Morgan Stanley Enhances Value-Based Investment Options

With the establishment of the new Institute for Sustainable Investing, Morgan Stanley has become the latest major firm to focus on increasing its offerings for value-based investors.

Firms like Morgan Stanley and Bank of America Merrill Lynch, which announced its own socially responsible investing campaign in August, have been responding to growing client demand, especially among younger investors, by creating more environmentally and socially sustainable investment options.

“Our clients are increasingly turning their attention to what it takes to secure the lasting and safe supplies of food, energy, water and shelter necessary for sustainable prosperity,” Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman said in a statement.

The institute, which Gorman debuted today at Columbia Business School, will develop new products, enhance thought leadership and do research to identify and promote environmentally and socially responsible investments, the firm said.

One of the first major goals is to direct an additional $10 billion in client assets, roughly 0.05% of the firm’s total assets under management, to its existing Investing With Impact platform.

The firm also plans to work with its Long-Only and Alternative Investment Partners businesses to create new products and strategies “in which positive social and/or environmental impact is a core part of the underlying investment strategy,” the release said.

The Institute will also establish an annual Sustainable Investing Fellowship at Columbia Business School and invest $1 billion in a “sustainable communities” initiative to help provide affordable housing, according to the release. 

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