Invest Responsibly

Getting Started in Green Investing

Getting started in socially responsible investing (SRI) is a conscious choice to save money for your retirement and other needs, while helping to save the planet. As Peter Lynch once said, your best investment is probably your home, as you are able to build equity while reducing your taxes through mortgage interest deductions.

The next best way to invest while avoiding taxes is through annually funded IRA accounts. Once you have taken these steps, it may make sense to build a personal investment account, some of which could be invested in socially responsible mutual funds. After you have amassed around $100,000 or more, you may be ready for an individually managed account.

An individually managed account at Girton Capital Management can help you build wealth through individual stock, bond and mutual fund selection. In an individual account, each investment held longer than one year is taxed at the lower long term capital gains rates. Individual managed accounts can also be managed to lower your annual tax bill. By building wealth responsibly, you can become more involved in working for positive social and environmental change.

Social Investment Screens

Let's face it - everybody's different - and everybody has their own social values. At Girton Capital Management, you will get a basic social screen just by investing with us. But you will have additional or different screens than the next person. Here is a list of items one or more may be of special concern to your in selecting your investment strategy.

Social Investment Criteria

  • Environment
  • Animal Testing
  • Human Rights
  • Sexual Orientation
  • Diversity/Minorities
  • Weapons & Defense
  • Nuclear Power
  • Labor Relations
  • Tobacco
  • Alcohol
  • Gambling

Our Investment Philosophy

We invest for our clients in a diverse group of socially responsible companies, for both growth and income. Some of the socially responsible companies we have researched and invested in include Hain Celestial, Horizon Organic, Land's End, Odwalla, Wild Oats and Whole Foods. We manage each client's account for their personal asset allocation and diversification needs. Our goal is to provide competitive investment returns through original investment research. We achieve this by researching different industry niches to find what we think are the best companies in each field.

Your Financial Goals

Here's a short checklist of financial goals to consider in planning your investment strategy, or in communicating with us about your strategy.

Financial goals:

  • Growth
  • Aggressive Growth
  • Growth + Income
  • Income
  • Capital Preservation
  • Tax Reduction

(choose one or more of the above - but not both aggressive growth and capital preservation)

Disclaimer: Investing involves financial risk. Past performance is not an indicator of future returns.

Our Privacy Policy: We will not release your name or discuss your financial information with anyone outside of Girton Capital Management, Inc. without your approval.

Our Services

Our clients receive personal investment attention though individually managed accounts. We provide a quarterly investment report which lets our clients know how they are progressing.

Our quarterly Growth Letter includes an in-depth research study, a review of the latest economic and market conditions, and a summary of our recent investments.

Our fee is generally 1 to 1.25% of assets under management annually, negotiable depending on the size of the account.