First Affirmative Financial Network

First Affirmative provides a managed-account platform and investment strategies specifically for financial advisors who want to run client portfolios using environmental, social and governance screens. The firm also runs the annual SRI Conference, the longest-running gathering for sustainable and responsible investment professionals in the United States. It is not a household-name asset manager but rather an infrastructure provider for the values-aligned advisory community.

The firm combines proprietary screening — including fossil-fuel-free and weapons-free filters — with third-party manager selection. It also engages in direct shareholder advocacy, historically filing or co-filing proxy resolutions at public companies on behalf of client accounts. This hybrid approach means advisors using the platform get both a curated fund menu and active ownership tools.

First Affirmative is not a family office. It is an asset management and advisor-network firm structured around a managed-account platform, founded in 1988 to serve independent financial advisors. Unlike multi-family offices that aggregate HNW families, First Affirmative aggregates advisors who then serve their own end clients.

First Affirmative operates a managed-account platform rather than a traditional fund family. It constructs portfolios using a mix of direct security positions and external fund managers, all subject to its proprietary values screens. The firm has historically emphasized direct shareholder engagement — including proxy voting and resolution filing — as a core part of its toolkit.

First Affirmative owns and produces the SRI Conference, which has run annually for more than three decades. The conference is the operational and cultural hub for the firm's advisor network. While the conference has outgrown its Colorado origins — most recently meeting in San Diego — it remains the primary in-person gathering point for First Affirmative's community.

First Affirmative predates the ESG fund industry by roughly 15 years, and its model is structural rather than product-centric. Instead of launching retail funds, the firm built a platform that lets independent advisors apply its screens within separately managed accounts. This means end-client portfolios are not commingled in a 40 Act fund but rather held as individually managed accounts with direct proxy-voting rights, a structure that offers more granular client control.