We’ve helped clients achieve their financial and values goals for over 35 years

Formative delivers values-aligned investment solutions to meet our clients' financial and impact objectives, incorporating our proprietary research methods, screens, and portfolio construction methodologies.

Our Three Strategies

Formative offers a variety of investment strategies to align with each client's particular investment needs.

Values-Aligned Direct Index Solution (VADIS)

Values-aligned direct index portfolios comprised of equities and fixed income funds and ETFs that reflect the individual client’s values and financial objectives.

Multi-Manager Accounts

Carefully chosen investment model managers that integrate values-aligned criteria into the investment analysis and selection process.

Managed Mutual Fund/ETF

A portfolio of fully vetted mutual funds and/or ETFs that integrate values-aligned criteria into the investment analysis and selection process.

Spotlight on VADIS

Personalized Direct Indexing

What is Direct Indexing?

In a traditional index fund, you buy a single fund that holds stocks on your behalf. Direct indexing takes a different approach. Your portfolio holds individual stocks, selected to closely match the benchmark’s performance while reflecting your personal financial and values objectives. The result is market-like financial returns, with a portfolio customized to you.

What are the benefits of Direct Indexing?

Direct indexing provides risk, tax, and transition management strategies unavailable through traditional funds. And, with VADIS, you can personalize your portfolio by including or excluding companies based on their alignment with your values.

An Experience that Brings it All Together

VADIS is a connected workflow that helps your advisor understand your values, risk, and tax needs, delivers a portfolio that suits your objectives, and provides ongoing management and reporting tailored to your goals.

Your Investments Have Influence

Investors have special tools to push companies to do better. Owning shares in a company gives you a voice. Formative has a long track record of using that voice to drive corporate progress on social and environmental issues. Our team works on your behalf to advocate for the outcomes you care about.

Process

When a material social or environmental issue is identified in our clients' portfolios, we engage in a direct dialogue with companies at the executive level to address the concern. When necessary, we escalate our action by filing a shareholder resolution with the company.

We also vote proxies aligned with social and environmental progress, and allow for custom proxy voting in some investment programs.

Partners

We work as part of larger investor coalitions to support and magnify our impact, including CERES, Investor Alliance for Human Rights, and the Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment (USSIF).

Outcomes

We have recently contributed to progress on improved water quality, data center environmental impact, and responsible AI governance. View our latest engagement and advocacy report for more details.

Embracing Our Role as a Trusted Fiduciary

Placing Our Clients’ Interests Above Our Own, With Privacy and Discretion

Our fiduciary responsibility to our clients requires of us a duty of care and loyalty. We acknowledge our fiduciary responsibility to care for the assets entrusted to us, and we place our clients' interests above our own.

We are committed to the clear disclosure of relevant information, including investment fees, advisor compensation, investment risks, potential conflicts of interest, and other material matters, to our clients in a wholly transparent and timely manner. As trusted caretakers, privacy and confidentiality are of utmost importance at Formative. We do not disclose or share confidential information with others, except as authorized or when otherwise legally obligated to do so. We do not use confidential information for personal advantage.