Philanthropy

Make a social contribution with your wealth.

Engaging in philanthropy lets motivated wealthy individuals and families make a contribution to an organization or movement that aligns with their values. They can also create institutions of their own that bring a change to the world that they wish to see. Across the globe, wealthy families and smart investors are making charitable contributions to support and build a culture with a shared purpose.

Some of the most popular social causes many family offices are focused on include education, civil rights and racial discrimination, employment issues, healthcare, immigration, and climate change.

There are so many ways that people can make a philanthropic contribution to the world, but many are not aware of where to begin. Even those who feel strongly about an issue they would like to change find it hard to locate a starting point. Consider these statistics:

• 62 percent of investors believe that philanthropy is important to educate the next generation on legacy and family values and how to respect and use wealth wisely.
• 67 percent of millennial investors are more likely to view socially responsible investing as a way to express their own values and beliefs.
• 44 percent of investors want more guidance on philanthropic planning from their advisors.

While charity and philanthropy alone cannot fix all of the world’s problems, family office impact investment and giving can, however, be a push in the right direction.

Alpen Partners is equipped to assist that 44% looking for a way to help out. Our team can work with you to determine the values that align with an organization or event help you create an organization yourself.

Ways to Help Out

If you are looking to make a direct contribution, there are several different ways to do so:

• Direct Donations- One of the easiest and most utilized ways to make a contribution is through making a direct donation to a charity or organization. This can provide financial support to an organization or cause immediately and are commonly tax-deductible.
• Volunteering- If you are looking for a more hands-on contribution, volunteering is a great way to contribute. There are many roles and responsibilities that one can assume from a basic volunteer to board members. Volunteering also gives individuals the opportunity to have important insight into the organization while also giving the volunteers the opportunity to employ valuable skills and talents.
• Donor-Advised Funds- A donor-advised fund grants tax-deductible contributions to a personal giving account of the donor. Grants are given to charities from the giving account and can be anonymous.
• Private Foundations- When wealthy individuals and families create private foundations, they have the power over grantmaking. They give families control over grantmaking and investments and engage in various levels of the foundation. It is subject to minimum distribution requirements and any taxation that’s required by the jurisdiction in which it is formed.

Socially Responsible Investing

While making a contribution to an organization is a great idea, there are also options to do, there are additional contributions you can make that can also help diversify your portfolio. This is known as socially responsible investing, a form of alternative investment option.

Alternative investments are usually more difficult to handle and profit from due to low liquidity. Stocks of large companies are much easier to sell than pieces of art or classic cars. A lot of these investments also have high minimum investments and fee structures compared to traditional investment types.

Diversification and hedging are two perks of alternative investments since they have little correlation with standard asset classes, making alternative investments the perfect addition to your portfolio. This has led many institutional funds, like pensions, to place a small amount their portfolios to alternative investments such as gold.

Socially responsible investments are another way to make an impact and also make a profit.

Also known as SRIs and sustainable and responsible investments, socially responsible investments are a type of investment that chooses a company for investment through a set of environmental, social, and corporate governances.

In order for the investment to be considered socially responsible investing, it must hit certain requirements. An investor must take into consideration how committed a company is to taking a positive role in society before they choose to invest. This means the investor is intentionally making this investment because the money they are using will be directly helping a cause, or the company has taken a public stance in order to combat a certain issue.

The process of choosing a company consists of eliminating those that produce harmful substances, such as tobacco, or engage in harmful activities such as polluting. SRIs, however, don’t actively look for companies that are doing positive things. They are mostly concerned with not making a negative impact.

If you are wondering how well your investment will do, research shows there are positive trends in this type of investment. Because return on investment will vary from sector to sector, and there is no centralized data on returns because many are private, it’s hard to predict how this type of investment will fare as a whole. A 2015 study, however, found that investments with social impact in mind had similar, if not matching returns, as those that did not.

Choose Alpen Partners

Responding to the challenges of our generation, Alpen Partners is launching a practice focusing on impact investing. Sustainable investments have become a major theme for global investors, and our firm wants to be at the forefront of creating alternatives for our clients to have their investments reflect their values.

Partnering with a leading specialist in the sustainable investments space, Alpen Partners will start offering portfolios that are focused on the best long-term sustainable investments that are equally dedicated to seeking solutions to some of the issues we face today. While maintaining our focus on balance sheet quality and capital efficiency, the portfolios will consist of companies and organizations that have the intent to generate a measurable, beneficial, social, and environmental impact alongside their strong financial return. Through impact investing, with the help of Alpen Partners , you can make the change you want to see in the world while also increasing the change in your pocket.