By Paula DeLaurentis June 2025
When Christian Stearns talks about money, he doesn’t just mean dollars and cents. For the Conte Wealth Advisors financial planner and former Air Force pilot, investing is inseparable from purpose. “I’ve never been able to do a job without feeling there was a greater mission involved,” he shared in a recent interview with Equities.com.
With a background spanning environmental education, government service at HUD, international sustainability consulting in New Zealand, and a decorated military career, Stearns brings a rare level of personal alignment to his work. Today, he specializes in helping clients reflect their personal values—whether environmental, social, or faith-based—through thoughtful financial planning and investment management.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Paula DeLaurentis: You’ve had a truly mission-driven career—from the Air Force to HUD to international sustainability work. How did that path lead you into financial planning?
Christian Stearns: After retiring from both the military and HUD, I returned to Florida to care for my parents, both of whom had Alzheimer’s. I needed a career that allowed flexibility but still aligned with my passion for sustainability. A friend who was a financial advisor opened my eyes to the potential of finance as a force for positive change. I realized quickly that the private sector would be essential to solving the kinds of sustainability issues I worked on in the public sector.
At first, I joined a firm focused on military and federal retirees—but they weren’t offering anything around values-based or sustainable investing. So I earned my CFP designation, joined Cambridge as my broker-dealer/RIA, and began shaping my practice around ESG and impact investing.
PD: How do you approach values-based investing with your clients?
CS: I see investing as becoming a part-owner in a business. So I ask: Do you agree with how that business treats its employees? Its community? The environment? For me, values-based investing isn’t about pushing my beliefs onto clients. It’s about uncovering their values and making sure their portfolio reflects them.
I had one client who spent weekends planting trees, volunteering with environmental charities. When we reviewed his holdings, we realized some companies he was invested in were actively harming forests. That disconnect hit home. If your investments are working against your values, it undermines everything else you're trying to do.
PD: What tools do you use to bring that alignment to life?
CS: A big part of it is First Affirmative Financial Network. They’ve partnered with YourStake to offer what I think are some of the most advanced mindful investing portfolio construction tools out there. I use their AffirmativESG platform and the Values-Aligned Direct Index Solution to help create customized portfolios for clients based on over 50 impact preference categories—from fossil fuels and animal rights to renewable energy and corporate behavior.
Within AffirmativESG, I can choose between strategies like the Custom Sustainable Investment Solution, multi-manager accounts, or managed mutual funds. That kind of flexibility allows me to build truly client-specific portfolios that reflect not just financial goals but deeper impact goals as well.
PD: So many advisors avoid these conversations. Why do you think that is?
CS: Part of it is education. Advisors often wait until the product conversation to ask, “Do you want to sustainably invest?” But that’s too late. It has to start in the planning conversation—when you're talking about goals and values.
Money’s just a resource. I always tell clients, “I’m not here to grow the biggest stack of money—I’m here to help you meet your goals.” If your goal is to do good in the world and you’re invested in companies that contradict that, there’s a clear disconnect.
PD: Conte Wealth Advisors has a high-touch, personalized model. How do you balance ethical responsibility with long-term performance?
CS: I’ve found that when clients believe in what they own, they’re more likely to stay invested during downturns. That’s one of the most important factors in long-term performance.
There’s also data showing companies with strong sustainable investment practices often outperform over time. If you treat your employees, customers, and community well—and make products that solve real problems without causing harm—you’re probably going to succeed.
PD: What’s the biggest misconception you hear about values-based investing?
CS: That it’s politically driven. I really work to avoid the politics. Every client has values. My job is to discover theirs, not to project mine.
The real misconception is that mindful investing is about pushing an agenda. In truth, it's about providing more complete information. In capitalism, free and accurate information is essential. If investors knew a company was facing a billion-dollar environmental lawsuit, they’d likely avoid it. Sustainable investing data gives us tools to avoid those risks—while also supporting companies doing the right things.
PD: You’ve brought younger advisors into your practice. Are you seeing generational differences in how they approach this work?
CS: Yes—and no. Younger advisors often want to focus on sustainability, but many still don’t know how. Even students at universities built around sustainability lack a clear understanding of how values-based investing works in practice.
That said, younger advisors are more focused on relationships. They see themselves as educators or life coaches—not just asset managers. They’re experimenting with subscription models and looking for ways to serve clients who might not have much to invest yet. The challenge is making that approach financially viable in an industry still largely built around AUM-based fees.
PD: You come from a military and government background. How has that shaped your perspective as a financial advisor?
CS: In the military and at HUD, everything was driven by mission. That’s how I approach my work today—I need to feel there’s a purpose behind what I’m doing.
That mindset resonates with many of my clients, especially those from military backgrounds. They want to make sure their money is aligned with their values. For them, this isn’t about political statements—it’s about mission alignment.
PD: Looking ahead, what’s your vision for Conte Wealth Advisors’ role in advancing values-driven advising?
CS: My hope is that more advisors within the firm start having these conversations. As tools improve and client demand grows, the impact piece becomes more tangible.
There are different levels of this work—from simple screens to full-blown impact strategies. I’d love to see us move toward showing clients the actual outcomes their investments are supporting. That’s when values-based investing becomes real—not just a product, but a force for change.
- Christian Stearns
- Oct 28, 2021
- 4 min read
Updated: Jun 10
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. and NEW YORK, Oct. 20, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- First Affirmative Financial Network and YourStake today announced a historic first: a direct index solution with data-driven Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) customization down to the company equity level, along with tax loss harvesting, and benchmark flexibility. The new Values Aligned Direct Index Solution (VADIS) is now available to independent advisors who were previously shut out of direct index solutions by both cost and minimum investment requirements. The Values-Aligned Direct Index Solution allows more investors than ever before to align their dollars with the impact they want to see in the world, down to the individual company equity to include or exclude.
Through this partnership, investors and independent advisors can now benefit from YourStake's proprietary NoScore ESG data to help power portfolio optimization and customization in a direct index offering -- including automated tax loss harvesting capabilities and benchmark flexibility -- at the lowest possible cost, and with First Affirmative's hallmark active proxy voting and advocacy programs to vote investors' shares in alignment with their values.
"This is a big deal," said Theresa Gusman, Chief Investment Officer of First Affirmative. "I've wanted to bring this level of customization, accessibility and transparency to more advisors and their clients since I joined First Affirmative. YourStake's tools and data are a crucial piece of the offering, and together, we have the partnerships, structure and tools to make it happen, at a lower cost than any other solution available to our clients."
The joint First Affirmative-YourStake Values Aligned Direct Index Solution takes direct aim at the greenwashing and misinformation so prevalent in the industry by providing advisors and asset managers with a data-driven ESG approach designed to help drive transparent conversations about impact investing with their clients. Features include:
Add tax alpha to client portfolios: Clients have the ability to capitalize on tax loss harvesting opportunities and defer capital gains.
Personalized Client Value Alignment: Client onboarding tools are designed to identify a client's "ESG Personality Type" via the first-ever Myers-Briggs style questionnaire for impact investing.
Benchmark flexibility: Advisors can work with their clients to determine an appropriate and customized benchmark or risk profile for their portfolio.
Evidence-driven NoScore ESG Screens: Dynamic, personalized "NoScore ESG" screens for funds and individual stocks leverage transparent data from more than 100 independent sources that meet global regulatory standards.
Portfolio Optimization: Trading and rebalancing tools, powered by Orion with oversight from First Affirmative, use the client's personalized ESG screens to create tax-managed SMA portfolios, customized down to the individual company equities to include or exclude.
Back-end Support: Support from First Affirmative's multi-custodian back-office and investment teams.
Dynamic, Real-World Reporting: YourImpact Metaphor Metrics translate back-end ESG screens into real-world examples of investment impact tailored to clients' and prospects' preferences. Advisors and their clients may access an individualized YourStake impact performance report using their Orion portal, in addition to a traditional performance report.
"We have seen major trends toward advisors seeking direct indexing ESG solutions, and it's an honor to partner with such a visionary team and pioneer in the impact investing space," said Gabe Rissman, co-founder and president of YourStake. "This solution enables us to reach more advisors to help demystify traditional ESG scoring and avoid common problems like greenwashing or misinformation. Paired with First Affirmative's robust portfolio construction, analytics and back-end support, our hope is to inspire more meaningful and actionable conversations between advisors and their clients."
"We've knocked a zero off the typical minimum investment of direct index solutions, so that a larger universe of investors can take advantage of the tax management and benchmark flexibility afforded by a direct index solution, but still aligned to their ESG values," said George Gay, First Affirmative CEO and founder.
"SRI used to be an industry of less bad/close enough. Now an individual client can eliminate what they consider to be bad and get very close to exactly what they want, rather than 'close enough.' Today we're making the benefits of direct index solutions available to a much bigger pool of investors to align their dollars with the impact they want to see in the world," Gay added.
For more information, visit: https://www.firstaffirmative.com/values-aligned-direct-index-solution/
About YourStake:
YourStake is a platform that equips asset managers and financial advisors with all of the tools, data, and reporting metrics they need to make sustainable investing more meaningful and accessible for their clients.
Creator of the ESG Personality Type, YourStake pairs 100+ independent ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) metrics with personalized client values to create custom investment solutions. Performance analytics are transformed into real-world impact scenarios via ESG Metaphor Metrics, giving advisors the confidence and trust needed to have deep-dive conversations about ESG.
Founded in 2018, YourStake serves firms representing over $250b in client assets and is a Public Benefit Corporation. For more information, visit www.yourstake.org
About First Affirmative:
Since 1988, First Affirmative has been helping financial advisors and their clients create investment solutions designed to meet both financial and impact goals. First Affirmative's unmatched institutional grounding in this ecosystem allows them to deploy the fundamental research, quantitative techniques, portfolio construction and management methodologies to deliver outcome-oriented SRI and ESG investment solutions. First Affirmative is proud to have adopted the highest standards as an investment fiduciary. First Affirmative is a Certified B Corp and was honored as a "Best for the World" Company in 2019 by B Lab, the parent organization for Certified B Corps.
SOURCE First Affirmative Financial Network
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- Christian Stearns
- Jun 25, 2020
- 1 min read
Updated: Mar 7, 2022
Christian Stearns Speaks at Babcock Ranch about including Sustainable Investments into your portfolio.