Environmentally and
Are there any investments that your
Socially Responsible
conscience wouldn’t allow you to buy?
This is the question that financial
Inve$ting
representative, Brecc Avellar,
asks his clients at Avellar Stone
Houston & Associates, an independent
By Colleen Redman
full-service financial company.
Avellar, founder of the Floyd-based com-
pany, explains that most people have some

degree of interest in environmentally and
socially responsible investing once they
realize it’s an option. “It simply means
paying attention to the investments you
buy and why you buy them,” he says.
YOU CAN CHANGE THE WORLD
Both Avellar and Mitchell have
noticed that in today’s financial climate, BY THE WAY YOU INVEST IN IT.
more people are paying attention to their
investments. “Things have changed in the
last few years. People want a more person-
al one-on-one approach to their financial
planning,” notes Mitchell.
Avellar uses a planning approach
and takes the time to get to know client’s
interests and needs. When considering
investing in a company, he suggests that
responsible investors might ask: does the
company recycle, are they a good environ-
mental citizen, are they a good corporate
and global citizen, do they have good
labor management relations?
‘Why should I own Exxon when I can
own a share in a local start-up produce
company?’ Donna Douglas thinks that’s
a good question. When she inherited
stocks from her father in the 1980’s, she
investigated environmentally and socially
LET US SHOW YOU HOW
responsible investing and is currently a
client of Avellar Stone Houston and As-
sociates. “I think of money as energy and
201 East Main Street
I try to use my energy, in whatever form Suite 1 - Village Green
it comes in, to support what I want to see
Floyd, VA 24091
flourish in the world,” Douglas says.
Rick Parrish, another client, believes
Phone: 540-745-3574
that using his investment dollars in a
Toll Free: 866-846-1811
conscientious way is like casting a vote to
change the world for the better. “To focus
Fax: 540-745-5741
on short term profits at any cost is really just
www.virginiainvest.com
deferring the true cost of the harm caused
and shifting that cost onto present and
future societies. Fortunately, some in the in-
Securities through INVEST Financial Corporation,
vestment industry have figured this out and
member FINRA/SIPC. INVEST is not affiliated with
see the long term, sustainable wisdom of Avellar Stone, Houston & Associates, Inc.
socially responsible investing,” Parrish says.
October 2009
11
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