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We work with enterprise and mid-market employers — typically companies with 500 to 5,000 employees — that have active sustainability commitments and significant retirement plan assets. Our primary contacts are sustainability leaders (CSOs, ESG directors), people leaders (CHROs, VPs of Total Rewards and Benefits), and the financial decision-makers on the plan committee (CFOs, Treasurers). We also serve universities and other institutions with 403(b) plans.

Financed emissions are the greenhouse gas emissions embedded in the investments your company's retirement plan holds. Under the GHG Protocol, they fall under Scope 3, Category 15 — and for most non-financial companies, they represent the single largest source of carbon output. Research shows that the average U.S. 401(k) plan finances roughly 33 times more carbon emissions than the company emits directly through its own operations. Most sustainability reports don't account for this yet, which means there's likely a material gap in your Scope 3 disclosure.

We use our Financed Emissions Calculator (FEC), which analyzes the actual fund holdings in your retirement plan and calculates their carbon intensity using the Weighted Average Carbon Intensity (WACI) metric — tonnes of CO₂ per million dollars of revenue. The methodology is aligned with the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF) standard, the global framework for measuring and reporting financed emissions. The FEC can evaluate portfolios across more than 300,000 mutual funds and ETFs.

No. Investature works inside the plan you already have — whether it's administered by Fidelity, Empower, Vanguard, Alight, or another recordkeeper. We coordinate with your existing investment consultant if you have one. Nothing about your plan's administration, recordkeeping, or payroll integration needs to change.

Yes, when the financial analysis supports the recommendation — and that analysis is exactly what we provide. Under current Department of Labor guidance, plan fiduciaries may consider climate and ESG factors as part of their investment evaluation, provided the decision is grounded in financial materiality (the "pecuniary standard"). Every fund recommendation we make is screened first on risk-adjusted return, expense ratio, and performance history, then evaluated for carbon impact. Investature acts as a 3(21) investment fiduciary, meaning you retain final decision authority while we provide defensible, documented analysis for your plan committee.

The evidence says no. Sustainable fund alternatives are selected on a "double bottom line" basis — comparable or superior financial performance alongside lower carbon intensity. We screen fund swaps on matching risk profile, expense ratio, and historical return before evaluating emissions impact. Research from Morgan Stanley, NYU, and Morningstar has consistently shown that sustainable funds perform in line with or modestly ahead of conventional peers over medium- and long-term horizons. We document the financial case for every recommendation so your plan committee has the data it needs.

Most corporate emissions-reduction initiatives require capital expenditure — new equipment, facility upgrades, fleet conversions. Reallocating retirement plan investments into lower-carbon fund alternatives requires none of that. There's no new infrastructure, no operational change, and no divestment mandate. You're working within the plan you already fund, with assets that are already invested. That's why we call it a zero-CapEx path: it's a measurable reduction in your financed emissions without a line item on the capital budget.

Most employees care about sustainability — 88% of investors globally express interest in sustainable investing, and nearly all surveyed Gen Z (99%) and millennial (97%) investors say the same. But few know whether their own 401(k) offers sustainable options, and fewer still have the tools to act. Investature bridges that gap through education and our financial wellness platform, which gives employees a personalized view of their portfolio's carbon impact, a Green Score (0–800, graded A–F) that works like a credit score for environmental alignment, and guided recommendations to shift toward lower-carbon options within their existing plan. For employers, this translates into measurable benefits differentiation and a stronger talent retention story — particularly with younger workers, a third of whom have turned down a job offer over an employer's ESG record.

It starts with a conversation. We'll walk through a preliminary financed emissions assessment of your retirement plan to show you what your plan is currently financing and where the reduction opportunities are. From there, you can expand into fund recommendations, plan committee support, and employee education — at whatever pace works for your organization. There's no long-term contract required to begin. Click here to contact us.