Tom Chancellor has spent most of his adult life helping people. Through it all, he has maintained an unwavering love of the outdoors. As a member of The Nature Conservancy, he understands the benefits of conservation and has carried the concept of sustainability to the boardroom. Born and raised in Fort Worth, Tom earned a B.A. from the University of Texas in Austin and followed that with a master’s in Social Work from UT-Arlington. After a distinguished 25-year career as a social worker, Tom launched his life’s second act, becoming a certified financial planner. In the years since, he has strived to find ways to profit for his clients while investing with a clear conscience. Having watched as the business community slowly adapted in the face of shifting realities, he has proved that financial success and environmental responsibility are no longer mutually exclusive.

“I’ve always loved nature. I can remember being five years old and really getting a kick out of putting a grapefruit seed in some dirt in a coffee cup and watching it sprout a little tree. I was probably the only kid in school that actually liked mowing the yard.

“In 1970, I helped organize the first Earth Day on my college campus at Midwestern. That process made me aware that there were issues with out planet and unless we addressed them, they would only worsen. At the time, people seemed to genuinely think we could support infinite growth, infinite use of resources, and infinite dumping of waste into the ecosphere on a finite planet floating in space. Now we have a growing awareness of the need to develop alternative energy sources that free us from dependence on foreign sources and are not damaging to the environment. There’s growing awareness of the demand and availability of water. And I think there’s even a growing awareness of social stewardship, of companies that have good relationships with their employees and with the communities.

“I spent an awful lot of my adult life thinking that passions for nature and helping people might be almost intrinsically at odds with making money. About ten years ago I really started thinking seriously about going into financial services and realized that I could align my interests in helping people, protecting the environment and doing business. Back then, the choices for environmentally-sustainable or socially-constructive investing were very limited. You could do a lot of research and try to find companies that you felt were consistent with your values, but it wasn’t easy and wouldn’t yield much.

“That’s changed. There are studies showing that socially responsible investing is growing faster than any other segment of the financial services world. There’s a realization in today’s economy that responsible companies are less of an investment risk because they pose less of a litigation risk, and conversely, offer increased production. Investors can choose from a growing selection of exchange-traded funds, which are packages of stocks or stocks and bonds that are based on indexes that were created to reflect environmentally-sustainable industry groups. Companies are rated on a variety of factors such as environmental sustainability and employee and community relations. The companies within the index are those completely and inclusively invested in the development of solar or hydrogen power, ones involved in the production and delivery of clean water or companies participating in environmental remediation. Regardless, the ones that score the best have the largest participation in the index. Exchange-traded funds are just one of a number of ways to invest sensibly and with a clear conscious.

“To me, the conservation of our natural world is absolutely critical. There are few social or political issues today that are more important. As a financial advisor with the responsibility to help people guide their investments into the future, it makes sense to me that companies that are more likely to be successful financially in the future will be companies that have a similar outlook.

Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Photo courtesy of Tom Chancellor (Tom Chancellor)