Genus Capital Management

Keeping a smaller environmental footprint cuts two ways for investment management firm Genus Capital. The first is that the company, which manages $1.5 billion in assets and prides itself on sustainable investment solutions, delivers on its mandate of combatting global warming and moving away from fossil fuels. “At the same time, we're a for-profit business, so we need to be making money for our investors,” says Mike Thiessen, partner and director of sustainable investments.

Then there's the matter of the Vancouver outfit practising what it preaches. To that end, Genus subsidizes public transit for its 34 employees, gives them up to $500 a month toward buying electric vehicles, calls a Leed-certified building home and subscribes to Toronto-based green energy retailer Bullfrog Power.

We have sustainability integrated everywhere, and we've found

that, in the future, companies that are more sustainable are going to be more stable financially,” Thiessen says. “We've done some research to show that's already happened over the last five years.”