My work with “socially responsible high impact stocks” is evolutionary; that is I am evolving it along with the changing times, listening to input from investors and exploring leads from multiple sources globally to find companies that I believe are making a difference environmentally, socially or even culturally. The difference is that I go beyond doing no harm and look for proactive solutions that the market has not yet valued.

Investors are waking up after decades lulled to sleep by experts who had in a way usurped their freedom to choose the kind of companies they want to own. Being responsible infers the freedom to choose. Once positive solutions are found there is a tendency now for the market to overvalue these companies over time. That is the SRI premium investors are willing to pay. By researching undervalued companies that are not yet followed by Wall Street, it is possible to find gems that deserve to be noticed. This process demonstrates to all corporations the value of doing the right thing. Once a company is fully appreciated I move on and look for the next gem.

Hanson Natural Soda is a great example. Noticing that Hanson owned Blue Sky, the only natural soda I could find in Trader Joes and Wholefoods a few years ago, I bought a little in most of my clients portfolios. After all, these two stores were growing rapidly, so I figured the soda would enjoy the ride. By the time analysts were touting it for controlling 18% of the energy drink market, it had gone from single to triple digits, and split. By then I was mostly out, not just because it was overvalued, but also because I did not like the fact that they had begun pushing caffeine based drinks at youth events. So it goes…