How much did Ethic raise with this deck?

According to the catalogue facts, Ethic raised a total of $98,800,000. This deck supported their journey as they scaled from their 2015 founding to becoming a major player in the sustainable asset management space.

What is the primary problem Ethic is solving?

Ethic targets the 'passive' nature of the $2.5 trillion index fund market. They argue that by buying the market, investors are inadvertently funding companies involved in rainforest pollution, tobacco, and firearms, as shown on Slide 3.

How does Ethic justify the performance of sustainable investing?

On Slide 4, the deck cites a Harvard Business School study by Eccles, Ioannou, and Serafeim (2013) that found a 4.8% annual outperformance for companies with a high culture of sustainability compared to those without.

What is missing from the Ethic pitch deck?

The deck is missing several standard components: a business model slide (how they make money), a competitor analysis, a detailed roadmap, financial forecasts, and a specific slide detailing the use of funds or the 'ask'.

Ethic Pitch Deck (2015): 8-Slide Breakdown

See all 8 slides of the Ethic pitch deck — a 2015 Series deck — with a slide-by-slide teardown of what the deck does well and where it falls short.

Ethic’s 8-slide pitch deck is a study in minimalism and emotional resonance. Founded in 2015, the New York-based tech-driven asset manager successfully raised $98,800,000 by identifying a massive disconnect in the $2.5 trillion passive investment market. The deck avoids the typical clutter of financial services presentations, opting instead for high-impact imagery and bold data points. It effectively bridges the gap between 'doing good' and 'doing well,' citing a 4.8% annual outperformance for sustainable companies. While the deck lacks traditional slides like a detailed business model, compe…

Key takeaways

The deck identifies a $2.5 trillion market currently 'passively' invested in standard indices on Slide 2.
Slide 3 uses visceral imagery of pollution, lung cancer, and firearms to illustrate the ethical cost of index investing.
Ethic presents a financial incentive for sustainability, citing a Harvard Business School study showing 4.8% annual outperformance on Slide 4.
The team slide (Slide 5) leverages massive brand equity from Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, BlackRock, and Fidelity.
Market momentum is demonstrated on Slide 6 with a bar chart showing sustainable assets under management reaching $6.6 trillion by 2014.
The product status is clearly defined on Slide 7 as being an SEC Registered Investment Advisor with a private beta live.
The deck completely omits a business model, pricing structure, or specific fundraising 'ask'.
The visual design is extremely consistent, using a limited color palette and minimal text to maintain focus on core messages.

The Minimalist Power of Ethic

Ethic’s pitch deck is an outlier in the world of fintech and asset management. Typically, decks in this sector are dense with regulatory disclosures, complex fee structures, and technical back-testing data. Ethic took the opposite approach. With only 8 slides, they focused on a singular narrative: the world of passive investing is broken, and there is a massive financial and moral opportunity in fixing it.

The company, founded in 2015 and headquartered in New York, positions itself as a tech-driven asset manager. Their goal is to allow investors to create separately managed accounts (SMAs) that track the market while aligning with specific sustainability criteria. The following teardown examines how they used a lean visual style to raise $98.8 million.

The Hook and the Problem (Slides 1-3)

Slide 1: Title The deck opens with a clean, blue background and the company logo. The tagline is simple: "Bringing sustainable investing mainstream." This sets the stage for a mission-driven pitch. The inclusion of an AngelList URL (angel.co/ethic) suggests this version of the deck was used during early-stage outreach or on a public-facing platform.

Slide 2: The Market Size Instead of a traditional TAM/SAM/SOM slide, Ethic uses a single, massive number: "$2.5 Trillion." The text at the bottom clarifies that this is the amount "passively invested in 'the market'." By putting the number in a large circle, they emphasize the scale of the opportunity. This is a classic 'big pond' opening—showing that even a small disruption in this space represents a significant business.

Slide 3: The Visceral Problem This is the most impactful slide in the deck. It defines 'the market' not as an abstract financial concept, but as a collection of real-world outcomes. It features three graphic images: an oil-covered bird (Chevron/Ecuador pollution), a lung cancer warning on a cigarette pack (Philip Morris), and an assault rifle (Smith & Wesson/San Bernardino). By linking passive index investing to these specific tragedies, Ethic creates a sense of urgency and moral friction. It moves the conversation from 'alpha' to 'ethics' instantly.

The Solution and Evidence (Slides 4-6)

Slide 4: The Financial Justification Ethic anticipates the primary objection to sustainable investing: that it leads to lower returns. They counter this with a bold claim of "4.8% annual outperformance." Crucially, they cite their source: a 2013 Harvard Business School study. This provides the 'intellectual cover' for institutional investors to move toward sustainability without violating their fiduciary duty to maximize returns.

Slide 5: The Team In fintech, the team is the product. Slide 5 features the three founders—Doug, Jay, and Johny—but the real weight comes from the logos below them. By displaying logos for Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, BlackRock, and Fidelity, Ethic signals that the founders aren't just 'activists'; they are industry insiders who understand the plumbing of Wall Street. This builds the trust necessary to handle millions (and eventually billions) of dollars in assets.

Slide 6: Market Momentum This slide uses a bar chart to show the growth of sustainable assets under professional management in the U.S. The chart shows a steady climb from 2003, culminating in a "$6.6 Trillion" figure for 2014. This proves that Ethic isn't trying to create a market from scratch; they are catching a massive, existing wave of capital reallocation.

Product Status and Vision (Slides 7-8)

Slide 7: The Offering This is the closest the deck gets to a product slide. It lists three core pillars: Globally diversified, Low-cost, and Value-based. Below these, it provides a crucial status update: "SEC Registered Investment Advisor" and "Private beta live." For a 2015 startup, being an SEC-registered advisor is a significant hurdle cleared, indicating that the company is ready for immediate operation.

Slide 8: Conclusion The deck ends as it began, with the logo and contact information. There is no 'ask' slide, no 'use of funds' breakdown, and no 'milestones' timeline. This suggests the deck was designed to be a conversation starter—a high-level narrative meant to secure a meeting where the technical details could be discussed in person.

What Works

Emotional Resonance: Slide 3 is a masterclass in using imagery to create a problem. It makes the status quo (passive indexing) feel unacceptable. · Credibility by Association: The team slide does not list titles or degrees; it simply lists the most powerful names in finance. This is highly effective for a Series-stage raise. · Simplicity: The deck contains fewer than 100 words in total. This ensures that the investor stays focused on the presenter (or the core message) rather than reading dense bullet points. · Data-Backed Claims: By citing Harvard Business School and S&P, the deck grounds its emotional appeal in rigorous academic and market data.

What is Missing

Business Model: There is no mention of how Ethic makes money. Do they charge a percentage of Assets Under Management (AUM)? Is it a SaaS fee for the technology? This is a major omission for a fundraising deck. · Competition: The deck ignores the existence of other ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) funds or robo-advisors. It positions Ethic as the only alternative to 'the market.' · Technology/Product Detail: The 'tech-driven' aspect of the asset manager is never explained. Investors don't see the platform, the algorithm, or the user experience. · The Ask: The deck does not state how much money is being raised or what the valuation expectations are. While common in 'teaser' decks, a full pitch usually requires a clear call to action.

What a Founder Should Copy

The 'Big Number' Opening: Start with the scale of the problem in a way that is impossible to ignore. · The 'Moral Friction' Slide: If your startup solves a problem with a social component, don't just describe the problem—show the human or environmental cost of the status quo. · Logo Soup for Credibility: If your team has worked at top-tier firms, let the logos do the talking. It creates an immediate 'halo effect' of professionalism. · Minimalist Design: Use a consistent color palette and high-quality typography. Ethic’s deck looks like a premium brand, which is essential when asking people to trust you with their money.

Frequently asked questions

How much did Ethic raise with this deck?: According to the catalogue facts, Ethic raised a total of $98,800,000. This deck supported their journey as they scaled from their 2015 founding to becoming a major player in the sustainable asset management space.
What is the primary problem Ethic is solving?: Ethic targets the 'passive' nature of the $2.5 trillion index fund market. They argue that by buying the market, investors are inadvertently funding companies involved in rainforest pollution, tobacco, and firearms, as shown on Slide 3.
Does the deck show the actual product interface?: No. The deck is entirely conceptual and narrative-driven. It describes the product as 'globally diversified, low-cost, and value-based' on Slide 7, but it does not include screenshots or technical architecture diagrams.
How does Ethic justify the performance of sustainable investing?: On Slide 4, the deck cites a Harvard Business School study by Eccles, Ioannou, and Serafeim (2013) that found a 4.8% annual outperformance for companies with a high culture of sustainability compared to those without.
What is missing from the Ethic pitch deck?: The deck is missing several standard components: a business model slide (how they make money), a competitor analysis, a detailed roadmap, financial forecasts, and a specific slide detailing the use of funds or the 'ask'.

Cover slide of the Ethic pitch deck — Series 2015 — Ethic pitch deck, slide 1 (2015)

Ethic pitch deck: the facts

Company: Ethic
Year: 2015
Stage: Series
Slides: 8
Sector: Asset Management / Fintech
Deck type: Pitch Deck
Outcome: $98,800,000 Raised
Headquarters: New York, United States

Ethic pitch deck PDF

The full Ethic deck is embedded on this page and can be read slide by slide in the browser — no download or account required. Each slide is covered in the breakdown above.

What the Ethic pitch deck was used for

This deck is an 8‑slide fundraising presentation from around 2015 for Ethic, a New York–based fintech asset manager that builds customizable, values‑aligned investment portfolios for advisors and institutions. It appears to have been used during the company’s early venture fundraising period (seed/early Series) before or around its first institutional round in 2018, to articulate the moral and financial friction in traditional passive index investing and Ethic’s differentiated, sustainability‑focused alternative. The lean deck reportedly supported a fundraising journey that ultimately led to roughly $100M+ of venture capital over multiple rounds, though the $100M figure refers to cumulative capital raised over time rather than a single round.

Business model: Tech-driven asset management platform that builds customized, tax-aware, values-aligned portfolios and infrastructure for financial advisors and institutions, focusing on sustainable and impact investing.

Investors: Not specifically disclosed for the 2015 raise; later disclosed investors across early rounds include Nyca Partners (seed
Founded: 2015
Founders: Doug Scott, Jay Lipman, Johannes (Johann) Laabs
Headquarters: New York, New York, United States
Industry: Asset management / fintech / sustainable investing

Round: Early venture stage (seed/early Series) preceding the publicly disclosed $6.8M October 2018 round.

Year: 2015 (deck date); first publicly disclosed external round followed in 2018.

Total funding: Approximately $163M raised since founding, including seed, Series A, Series B and later rounds through at least 2025.

Use of funds as presented: Later disclosures indicate Ethic used early capital to expand engineering, client service, and business development teams to scale its platform for RIAs and wealth managers, which likely aligns with the objectives of this 2015 deck even though exact 2015 use‑of‑proceeds language is not public.

What happened after the Ethic deck

Following its early fundraising period around 2015 (when this lean deck was used), Ethic went on to raise multiple institutional rounds—seed, Series A, Series B, and a significant 2025 round—building a sizable values‑aligned asset management and advisor infrastructure business with hundreds of millions of dollars in assets on platform and backing from major financial institutions and venture inves

Founded in 2015 as a sustainable investing–focused asset management platform.
Raised a $6.8M seed funding round in October 2018 led by Nyca Partners, with participation from Justin Rockefeller, Thir
Closed a $13M Series A round in July 2019 led by Nyca Partners, with investors including Fidelity Investments and Sound
Secured a $29M Series B round in 2021 led by Oak HC/FT, with participation from existing investors Fidelity, Nyca Partne
Raised a $64M round in 2025 led by State Street Global Advisors, bringing total funding to almost $163M since founding.

What the Ethic deck got right

Compelling problem framing around moral and financial friction of passive investing. Ethic’s overarching story, as later articulated by CEO Doug Scott and media coverage, frames a clear problem—the moral and financial friction of traditional passive index investing—and positions Ethic’s platform as a way to align portfolios with client values without abandoning financial rigor, turning a technical asset‑management concept into a narrative about ethics plus returns.
Clear platform positioning for advisors and institutions. By 2019–2021, Ethic was described as infrastructure that enables advisors to personalize portfolios across their entire book of business while accounting for financial, values‑based, and tax considerations at scale, indicating that the early deck’s focus on advisor‑oriented customization resonated with institutional investors.
Mission‑driven founding team with coherent long‑term vision. The company’s founding team, including CEO Doug Scott, is repeatedly highlighted in interviews and press for their focus on transparency, personalization, and values‑aligned investing, which likely came through in the 2015 deck and helped investors see a mission‑driven but commercially minded leadership group.
Narrative translated effectively for institutional investors. Subsequent funding from Nyca Partners, Fidelity, Oak HC/FT, and State Street Global Advisors suggests that Ethic’s early pitch successfully addressed institutional‑grade concerns (compliance, scalability, advisor workflows), implying that the 2015 deck translated a values‑driven idea into an institutionally credible business thesis.
Early strategic focus supported strong later AUM growth. Ethic’s later reported ten‑fold increase in platform assets to around $760M between its 2019 and 2021 rounds indicates that the foundations laid in its early pitch—in terms of product focus and market choice—were strong enough to support rapid AUM growth once capital was secured.
Differentiated go‑to‑market philosophy grounded in advisor use cases. Public accounts of Ethic’s journey emphasize how the company challenged standard VC go‑to‑market playbooks for enterprise SaaS and instead stayed close to advisor workflows and values‑aligned outcomes, suggesting that the original deck already reflected a differentiated, market‑informed GTM approach rather than a generic fintech story.

What could have been stronger

No externally verifiable link between this specific 2015 deck and a named round. Externally available information does not tie specific round amounts or lead investors directly to this 2015 deck; the first disclosed funding is a $6.8M round in October 2018 led by Nyca Partners, so the exact target amount, valuation, and lead investor for the 2015 raise remain unclear.
Early traction metrics from the deck cannot be cross‑verified. Public sources describe Ethic’s later funding (seed, Series A, Series B, and a large 2025 round) and general business model, but there is no direct public documentation of the concrete traction, AUM figures, or unit economics highlighted in this particular 2015 deck, limiting an investor’s ability to cross‑check early performance claims.
Limited externally visible competitive positioning from the 2015 period. While Ethic’s narrative strongly focuses on the moral and financial friction of passive investing, available external sources do not show detailed contemporaneous competitive benchmarking from 2015 against other ESG or custom‑indexing platforms, which may have left open questions for investors about differentiation at that time.

How an investor would read this deck

What draws attention

How Ethic framed the "moral and financial friction" of traditional passive index investing and positioned its platform as a way to personalize portfolios around investor values while maintaining market‑level financial outcomes.
Whether the early product already supported advisor‑scale customization (across many client accounts) and tax‑aware rebalancing, as later described in Ethic’s platform messaging.
The strength of the founding team’s background in asset management, sustainability, and technology, given later coverage highlighting CEO Doug Scott’s focus on transparency and values‑aligned investing.
The potential market size among RIAs and wealth managers seeking differentiated ESG and personalized indexing solutions, which later funding rounds by major investors (Fidelity, State Street Global Advisors, Oak HC/FT) implicitly validated.

Risks that stand out

The 2015 deck’s emphasis on challenging the norms of passive index investing may have raised concerns about whether advisors and institutions would meaningfully shift away from low‑cost traditional index funds toward customized ESG portfolios at scale.
Execution risk around building robust, scalable infrastructure for personalized, tax‑aware portfolios for advisors, which later rounds suggest Ethic pursued but which would have been unproven in 2015.
Competitive risk from larger asset managers and fintechs that could introduce their own ESG and custom‑index solutions, especially as sustainable investing became more mainstream in subsequent years.

Questions this deck invites

How much capital was Ethic specifically aiming to raise with this 2015 deck, and on what valuation, given that the first disclosed external round is the $6.8M seed in 2018 led by Nyca Partners?
What were Ethic’s concrete 2015 traction metrics (AUM, number of advisory firms, revenue), and how do they compare with the AUM and client growth reported around the 2019 and 2021 rounds?
How, in 2015, did Ethic’s technology and customization capabilities compare to contemporaneous ESG index products and direct indexing platforms, beyond the high‑level narrative about moral/financial friction?
What regulatory, compliance, and operational infrastructure did Ethic have in place at the time of this deck (e.g., RIA status, trading and custody relationships), given its later positioning as an institutional‑grade platform for advisors?
To what extent did early investors base their decision on the ethical narrative versus demonstrable product‑market fit and scalable technology, in light of the later large rounds and strategic relationships (e.g., with Fidelity and State St

What founders can take from the Ethic deck

A tightly framed narrative around a specific structural "friction" in the market—in Ethic’s case, the moral and financial friction of traditional passive investing—can make a technical asset‑management product accessible and compelling to investors over multiple funding rounds.
Building early credibility in a regulated, institutional market often requires aligning the pitch with serious partners; Ethic’s later backing from Nyca Partners, Fidelity, and Oak HC/FT shows how early decks must already speak the language of institutional asset management and compliance.
Positioning as infrastructure for advisors (rather than just an ESG fund) creates a larger strategic story, which Ethic’s later messaging as a platform for advisor‑scale, tax‑smart, values‑aligned portfolios reinforces.
A lean deck can still be effective for substantial fundraising if it clearly articulates the problem, why existing solutions (like generic index funds) are insufficient, and how the product delivers both ethical and financial benefits, as Ethic’s long‑term funding trajectory illustrates.
Consistent messaging across years—Ethic’s ongoing focus on transparency, personalization, and values alignment—helps investors connect early pitches with later growth proofs and large follow‑on rounds.

Ethic pitch deck: common questions

What does Ethic do?

Ethic is a New York–based, tech‑driven asset management platform that builds customized, tax‑smart, values‑aligned portfolios and infrastructure for financial advisors and institutions, with a focus on sustainable and impact investing.

When was Ethic founded and by whom?

Ethic was founded in 2015 by Doug Scott, Jay Lipman, and Johann(es) Laabs as a sustainable investing–focused asset manager helping investors align portfolios with their values.

How much funding has Ethic raised, and where does the 2015 deck fit in?

Ethic has raised capital across multiple rounds, including a $6.8M seed round in October 2018, a $13M Series A in July 2019, and a $29M Series B announced in March 2021, with a later $64M round led by State Street Global Advisors bringing total funding to nearly $163M by 2025. The 2015 deck corresponds to its early fundraising efforts before these announced institutional rounds.

Who are some of Ethic’s key investors?

Ethic’s investors across its disclosed rounds include Nyca Partners (lead for the $6.8M seed and $13M Series A), Fidelity Investments, Sound Ventures (Ashton Kutcher’s VC firm), ThirdStream Partners, Kapor Capital, Urban Innovation Fund, and Oak HC/FT (lead for the $29M Series B), among others.

What was the core story in Ethic’s early pitch deck?

According to Ethic’s public narrative and coverage of CEO Doug Scott, the company’s pitch emphasizes the moral and financial friction in traditional passive index investing and offers a platform to build transparent, values‑aligned portfolios, which aligns with the description that the deck turned a technical asset‑management product into a compelling narrative about ethical and financial outcomes.

Sources

Funding and outcome facts on this page were researched on 2026-08-22 from the pages below.

Ethic pitch deck slides

Ethic pitch deck slide 1 of 8 — Ethic pitch deck — slide 1 of 8

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Ethic pitch deck slide 3 of 8 — Ethic pitch deck — slide 3 of 8

Ethic pitch deck slide 4 of 8 — Ethic pitch deck — slide 4 of 8

Ethic pitch deck slide 5 of 8 — Ethic pitch deck — slide 5 of 8

Ethic pitch deck slide 6 of 8 — Ethic pitch deck — slide 6 of 8

What each slide of the Ethic pitch deck says

Slide 1

hi ethic. Bringing sustainable investing mainstream. ange o/ethic team@WeAreEthic.com

Slide 2

$2.5 Trillion ... passively invested in the ‘the market’. helo ethic.

Slide 3

An investment in ‘the market’ is an investment in... eS Tre ) Eem————ly 4] KA Cansei i ; A HE & Er) Marlboro Red Chevron Philip Morris Smith & Wesson (Ecuador rainforest pollution) (Packaging in Australia) (San Bernardino mass shooting guns angel.co/ethic ethic.