Building a Legacy That Performs: 5-Steps to Creating Values-Aligned Impact Portfolios | Mark Hays (#092)

SRI360 | Sustainable & Responsible Investing, Impact Investing, ESG, Socially Responsible Investing

Today’s guest is Mark Hays, Director of Sustainable & Impact Investing at Glenmede — a firm managing $48 billion with a client-to-employee ratio that keeps conversations personal and strategy focused.
Mark’s journey into finance started early — running a lemonade stand to save up for a Sega Genesis and learning about markets through a third-grade stock project that didn’t go as planned. That early curiosity eventually led to a career spanning Cambridge Associates, OMERS, Flat World, and J.P. Morgan — where he became the firm’s first U.S. sustainable investing hire.
Now at Glenmede, Mark helps clients align their portfolios with their principles — not just in theory, but through tangible investments.
Glenmede offers investment management, wealth planning, fiduciary, and advisory services to high-net-worth individuals, families, endowments, foundations, and institutional clients.
It has $48 billion in assets under management, but keeps a 4-to-1 client-to-employee ratio and promises, in Mark’s words, “the experience of a $200 million family as a $10 million individual.” That approach means every client gets tailored advice, deeper conversations, and impact reporting that goes far beyond ESG scores.
Nearly 20 percent of AUM sits in strategies that fit Glenmede’s four-category investment taxonomy (Integrated, Mandated, Thematic, High-Impact Concessionary) and span almost every asset class.
Mark’s through-line is what he calls “sustainable prosperity” — the belief that helping those with the least doesn’t take away from others, but actually creates more opportunity and value for everyone.
At Glenmede, that vision shows up not only in where the money goes but in how clients are engaged. Mark and his team don’t just plug people into products — they guide multi-generational families through deep, often difficult conversations about values, legacy, and measurable impact.

That means starting with inquiry, moving through education, assessment, and implementation, and ending with real measurement — not in vague ESG scores, but in tangible results like gallons of water saved, emissions avoided, or communities reached.

Mark knows that impact is a moving target, but he also knows how to hit it: by staying curious, staying human, and staying honest about what money can and cannot do.
Tune in to hear how he turns that approach into measurable impact.

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Additional Resources:
🔹 Mark Hays LinkedIn
🔹 E-mail: [email protected]
🔹 Glenmede Website

🔹 2025 Market Outlook
🔹 As You Sow Website
🔹 See if your investments are sustainable with this free tool.

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SRI360 interviews mentioned:

🔹Andrew Behar: Ep 27
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Books mentioned:
🔹 “Speed & Scale: An Action Plan for Solving Our Climate Crisis Now,” John Doerr
🔹 “The Key Man: The True Story of How the Global Elite Was Duped by a Capitalist Fairy Tale,” Simon Clark

Chapters

1. Intro (00:00:00)

2. Mark’s early exposure to work ethic and money values (00:04:11)

3. Discovering investing through a stock project in third grade (00:06:51)

4. Learning about business through family and entrepreneurship clubs (00:09:43)

5. Insights from working at Cambridge Associates (00:11:35)

6. Joining OMERS and backing off-grid solar in South Africa (00:14:12)

7. Getting an MBA from the London Business School & joining Flat World Partners (00:19:48)

8. Mark’s Economics Before Impact philosophy (00:23:34)

9. Becoming the first US sustainable investing person in JP Morgan Asset Management (00:28:43)

10. Joining Glenmede and building a client-focused impact practice (00:34:58)

11. Glenmede – a high-level overview (00:37:28)

12. White glove customization (00:42:01)

13. Glenmede’s mission and theory of change (00:44:40)

14. Aligning multiple generations on investment goals (00:50:25)

15. 5-step client engagement process: Inquire, Educate, Assess, Implement, Measure (00:58:06)

16. Client impact reporting preferences (01:09:00)

17. Glenmede’s proprietary four-category taxonomy (01:11:08)

18. Sustainable Investing Advisory Council (01:17:25)

19. A comprehensive public equity impact fund analysis (01:20:14)

20. Glenmede’s approach to active ownership and engagement (01:34:49)

21. ESG backlash management (01:39:35)

22. Future trends and opportunities – 3 big themes (01:44:32)

23. Rapid fire questions (01:47:54)

24. Contact info (01:52:58)