Broadcasting, writing, life-coaching and speech-making: there seems to be no end to the talents of Harry and Meghan. But now the Sussexes have announced their hitherto unknown ambition to be ‘ethical bankers’, alongside their existing gigs as occasional podcasters, exiled royals and infrequent guests on various Oprah shows.
With all their talk of ‘finding freedom’ abroad, Mr S never realised Wall Street was what Harry and Meghan had in mind
In prose worthy of the Pyongyang press, the couple revealed in a fawning New York Times interview that they are joining Ethic, a fintech asset manager in the fast-growing environmental, social and governance space, as ‘impact partners’ and investors. The firm has $1.3 billion (£1 billion) under management and creates separately managed accounts to invest in socially responsible themes. As the NYT gushes: ‘Harry and Meghan can make E.S.G investing part of pop culture in a way that, say, BlackRock’s Larry Fink can’t.’
With all their talk of ‘finding freedom’ abroad, Mr S never realised Wall Street was what Harry and Meghan had in mind. The Duchess of Sussex, a former Hollywood star, is quoted as saying: ‘From the world I come from, you don’t talk about investing, right? You don’t have the luxury to invest. That sounds so fancy’ adding ‘My husband has been saying for years, ‘Gosh, don’t you wish there was a place where if your values were aligned like this, you could put your money to that same sort of thing?’
Presumably that money will include the millions in royal funds, accrued over centuries, which Prince Charles happily gave his son up until last year. Fortunately for those who fear for the Sussexes’ all-too-precarious finances, Ethic tripled its assets under management in the past year, with its founder Jay Lipman claiming that clients can make just as much money with them as those putting money into more traditional portfolios including oil and tobacco companies. Heart-warming stuff!
Lipman adds that Ethic welcomes ‘hippies’ to invest with, because he and his team consider themselves hippies too. Who better than to join his team than Harry, Meghan and their right-on corporate brand of speaking their truth?
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