Original, independent, thought leadership

Research

Research and analysis to keep sustainable investors up to-date on a broad range of topics that include trends and developments in sustainable investing and sustainable finance regulatory updates, performance results and considerations, investing through Index funde and actively managed portfolios, asset allocation updates, expenses, ESG ratings and data, company and product news, green, social and sustainable bonds, green bond funds as well as reporting and disclosure practices, to name just a few.

Research and analysis to keep sustainable investors up to-date on a broad range of topics that include trends and developments in sustainable investing and sustainable finance, regulatory updates, performance results and considerations, investing through index funds and actively managed portfolios, asset allocation updates, expenses, ESG ratings and data, company and product news, green, social and sustainable bonds, green bond funds as well as reporting and disclosure practices, to name just a few.   

A continuously updated Funds Directory is also available to investors.  This is intended to become a comprehensive listing of sustainable mutual funds, ETFs and other investment products along with a description of their sustainable investing approaches as set out in fund prospectuses and related regulatory filings.

Chart of the Week – December 16, 2024: New focused sustainable fund listings

The Bottom Line:  The drought affecting new focused sustainable mutual fund and ETF listings, which started after May of last year, continued into November 2024.   Notes of explanation:  Mutual fund new listings refer to new funds, excluding new share classes.

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Chart of the Week – December 9, 2024: November 2024 leaders and October’s laggards Copy Copy

The Bottom Line:  Three of October’s concentrated thematic laggards morph into some of November’s best performing funds, with total returns ranging from 13.3% to 24.2%.

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Chart of the Week – December 2, 2024: Focused sustainable fund firm exits

The Bottom Line:  18 fund management firms, or 11% of firms with focused sustainable funds withdrew from offering sustainable funds since the start of 2024. Notes of explanation:  The number of fund firm exits excludes fund firms that were acquired, merged or consolidated with other firm

Chart of the Week – November 18, 2024: Dow Jones Industrial Average reconstitution

The Bottom Line:  The recent reconstitution of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) with two substitutions leaves the benchmark’s Average ESG risk rating largely unchanged.

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Chart of the Week – November 11, 2024: Top performing sustainable funds-trailing 12-months

The Bottom Line:  The average performance of the top ten performing focused sustainable funds over the trailing twelve months has exceeded the S&P 500 post-election.

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Getting Started: Large-cap blended index mutual funds and ETFs

The Bottom Line: Six qualifying funds available for investors seeking a sustainable large-cap blended index mutual fund or ETF investment option to serve as an anchor position in a sustainable investment portfolio.

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Sustainable ultra-short bond funds

The Bottom Line:  Sustainable ultra-short bond funds can serve to offset the expected lower income from money funds by offering a modestly higher yielding alternative.

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Chart of the Week – November 4, 2024: Institutional investors in sustainable mutual funds

The Bottom Line:  Institutional investors in focused sustainable mutual funds account for $142.9 billion in assets, or 57% of AUM, and have been more stable.

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Research

Research and analysis to keep sustainable investors up to-date on a broad range of topics that include trends and developments in sustainable investing and sustainable finance, regulatory updates, performance results and considerations, investing through index funds and actively managed portfolios, asset allocation updates, expenses, ESG ratings and data, company and product news, green, social and sustainable bonds, green bond funds as well as reporting and disclosure practices, to name just a few.

A continuously updated Funds Directory is also available to investors.  This is intended to become a comprehensive listing of sustainable mutual funds, ETFs and other investment products along with a description of their sustainable investing approaches as set out in fund prospectuses and related regulatory filings.

Getting started

Many questions have surfaced in recent years regarding sustainable and ESG investing.  Here, investors and financial intermediaries will find materials that describe the various approaches to sustainable investing and their implementation.  While sustainable investing approaches vary and they have thus far defied universally accepted definitions, many practitioners agree that they fall into the following broad categories:  Values-based investing, investing via exclusions, impact investing, thematic investments and ESG integration.  In conjunction with each of these approaches, investors may also adopt various issuer engagement procedures and proxy voting practices.  That said, sustainable investing approaches will continue to evolve.

In addition to periodic updates regarding sustainable investing and how this form of investing is evolving, investors and financial intermediaries interested in implementing a sustainable investing approach will also find source materials that cover basic investing themes as well as asset allocation tactics.

Inesting ideas

Thoughts and ideas targeting sustainable investing strategies executed through various registered and non-registered sustainable investment funds and products such as mutual funds, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), Exchange Traded Notes (ETNs), closed-end funds, Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and Unit Investment Trusts (UITs). Coverage extends to investment management firms as well as fund groups. 

Independent source for sustainable investment management company research, analysis, opinions and sustainable fund disclosure assessments