By Brandon Miller—
If you’re reading this, you probably already think carefully about the choices you make, like where you shop, which businesses you support, and how you show up in your community. You’re intentional about a lot of things, because you care (even on days when it feels easier to look away).
But here’s something most people don’t realize: Your money is never neutral. It’s always building, supporting, and endorsing, whether you’re paying attention or not.
In traditional investing, your money flows through standard mutual funds or ETFs, where it’s automatically spread across hundreds of companies—some doing incredible work, others potentially working against everything you believe in. And most investors never even see which companies they’re funding.
So, the real question isn’t whether your money reflects values. The question is: whose values is it reflecting?
That’s where the Brio Pride Portfolio comes in. We created it for people who want their investments to quietly, consistently stand for what they believe in—no compromise, no apology, just alignment between what you care about and where your wealth actually goes.
Brio Pride Portfolio: A Different Structure Designed to Create More Control
Instead of buying a fund that bundles everything together, the Brio Pride Portfolio is built using a separately managed account (SMA) structure.
It was developed in collaboration with Ethic, Inc., a technology-driven asset manager that specializes in values-aligned investing. Their platform makes it possible to filter companies that do or don’t pass your vibe check while you own individual stocks directly.
Why does all of that matter? This isn’t about trying to beat the market or making short-term bets. You’re still invested across hundreds of companies and riding overall market growth, but the companies included are chosen with purpose and aligned with your values.
Your Values, Your Vision
There are two ways clients typically engage with the Brio Pride Portfolio.
Some choose Brio’s firm-built version, which reflects our company’s values. It’s shaped by the many LGBTQ+ individuals and allies we serve and is built around what we know matters: equality, inclusion, social justice, and corporate leadership that actually shows up for people. It’s ready to deploy and unapologetic about what it stands for.
Others want their portfolio to feel even more personalized to their specific values. For those clients, we build a fully customized Pride Portfolio from the ground up. Through a short values questionnaire and real conversation, you identify what matters most to you (reproductive rights, climate action, gun reform, worker protections, whatever keeps you up at night), and Ethic, Inc., translates those priorities directly into investment decisions.
Your values become the filter. Your money becomes the statement.
And yes, you can still be diversified across hundreds of companies while also not funding, say, companies with a track record of discrimination. Turns out you don’t actually need every company in the S&P 500 to build wealth. Who knew?
The Tax Opportunity
There’s a persistent myth that investing with intention means giving something up financially. The Brio Pride Portfolio is designed to challenge that assumption.
Because the strategy remains broadly diversified, it participates in overall market growth just like a traditional portfolio would. And because clients own individual securities, the structure also allows for enhanced tax flexibility. If one company underperforms while others thrive, that position can be sold strategically to capture a loss without disrupting the broader allocation.
In other words, this isn’t about choosing between heart and head. It’s about using both.
Your Money Can Do More
One portfolio probably won’t change the world overnight. But capital, collectively deployed, absolutely shapes markets. Markets shape incentives. Incentives shape behavior. It’s not magic; it’s economics.
When significant assets consistently support companies that prioritize fairness, inclusion, and responsible governance, that matters. It reinforces standards and rewards progress.
You’ve worked incredibly hard to build your wealth. The Brio Pride Portfolio helps ensure that wealth is working just as hard to build the world you actually want to live in. Because here’s the thing: Caring about the world and growing your money were never mutually exclusion.
If you’re not yet working with Brio, this is exactly the kind of thing we do differently. We care about the whole picture: your wealth, your values, your life. Schedule a complimentary Make It Happen Meeting to learn more about the Brio Pride Portfolio and learn more about our values-based approach to financial planning.
This material presented by Brio Financial Group (“Brio”) is for informational purposes only and is not intended to serve as a substitute for personalized investment advice or as a recommendation or solicitation of any particular security, strategy, or investment product. Facts presented have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, however, Brio cannot guarantee the accuracy or completeness of such information, and certain information presented here may have been condensed or summarized from its original source.
For select clients, Brio has partnered with unaffiliated independent advisory firm Ethic to offer Brio’s Pride strategy to achieve clients’ ESG goals. Brio relies on Ethic for our primary research and fund screenings and primarily uses their metrics when constructing the portfolio. More information about our process and the criteria used by Ethic to construct the strategy is available upon request. The total fees to be charged, as well as the billing cycle information, will be detailed in Ethic’s ADV Part 2A and separate advisory agreement, to be signed by the client.
Brio does not provide legal or tax advice, and nothing contained in these materials should be taken as legal or tax advice. Advisory services are only offered to clients or prospective clients where Brio and its representatives are properly licensed or exempt from licensure. No advice may be rendered by Brio Financial Group unless a client service agreement is in place.
For more information about our advisory services and fees, please refer to our ADV brochure found at https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/
Brandon Miller, CFP®, is a financial consultant at Brio Financial Group in San Francisco, specializing in helping LGBT individuals and families plan and achieve their financial goals. For more information: https://www.briofg.com/
Money Matters
Published on February 26, 2026
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