Sam Adams

I am both an environmentalist and a capitalist. As a climber and a skier I am passionate about nature, enjoy spending time in it, and believe in defending it. As an investment professional, with 20 years of experience at Dimensional Fund Advisors, I became a staunch believer in the power of markets. Markets can be good at solving problems, provided they have the right information.

20 years ago, most investors lacked some basic information on investment advice. It was generally accepted that brokers sold investors expensive funds for high commissions. While at DFA, I worked at changing this. Our ‘twin revolution’ advocated for lower cost funds, and commission free advice.  At first, people thought we were crazy, but it was a better form of investment advice and the market eventually responded. Now investors in the US, UK, Australia, and across Europe can access lower cost funds, and not pay a commission.

Today, we are looking at another revolution. 20th century capitalism was an exploitative enterprise because the market lacked information on the true costs to people and planet. But now investors are counting those costs and seeing risk in companies that aren’t. Forward thinking companies are seeing value in investing in their people and preserving natural resources. Both are increasingly focusing on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) issues. 21st century capitalism promises to be more balanced in the pursuit of a triple bottom line for people, planet and profits.

We founded Vert to enable investors to accelerate the transition to a more sustainable capitalism, and benefit from it as well.

I create investment solutions and educational resources for sustainability investors. I am the co-author, with Larry Swedroe, of Your Essential Guide to Sustainable Investing.

I have a BA from University of Colorado, Boulder and an MBA from UC Davis Graduate School of Management.