Aspiration Breaks Open Access to Sustainable Investing Category, Dropping Minimum Investment in ESG Fund REDWX to $100

LOS ANGELES, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Aspiration, the online financial firm focused on the intersection between making money and making a difference, announced today it is lowering the minimum investment for its innovative Aspiration Redwood Fund (REDWX) from $500 to $100.  Over the past year, REDWX has been the highest performing sustainable large cap fund in America, according to Bloomberg and the U.S. Sustainable Investment Forum.¹ It has been in the top 1% of all large cap funds in terms of returns.² Now, this industry-leading fund offers the lowest minimum investment and fee among similar ESG funds along with Aspiration's revolutionary Pay What Is Fair fee structure and unique commitment to donate 10% of all earnings to charitable causes. 

REDWX is innovating as a retail investment vehicle by mirroring the Sustainable Standards Board (SASB) materiality map, a rubric that details intersections between ESG issues (environment, social, and governance) and eight different sectors including healthcare, transportation, and technology.  Subadvised by UBS Asset Management and available exclusively at Aspiration.com, the fund uses the SASB rubric to identify companies whose value will appreciate over time in relation to their competitors.  The fund was launched in November of 2015 and returned more than 32.34% over the last year.³ Thus far in 2017, it has ranked in the top 1% for performance in the Large Blend Morningstar category.⁴

"The Aspiration Redwood Fund embodies Aspiration's mission to do well by doing good. With this move of expanding access to the fund, all investors have the option to do both," said Andrei Cherny, CEO of Aspiration. "There has been huge growth in the amount of capital flows to sustainable investment, almost all from high-net-worth individuals and institutional investors. We are expanding access to the Aspiration Redwood Fund to democratize sustainable investment so that everyday investors are not on the sidelines."

Aspiration was launched in 2014 with a mission to bring fairness and high quality financial products to all investors, offering a Pay What Is Fair model for its investment, IRA and checking account products.  When investing in REDWX, individuals are provided with an opportunity to choose the fee they wish to pay Aspiration and the fund's management, with the option of paying 0%. Over 85% of Aspiration customers choose to pay a fee of their choice.⁵  The fund caps operating expenses paid to third parties at 0.5% and Aspiration donates 10% of all revenue from its investment products to micro-loans designed to help struggling Americans transform their own lives.

"Once investors were told they had to choose between returns and making conscientious investing decisions. The success of the Aspiration Redwood Fund is proving that this need not be the case," said Cherny. "Research shows that today's best businesses grow sustainably over the long term through socially conscious practices such as lowering energy bills and promoting workplace diversity. Thus far we have seen the performance of the Aspiration Redwood Fund bear this out."

¹ According to U.S. Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment, Aspiration's Redwood Fund was ranked #1 in average one-year performance compared to 49 sustainable equity large cap funds analyzed, from 29-Feb-2016 to 28-Feb-2017, which is the most current ranking data available.
² The fund received a one-year top 1% ranking from Morningstar based on a comparison of 1,380 funds within Morningstar's Large Blend category. The fund's rating was based on one first year total return performance from 31-Mar-2016 to 31-Mar-2017.
³ Please see the performance taking into account the maximum assumed contribution reduction on the standard performance chart. 
⁴ The fund received a one-year top 1% ranking from Morningstar based on a comparison of 1,380 funds within Morningstar's Large Blend category. The fund's rating was based on one first year total return performance from 31-Mar-2016 to 31-Mar-2017.
⁵ According to Aspiration internal data.

About Aspiration
Aspiration is a financial firm with a conscience, with the mission of democratizing access to high quality banking and investment products. By allowing its customers to pay what they think is fair, donating 10% of every dollar earned to charity, offering sustainable banking and investing options and bringing high quality financial products to all, Aspiration is improving the financial industry and changing it for the better. Aspiration's bank account was named "Best Checking Account in America" by Money magazine. Aspiration Fund Adviser, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aspiration Partners Inc., is registered with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Visit www.aspiration.com for more information on Aspiration and visit funds.aspiration.com/redwood for more details on the Aspiration Redwood Fund.

One year performance returns and rankings referenced are based on one year total return ending March 31, 2017 without assuming the maximum Pay What is Fair Contribution.  For more details, please refer to the important disclosures below.

Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Investment return and principal value of an investment in the Fund will fluctuate so that an investor's shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted. To obtain more current performance data regarding the Fund, including performance data current to the Fund's most recent month-end, please visit aspiration.com or call the Fund at (800) 683-8529. Fee waivers and expenses reimbursements have positively impacted Fund performance.

⁶ The Fund's inception date was November 16, 2015 for the Investor Class Shares.

⁷ The Advisor has entered into a contractual agreement (the "Expense Limitation Agreement") with the Trust, on behalf of the Fund, under which it has agreed to waive or reduce its fees and to assume other expenses of the Fund, if necessary, in amounts that limit the Fund's total operating expenses (exclusive of interest, taxes, brokerage commissions, borrowing costs, fees and expenses of other investment companies in which the Fund invests, and other expenditures which are capitalized in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and other extraordinary expenses not incurred in the ordinary course of the Fund's business) to not more than 0.50% of the average daily net assets of the Fund for the current fiscal period. The current term of the Expense Limitation Agreement remains in effect until January 31, 2018. While there can be no assurance that the Expense Limitation Agreement will continue after that date, it is expected to continue from year-to-year thereafter.

⁸ Contribution reduction assumes a maximum 2% management fee.

An investment in the Fund is subject to investment risks, including the possible loss of some or the entire principal amount invested. There can be no assurance that the Fund will be successful in meeting its investment objective. Investment in the Fund is also subject to the following risks: Market Risk, Management Risk, Derivatives Risk, Futures Risk, Leverage Risk Associated with Financial Instruments, Focused Investment Risk, Foreign Investing Risk, Limited Capitalization Risk, Temporary Defensive Positions, New Fund Risk. The use of futures contracts may cause the value of the Fund's shares to be more volatile. There is a risk that investing in a select group of securities could subject the fund to greater risk of loss and could be considerably more volatile than the fund's primary benchmark or other mutual funds that are diversified across a greater number of securities. More information about these risks can be found in the Fund's prospectus.

An investor should consider the investment objectives, risks, and charges and expenses of the Fund before investing. The prospectus contains this and other information about the Fund. A copy of the prospectus is available at funds.aspiration.com or by calling Shareholder Services at 800-683-8529. The prospectus should be read carefully before investing. Current and future holdings are subject to change and risk.

Aspiration Fund Adviser, LLC is the adviser to the Aspiration Redwood Fund, which is distributed by Capital Investment Group, Inc., Member FINRA/SIPC, 100 E. Six Forks Road, Suite 200, Raleigh, North Carolina 27609, (800) 773-3863. There is no affiliation between Aspiration Fund Adviser, LLC, including its principals, and Capital Investment Group, Inc. Serial number RCASP0417002.

Media Contact: Natalie Rix, 310-246-9530, [email protected]

SOURCE Aspiration

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