Stephen Whipp, Investment Advisor, Berkshire Securities
by TARA CAMPBELL
Is it possible to create personal wealth without sacrificing your soul? Ethical investment advisor Stephen Whipp believes it’s not only possible, but commits himself to putting your money where your heart is.
“There’s nothing wrong with making a return on an investment,” says Whipp. “It’s where that return comes from. Is it from the backs of 12-year-old girls making soccer balls in Indonesia or from a company doing it properly?”
As a former journalist and social activist, Whipp has dedicated his life to environmental, community, and aboriginal issues. He brought this passion to the financial industry in 1996. Whipp now heads a team at Berkshire Securities Inc. in Victoria, where his focus is solely on socially responsible investing.
Whipp believes ethical investing will eventually be an industry norm, much like emerging changes in the food and automotive industries. “We now see grocery stores with organic sections as large as regular sections and people buying hybrid vehicles,” he notes. “People are using their values as a lens when making these purchases.”
Whether teaching a seminar or working with clients, Whipp's objective is to get people to extend their personal values to their investment choices. “If I can get somebody to use the same lens they use every week to buy organic food, they are going to find more satisfaction in their investing,” he says.
It may never be as simple as picking out organic bananas, but Whipp believes that, given the opportunity, more people will choose to invest with both their heart and mind.
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