10/12/2026
One of the most powerful votes you cast for the future isn't at the ballot box.
It's with your investment dollars.
We spend a lot of time thinking about where we shop, what we eat and which companies we support.
But how often do we ask what our investments are actually funding?
I recently sat down with Claire Smith, a climate fund manager, fintech entrepreneur and impact investor with 40 years of experience in finance and investing.
Our conversation raised some questions I think every investor should consider:
→ Can you build wealth without compromising your values?
→ Do sustainable investments require sacrificing returns?
→ How do you distinguish genuinely sustainable investments from ESG that's largely marketing?
→ Could where we invest our money ultimately have as much impact as how we spend it?
Claire has taken an approach that many traditional asset managers would probably consider radical. Her investment screens can eliminate roughly HALF of the companies contained in typical market benchmarks.
Yet she also shared that, as of early September 2026, her ETF had outperformed its benchmark over the lifetime of the fund.
That's what makes this conversation interesting.
Maybe the question isn't simply whether sustainable investing is "good."
Maybe it's whether the companies solving tomorrow's biggest problems could also represent some of tomorrow's most interesting investment opportunities.
We dig into sustainable investing, impact investing, ESG, venture capital, emerging technologies and what happens when profit and purpose don't have to be mutually exclusive.
🎧 This new episode of Inspired to Invest Podcast with Claire Smith is coming Oct. 14.
Would you consider changing an investment if you discovered it conflicted with your personal values?
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