Ethical investing, as part of a considered financial plan
Ethical investing means different things to different people. Our role is to help you understand the trade-offs, ask the right questions, and make informed choices that align with both your values and your financial goals.
In this short video, Carey explains how we think about ethical investing, and why it only makes sense when it sits inside a broader financial plan.
What ethical investing means (to us)
Ethical investing isn’t about applying a fixed set of rules or avoiding a standard list of companies. It’s about understanding how investments behave in the real world, how companies make money, and how those activities align with what matters to you over the long term.
At Moneyworks, ethical investing starts with careful analysis and clear thinking. We look beyond marketing labels and ESG scores to understand what sits underneath an investment - its business model, incentives, risks, and impacts. That includes where trade-offs exist and where claims deserve closer scrutiny.
We see ethical investing as an ongoing process rather than a one-off decision. Markets change, companies change, and expectations evolve. Our role is to help clients stay informed, ask better questions, and make considered decisions that remain aligned with both their values and their financial goals over time.
How it fits into financial planning
Ethical investing is not a separate strategy or an add-on to financial planning. It is one part of a wider conversation about what your money needs to do for you over time, and how you want to engage with the world along the way.
At Moneyworks, ethical considerations sit alongside more familiar planning questions - your goals, timeframe, income needs, tolerance for risk, and the role your investments play in your overall financial position. Values matter, but they don’t replace financial reality. They inform the choices made within it.
This means ethical preferences are explored in context. We look at how different approaches may affect diversification, risk, costs, and long-term outcomes, and we talk openly about the trade-offs involved. For some clients, ethical considerations play a central role. For others, they are one of several factors to balance.
Because financial planning is ongoing, these conversations don’t happen just once. As circumstances change, markets evolve, and new information becomes available, ethical investing decisions are revisited and refined as part of the broader planning process.
In this way, ethical investing becomes integrated, practical, and sustainable - supporting both your financial goals and the way you want your money to be invested over time.
How we approach ethical investing in practice
Our approach to ethical investing is deliberately practical and evidence-based. We start with education, because informed decisions lead to better outcomes than relying on labels or assumptions.
We help clients understand the different ways ethical investing is implemented, including screening, active ownership, and engagement, and where each approach is genuinely effective - and where it can fall short. We also spend time unpacking common terminology, so clients are clear on what concepts like ESG, sustainability, impact, and stewardship actually mean in practice.
From there, we assess investments by looking at how companies operate, how they are governed, how risks are managed, and how incentives are structured. This includes examining claims of “doing good” alongside financial fundamentals, rather than treating ethics and returns as separate conversations.
Importantly, we do not treat ethical investing as static. We review investments regularly, challenge assumptions, and adjust as new information becomes available. That ongoing scrutiny is a core part of how we help clients avoid greenwashing and remain aligned with both their values and long-term financial objectives.
What ethical investing can and can't do
Ethical investing is often talked about as if it offers simple answers to complex problems. In reality, it is a framework for making more considered investment decisions - not a guarantee of perfect outcomes.
What ethical investing can do
Ethical investing can help align your investments with your values, by reducing exposure to activities or behaviours you are uncomfortable supporting. It can improve transparency by encouraging closer scrutiny of how companies operate, how they are governed, and how they manage environmental and social risks. Over time, it can also support better long-term decision-making, as companies that manage risks thoughtfully and adapt to change tend to be more resilient.
For many investors, ethical investing provides clarity - not just about where money is invested, but why.
What ethical investing can’t do
Ethical investing cannot remove uncertainty or risk. Markets will still fluctuate, companies will still disappoint, and no investment approach can guarantee superior returns or moral perfection. It also cannot solve global environmental or social challenges on its own. Investing is one influence among many - not a substitute for regulation, innovation, or policy change.
Perhaps most importantly, ethical investing is not a single, universal answer. Reasonable people will draw different lines, prioritise different issues, and reach different conclusions.
At Moneyworks, we approach ethical investing with realism rather than slogans - focusing on thoughtful analysis, clear trade-offs, and helping clients make decisions they can stand behind over time.
Moneyworks is a Certified B Corporation, reflecting our commitment to transparency, accountability, and long-term thinking in how we work with clients and the wider community.
Ethical investing involves more than labels or exclusions. These are the areas we help clients understand so they can make informed decisions.
With Carey’s advice, I’ve been able to focus on what matters most to me and prioritise both my financial and life goals. She remembers what I’ve said is important and brings me back to those priorities when I’m making big decisions, helping me stay aligned with how I want to live my life.
Carey understands that money isn’t the most important thing to me. She recognises that real life — including family, relationships, and everything else that matters — plays a central role in achieving my goals. Financial security is part of that picture, but not the whole.
She also recognises that success looks different for different people. Carey has helped me define what success means to me, and supports me to stay true to that definition over time.
Sue Watson - Waiheke
Moneyworks NZ Ltd
P: 0800 225 621
E: contact@moneyworks.co.nz
7c Hall Street, Cambridge 3434
Licensed Financial Advice Provider - FSP 15281
Regulatory Information: Moneyworks is a Licensed Financial Advice Provider (FSP15281), and AML Reporting Entity and is supervised by the Financial Markets Authority.