk. There is always the potential of losing money when you invest in securities.
Footnote
Institutional Investor magazine announced BofA Global Research as one of the
Top Global Research Firms popup in 2022 based on surveys held throughout the year. The magazine creates rankings of the top research analysts in a wide variety of specializations, drawn from the choices of portfolio managers and other investment professionals at more than 1,000 firms. BofA Global Research is research produced by BofA Securities, Inc ("BofAS") and/or one or more of its affiliates. BofAS is a registered broker-dealer,
Member SIPC popup, and wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of America Corporation.
Learn more about the methodology at Institutional Investor popup. Rankings and recognition from Institutional Investor are no guarantee of future investment success and do not ensure that a current or prospective client will experience a higher level of performance results and such rankings should not be construed as an endorsement.
MSCI ESG Research LLC., a Registered Investment Adviser under the Investment Adviser Act of 1940, is an independent provider of ESG data, reports and ratings based on published methodologies. MSCI ESG Research LLC is not affiliated with Bank of America Corporation or any of its affiliates. This material does not take into account a client's particular investment objectives, financial situations or needs and is not intended as a recommendation, offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security or investment strategy. Merrill offers a broad range of brokerage, investment advisory and other services. There are important differences between brokerage and investment advisory services, including the type of advice and assistance provided, the fees charged, and the rights and obligations of the parties. It is important to understand the differences, particularly when determining which service or services to select. For more information about these services and their differences, speak with your Merrill financial advisor.
Footnote
Sustainable and Impact Investing and/or Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) managers may take into consideration factors beyond traditional financial information to select securities, which could result in relative investment performance deviating from other strategies or broad market benchmarks, depending on whether such sectors or investments are in or out of favor in the market. Further, ESG strategies may rely on certain values based criteria to eliminate exposures found in similar strategies or broad market benchmarks, which could also result in relative investment performance deviating. Impact investing and/or ESG investing has certain risks based on the fact that ESG criteria excludes securities of certain issuers for nonfinancial reasons and therefore, investors may forgo some market opportunities and the universe of investments available will be smaller.
Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated (also referred to as "MLPF&S" or "Merrill") makes available certain investment products sponsored, managed, distributed or provided by companies that are affiliates of Bank of America Corporation ("BofA Corp."). MLPF&S is a registered broker-dealer, registered investment adviser,
Member Securities Investor Protection (SIPC) popup and a wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of America Corporation ("BofA Corp").
Investment products:
| Are Not FDIC Insured |
Are Not Bank Guaranteed |
May Lose Value |
© 2023 Bank of America Corporation. All rights reserved. 3372686