Jennifer Kenning, former director of wealth management and leader of impact investing at Aspiriant, will head up the new venture.

“Our clients are asking about social responsibility with increasing frequency yet there are far too many choices and complexities in the impact investment space for most RIAs to stay on top of,” said Rob Francais, chief executive of Aspiriant. “We decided to join forces with Abacus to have a dedicated team that specializes in impact and will know exactly what a client means when they ask about ‘stranded carbon’ or ‘social impact bonds.’”

Once clients become assured that their basic wants and needs are secure, they often look for meaning and purpose, said Brent Kessel, CEO of Abacus Wealth Partners and Align.

“Couple that with the giant shift of investment capital towards women and Millennials, both of whom care deeply about social issues, and it’s clear that offering impact advisory services is the next evolution for the financial planning industry,” Kessel added.

Abacus Wealth Partners says it is a carbon-neutral company and donates over 5 per cent of profits to charity each year. The firm has six locations - five in California and one in Pennsylvania.

Aspiriant has offices in Los Angeles, CA, San Francisco, CA, New York, Boston, MA, Minneapolis, MN, Milwaukee, WI, Cincinnati, OH, and Orange County, CA, with $8 billion in assets under management and advisement.