Beyond Investing

Beyond Investing

Beyond Investing operates as the investment adviser to the US Vegan Climate ETF, which trades under the ticker VEGN on the NYSE. The firm was co-founded by Claire Smith and Lee Coates, long-time proponents of ethical investing who sought to build a financial product mirroring the values of the vegan movement. The ETF tracks the Beyond Investing US Vegan Climate Index, a proprietary benchmark that starts with a universe of US large-cap companies and removes any business deriving revenue from animal agriculture, animal testing, fossil fuels, military contracting, or human-rights abuses. The fund formally launched in September 2019, aiming to offer a cruelty-free alternative to standard broad-market exposure. The strategy is purely passive once the screening overlay is applied. VEGN holds roughly 300 to 400 large-cap US equities, predominantly technology, financial, and consumer discretionary names that pass the vegan screen. The fund prohibits ownership of the typical agricultural, energy, and defense stocks that populate mainstream indices. The fee structure is low-cost and competitive with other thematic ESG ETFs. The product's largest positions have included Apple, Microsoft, and Visa — companies that survive the screen because their core businesses do not directly touch animal-based industries or fossil-fuel extraction. The firm's public profile is tightly linked to VEGN's market performance and the broader growth of values-based screening. Co-founder Claire Smith serves as the fund's primary spokesperson, representing the strategy at industry conferences and in media discussions about ethical investing. Beyond Investing does not publicly disclose its total assets under management, nor the number of professionals it employs. The firm's operational footprint remains small and closely held, with its identity inseparable from the single ETF it advises. Structurally, Beyond Investing differs from most ESG managers by using veganism as its sole ethical litmus test, rather than a broader environmental, social, and governance framework. This niche creates a product that appeals to a committed but narrow segment of retail and institutional investors who require their capital to avoid any economic link to animal exploitation. The firm's entire investment philosophy flows from a single, clearly defined negative screen — a focused mandate uncommon among thematic fund issuers.