Investing in LGBT-Friendly Business: Equality Funds, Inc.

finance

INVESTING IN LGBT-FRIENDLY BUSINESSES:

EQUALITY FUNDS, INC.

by Dan Groover (copy and developmental editing by Ben Rock)

Marc Delphine

Equality Funds, Inc., recently announced the launch of Equality One, an investment fund for those who wish to invest in LGBT-friendly businesses. The organization also announced the criteria used to determine which businesses qualify as LGBT-friendly and offered statistics demonstrating how investments in LGBT-friendly businesses historically have produced higher returns.

Additionally, the company expressed its commitment to work with businesses that are not currently meeting these standards to help them become LGBT-friendly.

Marc Delphine, chief executive officer and founder of Equality Funds, is a financial advisor serving the LGBT community for the past 14 years. He was inspired to launch an investment vehicle that would enable investors to support the LGBT community by investing in a fund that only invests in LGBT-friendly companies. Delphine found that using assessments like the Human

photo courtesy of Equality Funds

30 | UNITE BUSINESS

Rights Campaign’s Buying for Equality Guide, an annual publication that determines whether or not a company is LGBT-friendly, could be used to provide supporters of the community guidance for investment opportunities.

“Our research has clearly indicated that those companies, which have been considered LGBT-friendly over the past 10 years, have historically outperformed the market overall,” Delphine said.

With a $25,000 initial-investment requirement, Equality Funds top holdings include Apple, Wells Fargo, Nike, Google, and Barnes & Noble. “Over the past 10 years, companies with increased diversity initiatives are consistently providing outstanding returns,” Delphine explained. “There is a clear correlation between company values and overall returns.”

Equality Funds’s investment portfolio is managed by James Cornehlsen, Chartered Financial Analyst of Dunn Warren Investment Advisors, and screened by criteria that include a number of factors like policies and procedures banning workplace discrimination, same-sex partner benefits, and community outreach.

“We want to offer our clients the opportunity to invest in something that not only could produce a higher rate of return but also one that aligns with their values of diversity, fairness and equality,” added Jill Nelson, chief talent and diversity officer. “Whether or not you are a member of the community, our focus on companies that value their people is one that has a recipe for success—a new kind of socially responsible investing.”

For more information, visit www.equalityfunds.com.