Morgan Stanley
Wealth Management

10 Ways Investors Can Drive Positive Change

Jun 24, 2025

For decades, investors have seen how powerfully their decisions can drive impactful outcomes for people and the planet. Here are 10 ways to continue making an impact with your investment dollars.

Author:
Emily Thomas, Head of Investing with Impact, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management

Key Takeaways

  • The past few decades have seen explosive demand from investors seeking to align their portfolio with their values, with the majority of global individual investors sharing a continuously increasing interest in sustainable investing.
  • Morgan Stanley’s Investing with Impact Platform offers a range of products and solutions designed to create positive environmental and social impact without sacrificing favorable financial returns.
  • Investors have access to increasingly sophisticated advice, reporting tools and more that can help them achieve both their financial targets and their impact goals.

Investors have a long history of seeking to drive positive change in the world. The end of South African apartheid in the early 1990s, for example, marked the culmination of a decades-long divestment campaign that saw investors successfully pressure companies around the world to cut ties with the country’s apartheid regime.

 

This movement also gave rise, two decades earlier, to the “Sullivan Principles,” a code of conduct that helped companies resist apartheid policies and set standards for corporate social responsibility that remain influential today. These efforts also inspired some of the earliest socially conscious investment strategies, including the first ethical mutual funds, which allowed asset managers to act upon investors’ behalf to avoid investments in objectionable industries.

 

Since then, the sustainable and impact investing industry has grown tremendously, with causes expanding to include a wide range of issues such as climate change and labor practices. In April 2025, Morgan Stanley’s Institute for Sustainable Investing published a survey revealing that 88% of global individual investors are interested in sustainable investing. Notably, two-thirds of these investors say this interest increased over the past year.1 The global sustainable fund universe continues to maintain a strong presence, with $3.16 trillion recorded under management at the end of March 2025.2  

Investing With Impact Today

At Morgan Stanley, we are committed to helping forward-thinking investors align their portfolios with their values, especially as impact investing strategies evolve. Launched in 2012, our innovative Investing with Impact Platform offers a diverse selection of products and solutions curated to advance environmental and social goals while striving to help meet our clients’ financial goals. Today, clients on our platform have collectively invested over $95 billion across more than 450 investment strategies.2

 

Here’s a look at 10 ways investors can continue to align their capital with their vision for a more sustainable world: 

  1. 1
    Understand the range of approaches available to create positive change.

    Having a framework for decision-making can help. At Morgan Stanley, we encourage investors to consider what we call the “Three I’s of Impact”:

    • Intentionality of the investment process, which can range from reducing exposure to companies you find objectionable, to actively seeking out companies generating positive environmental or social impact
    • Influence, which focuses on the role shareholders can play in helping change company behavior for the better through active engagement
    • Inclusion, which considers the level of diversity at asset-management firms and across investment professionals managing your portfolio

  2. 2
    Learn to identify asset managers that drive authentic impact versus those simply claiming to do so.

    The proliferation of sustainable funds can make it difficult to measure how much an asset manager genuinely prioritizes environmental or social issues. Our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Signal and Impact Signal tools help you and your Morgan Stanley Financial Advisor evaluate asset managers’ commitment to seeking sustainable outcomes on a consistent basis.

  3. 3
    Measure how well your portfolio achieves alignment with your unique values.

    A lack of standard industry metrics and competing measurement frameworks have historically made it challenging for investors to determine how closely their investments align with their impact goals. Tools like Morgan Stanley Impact Quotient® can help you identify and prioritize your impact preferences by assessing your current portfolio to pinpoint opportunities to bring it into closer alignment with your values. 

  4. 4
    Consider investments that support the transition to a lower-carbon economy.

    Your Morgan Stanley Financial Advisor can help identify opportunities for climate-focused investments, such as companies developing new technologies for renewable and alternative energy sources. Those opportunities aren’t limited to the equity side of your portfolio: the proceeds of corporate “green bonds,” for example, contribute to climate change mitigation activities or other environmental sustainability projects.

  5. 5
    …Or investments that help advance racial equity at companies and asset managers.

    There are several approaches you can take in this area, including supporting diverse-owned or led asset managers, or funds intentionally investing in companies that create products or solutions aimed at addressing the needs of disadvantaged communities. You might also consider minimizing or avoiding exposure to companies with lagging racial-equity records. 

  6. 6
    … Or investments that support equality for women in the workforce.

    If you’re interested in gender-lens investing, your Morgan Stanley Financial Advisor can help you find the right strategies, whether those involve shareholder efforts to increase gender diversity in the C-suite or boardroom, or investing in businesses with products and services that benefit women and girls. 

Learn to identify asset managers that drive authentic impact versus those simply claiming to do so.
  1. 7
    … Or investments that improve people’s lives through access to education, health care and housing.

    For example, investors can support affordable housing, community development, schools and even provide access to lower-cost clean energy in diverse communities through bond funds.

  2. 8
    If religion plays an important role in your life, explore faith-based ways to invest.

    Many people look to their faith for guidance when making decisions to positively impact the world. Investment strategies based on the values of Christianity, Judaism, Islam or other religions may help you align your investments with your faith traditions.

  3. 9
    Think about how your impact goals fit into your broader financial picture.

    There’s no need to sacrifice your financial goals to invest according to your values. Whether you’re focused on building wealth, preserving it, generating income or other objectives, there are many ways investors of all sizes can integrate impact goals into their financial plans.  

  4. 10
    Consider working with a financial professional to help you invest with impact.

    Morgan Stanley Financial Advisors have a broad range of robust tools, research and other proprietary resources to help you build a portfolio aligned with your impact goals. Our Financial Advisors with the special Morgan Stanley Investing with Impact Director Designation can share tailored investment ideas that help meet your environmental, social and financial goals. 

Preparing for the Road Ahead

At Morgan Stanley we are proud to play a part in advancing the role of values-aligned investing. Investors today have access to increasingly sophisticated advice, reporting tools and more that can help them achieve their goals.

 

Connect with your Morgan Stanley Financial Advisor to discuss how you can achieve your unique impact goals.

Questions to Ask Your Morgan Stanley Financial Advisor:

  • How can I gain a better idea of whether my portfolio aligns with my personal values and financial goals?
  • When it comes to investing with impact, what are the different approaches or strategies I should consider?
  • How can I gain insight into how much an asset manager truly prioritizes environmental or social issues?

Find a Financial Advisor, Branch and Private Wealth Advisor near you. 

Check the background of Our Firm and Investment Professionals on FINRA's Broker/Check.

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Footnotes:

1 Source: https://www.morganstanley.com/content/dam/msdotcom/en/assets/pdfs/2025_Sustainable_Signals_Individual_Investors_2025_report.pdf

2 Source: https://www.morningstar.com/sustainable-investing/global-esg-funds-suffer-outflows-q1-2025-amid-intensifying-esg-backlash

3 As of April 30, 2025

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This material has been prepared for informational purposes only and does not provide individually tailored investment advice. It has been prepared without regard to the individual financial circumstances and objectives of persons who receive it. The strategies and/or investments discussed in this material may not be appropriate for all investors. Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC recommends that investors independently evaluate particular investments and strategies, and encourages investors to seek the advice of a Financial Advisor. The appropriateness of a particular investment or strategy will depend on an investor’s individual circumstances and objectives. This material is not an offer to buy or sell any security, or to participate in any trading strategy. Asset allocation and diversification do not guarantee a profit or protect against a loss. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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