Your investments have power. You can invest in a way that supports the status quo, or you can use your investments to make a difference on issues ranging from climate change to data security, writes Janet Brown, who’s presenting at MoneyShow San Francisco.

Investors are increasingly focused on sustainable investing, which seeks to generate long-term financial returns while also making a positive impact. Sustainable investing has become one of the fastest-growing areas, accounting for one out of every five dollars under professional management in the U.S., according to the U.S. Forum for Sustainable Investment  (USSIF).

Sustainable Investing has come a long way from what was previously called socially responsible investing. There are sophisticated new investment strategies that are designed to help investors build wealth and a better world.

Many portfolio managers are using sustainability data as a way to manage risk. There are now hundreds of mutual and exchange-traded funds to choose from, with even index funds are getting into the game.

What’s more, sustainable investing performs just as well as conventional investing. A 2015 analysis of more than 2,000 studies conducted since the 1970s found a positive link between sustainability factors and good financial performance. Investors today don’t have to sacrifice performance to support the issues that matter to them.

So, how can you get started with sustainable investing? Start with mutual funds, which keep you diversified and have a team of analysts to determine which companies are doing the right thing.

You’ll want to look beyond funds that self-identify as sustainable funds. There are many “undiscovered” funds that invest in a sustainable way, but they don’t call themselves sustainable, responsible funds.

Remember to consider both a fund’s performance and its sustainability so that your investments can help you build wealth and support the issues that matter to you.  Sustainable, Responsible and Impact Mutual Fund and ETF Performance Chart.

As with any investing strategy, the key to long-term success is to have a disciplined strategy, use realistic assumptions, set your asset allocations and rebalance as necessary. You have power, and now is the time to use it.

--Janet Brown

Learn more about sustainable investing at MoneyShow San Francisco and my presentations there and at Women on Wealth August 23-24.

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