People make sustainable choices every day. They support local businesses, recycle and seek products with a lower environmental impact. Investing, however, often becomes the exception, shaped by the assumption that sustainable portfolios offer weaker performance or require trade-offs.

EGÉA SRI, a fee-only fiduciary investment advisory firm specializing in sustainable, responsible and impact (SRI) investing, works to change that belief.

The firm builds customized ESG portfolios that reflect each client’s values while adhering to established investment principles, providing transparent, conflict-free guidance. Its advisors hold the Chartered SRI Counselor (CSRIC) designation from the College for Financial Planning, a credential held by fewer than 1 percent of financial advisors nationwide. This designation equips them with specialized training in sustainable investing, ensuring clients receive expert advice grounded in in-depth ESG knowledge rather than a general-market interpretation.

“People don’t see the power they hold as investors,” says Alex Papadopoulos, president. “Consumer choices matter, yet meaningful influence often sits in 401(k)s, IRAs and investment accounts. Those dollars help shape stock prices and companies pay attention. Part of our work is helping clients understand that long-term investments can reflect their priorities as clearly as everyday decisions.”

Papadopoulos’s practice has been shaped by decades of client demand. He began his career 25 years ago on the campus of Northwestern University, where investors were already seeking portfolios that aligned with their values. At the time, sustainable investment options were limited, and investors accepted that these choices might lag behind traditional benchmarks. Their commitment helped set the direction for his early work and built a client base that valued responsible investing long before it gained wider visibility. Today, investors can choose from thousands of sustainable mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), supported by improved research showing competitive performance and stronger resilience during market downturns.

Every client brings different priorities. Some focus on environmental impact, others on governance or labor practices. EGÉA begins by understanding those priorities and builds portfolios that reflect them. The firm uses ESG criteria to evaluate investments while keeping established financial principles, such as asset allocation, diversification and risk awareness, at the center. ESG serves as an additional layer of scrutiny rather than replacing fundamental principles.

EGÉA ensures its partners align with the standards clients expect. The firm monitors fund managers and third-party partners to ensure their strategies remain consistent with client goals and that sustainability claims hold up under scrutiny. It avoids situations where marketing overstates the impact of investments, a concern that continues to surface across the industry.

A practical example illustrates how values and planning can work together. A client approached EGÉA after being told by a major brokerage firm that building a fully sustainable retirement portfolio was impossible. The previous firm allowed only a small portion of the assets to follow sustainable criteria, believing a complete shift wouldn’t support the client’s retirement timeline. EGÉA offered a different view. After evaluating goals, risk comfort and retirement horizon, the team rebuilt the portfolio using sustainable assets across stocks and bonds. The client has since retired and now receives monthly income from those holdings. The portfolio includes vegan-focused investment options reflecting the client’s personal priorities, demonstrating how sustainability and retirement planning can work together when intentionally structured.

Sustainable investing means something different to each client, and EGÉA works to demonstrate how those preferences translate into specific holdings, how risk and return expectations align with those choices, and how portfolios evolve. As more investors seek ways to combine responsible behavior with sound financial planning, EGÉA offers guidance informed by long-standing practice and a conviction that investment dollars can create meaningful impact. Each portfolio demonstrates that clients can pursue competitive returns while directing capital toward the outcomes they want to support.