Change Finance PBC is an investment firm focused on promoting left-leaning environmental and social causes among publicly traded corporations through ESG (environmental, social, and governance)  investment products, shareholder activism, and direct engagement. The firm’s primary advocacy issue is climate change mitigation.

Background

Change Finance operates as a public benefit company (PBC). Unlike conventional investment firms that are focused on maximizing shareholder returns, a PBC is legally required to consider the societal and environmental impacts of its investment activities. ¹

The firm’s co-CEOs, Andrew Rodriguez and Dorritt Lowsen, were licensed as investment advisors in 2015 and 2017, respectively. Before heading Change Finance, Rodriguez was an ESG researcher for Highwater Capital, an assistant portfolio manager at Keel Asset Management, and a portfolio manager at Principium. ^{2 3}  Lowsen had previously worked for the Department of State as an Environmental Affairs Specialist in Beijing. ^{4 5}

The firm’s Chief of Impact is author and environmentalist Hunter Lovins. Lovins has also worked as the president of Natural Capitalism Solutions and Managing Partner of NOW Partners. ⁶

Activities

ESG Investing

Change Finance co-manages a fund with AXS Investments traded as CHGX, which the firm describes as the first “certified carbon neutral ETF.” The fund’s methodology applies a set of 125 ESG metrics to determine which equities are eligible to become holdings of the fund. The method also incorporates guidance from the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals and the consulting of chief impact officer Hunter Lovins. The firm claims to invest 80 percent of the fund in companies that “do not derive any revenue from fossil fuel production, fossil fuel power generation, tobacco production, production of genetically modified organisms, nuclear power generation, weapons production, or hazardous pesticide production.” The fund is most heavily weighted toward information-technology equities. ⁷

Change Finance also partners with City Different Investments in managing carbon neutral SMA’s (separately managed accounts) according to Change Finance’s proprietary ESG scoring methodology. ⁸

Advocacy

Change Finance advocates for numerous left-leaning causes, including critical race theory-aligned notions of gender and racial equity, climate change policy, and “stakeholder capitalism” governance policies. The firm utilizes numerous strategies for pressuring companies to adopt these causes, including proxy voting, divestment campaigns, corporate engagement, shareholder resolutions, and political lobbying. ⁹

To support the firm’s racial and gender equity agenda, Change Finance contacted over 120 corporations to request media gender and racial pay gap data. The firm also interfaces with major corporations such as Progressive Insurance and Verizon on how to implement ESG policies and attract ESG investors. Change Finance touted a productive 2021 meeting with Blackrock’s Investment Stewardship team aimed at increasing support for Change Finance’s climate change-related shareholder resolutions in upcoming proxy voting seasons. ¹⁰

Change Finance collaborates with several lobbying groups on public policy initiatives. The firm worked with the US Impact Investing Alliance in an effort “Urging the Biden-Harris Administration to advance policies that will enhance the private sector’s engagement on critical social and environmental issues.” ¹¹

The firm worked with the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility on an initiative “calling on Alphabet, Facebook, and Twitter to take steps necessary to address their role in enabling and facilitating political violence.” ¹²

Change Finance also joined the Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Development (US SIF) in “affirming that the coronavirus pandemic, racial injustice, economic inequality, and climate change must be key priorities for the Biden-Harris Administration.” ¹³

The firm also has affiliations with left-leaning activism groups Intentional Endowment Networks, SME Climate Hub, and Racial Justice Investing. ¹⁴

1. “About Us: Firm.” Change Finance. Accessed May 14, 2023. https://change-finance.com/about-us/firm.
2. Rodriguez, Andrew David. LinkedIn. Accessed May 14, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewdavidrodriguez/.
3. “Andrew Rodriguez.” IAPD – Investment Adviser Public Disclosure . Accessed May 9, 2023. https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/individual/summary/6525450
4. Lowsen, Dorrit. LinkedIn. Accessed May 14, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/dorritlowsen/.
5. “Dorritt Hannah Lowsen.” IAPD – Investment Adviser Public Disclosure . Accessed May 9, 2023. https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/individual/summary/6806393
6. “L. Hunter Lovins.” Natural Capitalism Solutions, July 17, 2019. https://natcapsolutions.org/l-hunter-lovins/.
7. Change Finance, P.B.C., Form ADV Part 2A, 2023
8. “ESG Strategies.” City Different Investments. Accessed May 14, 2023. https://citydifferentinvestments.com/strategies/esg/
9. “Advocacy.” Change Finance. Accessed May 14, 2023. Available at: https://change-finance.com/advocacy/.
10. “2021 Advocacy Report.” Change Finance, July 16, 2021. Accessed May 14, 2023. https://etfexpress.com/2021/07/16/change-finance-publishes-2021-advocacy-report/.
11. “2021 Advocacy Report.” Change Finance, July 16, 2021. Accessed May 14, 2023. https://etfexpress.com/2021/07/16/change-finance-publishes-2021-advocacy-report/.
12. “2021 Advocacy Report.” Change Finance, July 16, 2021. Accessed May 14, 2023. https://etfexpress.com/2021/07/16/change-finance-publishes-2021-advocacy-report/
13. “2021 Advocacy Report.” Change Finance, July 16, 2021. Accessed May 14, 2023. https://etfexpress.com/2021/07/16/change-finance-publishes-2021-advocacy-report/.
14. “Affiliations: Longmont, CO.” Change Finance. Accessed May 9, 2023. https://change-finance.com/about-us/affiliations.