Matthew Patsky, CEO, Trillium Asset Management LLC

Trillium Asset Management has a unique investment approach;  we listen, collaborate and work with  investors to invest in what is important to them. “You sit down and think about, how can I have a positive impact with my investment portfolio that aligns with who I am, my values, and what impacts I want to have in the world,” says Matthew Patsky, CEO of the Boston-based investment management firm.

What’s your assessment of the current landscape for wealth management here in Boston?

Our practice in wealth management is narrowly focused on those looking to invest in alignment with their values. That particular area of wealth management is very robust and growing. 

We’re seeing growth in our area, and we’re picking up market share. Overall, it is an acknowledgment of the impact of your investment dollars and understanding that you can have returns necessary for your financial needs and have a positive impact in alignment with your values. Those two can go hand-in-hand.

What values are your clients looking to be represented through their investments?

Our clients share many values around addressing climate change and social justice issues broadly. With that said, I would say there is a renewed sense to defend democracy and a need to protect access to necessary healthcare, particularly access to reproductive healthcare for women, which is now under threat throughout the United States. 

How has the acquisition of Perpetual Limited impacted your operations? 

The acquisition of Trillium by Perpetual has given us global reach. We’re seeing increased activity in Europe as well as a lot of interest coming from Asia, particularly out of Japan and Singapore. The opportunity revolves around expanding our footprint globally.

Perpetual launched us in fund form in Australia, which was successful. We now seek a better position and expand in the U.S. To that end, we’ve made a robust effort now to better market our strategies on all of our platforms. . We’re close to being on every major platform. Trillium strategies are offered through Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, UBS, LPL, and Raymond James. 

How are you managing to do specific and personalized advisory?

Our wealth management practice, which is the core of who we are and what we started in 1982, has always been highly customized to the individual. We’ve not needed to pivot there. 

We need to continue to customize for the specific values and needs of the client. Understanding the client’s values is critical. The size of the portfolio, their ability to take different levels of risk, and their particular focus areas for trying to have a positive impact in the world is important for us to understand. 

We have clients who will have customized access. We’ll do customized portfolios in, for example, community development, finance institutions, and CDFIs that are focused in their region on specific issues they care about, in addition to building the rest of the portfolio to be in alignment with their values. That’s a part of the service we offer, and in addition, trying to build that asset allocation across all asset classes.

How has Trillium’s investment approach evolved and how are you addressing your client’s concerns about the current economic environment?

Well, market volatility is a reality. If a client has no tolerance for market volatility, we try to avoid it. For those who say they can’t take that volatility, then the public markets are not the place to put money. 

There’s a measure of ability to tolerate that type of volatility that has to be done as part of the review with the client. We have had clients who’ve come in and we’ve said we’re not the right fit for you. What you’re looking for is certificates of deposit (CDs) with the bank. 

If you’re trying to have a positive impact with CDs at a bank, our recommendation is that you bank with a local community bank. Then you know the money is being used locally. Most community banks have a fairly straightforward business model of taking in deposits from the community and putting the money back to work in the community, loans to small businesses, and loans for mortgages in the community. 

But for those who can and should, because of the number of assets, tolerate the volatility, we certainly go through the expected volatility that they should expect to see in the public markets and the fixed-income markets and build the portfolio accordingly that’s suited to that client.

We’re building portfolios for the long term. We have low turnover. We’re trying not to create huge tax consequences. We are building with a three-to-five-year time horizon and are not trying to time and trade the market, which can be incredibly difficult to do, but also incredibly painful in terms of tax consequences. That’s not our style. We are more of a buy-and-hold. I would say we have more of a conservative style of how we manage money for our clients.

How are you managing the hybrid model, return to the office policies, and how are you creating a great workplace culture for your team?

We returned to work with a ‘work from where you work’ best policy. There are  employees who come in a few times a month and some who are in every day. Trillium has offices in Boston and San Francisco. 

The patterns told us we didn’t need the office in Portland, Oregon, so we closed that office. But we are focused on trying to create a great environment in the office for the locations in Boston and San Francisco, where there is a fear of missing out, that there’s enough going on and enough activity here that people are drawn to wanting to be in the office regularly.

There’s an ability to collaborate with your colleagues much easier when you’re in person. We’ve moved to a new platinum LEED-certified location here in Boston. There’s an amenities floor where we have a gym, a cafeteria, conference room space, a coffee bar, and a full bar that opens at 4:30 p.m. It’s creating an environment where people do want to come in more often.

What are your top priorities moving forward? 

Trillium is positioned to be the go-to firm for any investor, institutional or individual, account looking for alignment of values and having a positive impact on the way they invest. 

I think my goal is to get to the point where Trillium is the go-to firm globally. I believe we are a go-to firm right now in the United States. In the next three to five years, I’d like to see that we are top of mind, no matter where you are in the world and understand that your investment portfolio aligns with your values and what impacts you want to have in the world.