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.
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.
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.
Sustainable Portfolios Performance Summary: February 2017
Even as political uncertainties continued to make headlines, equity markets achieved record highs across the globe during the month of February. Strong corporate earnings in the US and a weaker Euro combined with higher commodity prices that foreshadowed positive earnings growth for European companies drove prices higher. The S&P 500 Index gained almost 4% while…
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New Equity Market Highs Reached in February; Fixed Income Gains Too
Even as political uncertainties continued to make headlines, equity markets achieved record highs across the globe during the month of February. Strong corporate earnings in the US and a weaker Euro combined with higher commodity prices that foreshadowed positive earnings growth for European companies drove prices higher. The S&P 500 Index gained almost 4% while the MSCI EAFE NR Index added 1.43%.
On the fixed income side, the Federal Reserve turned more hawkish, elevating the possibility of an interest rate hike in March, in light of strong labor market data, rising inflationary pressures and fiscal stimulus plans being considered by the Trump administration. Central bankers in Japan and England were also articulating slightly more hawkish monetary policies. Against this backdrop, government and corporate bonds performed reasonably well. The Bloomberg-Barclays Aggregate Bond Index gained 0.67%.
Sustainable Portfolios Performance Summary
The Aggressive Sustainable Portfolio (95% stocks/5% bonds) gained an impressive 4.26% during the month of February, buoyed by the strong performance of the stock market during this interval. This exceeded the results achieved by an equivalent, non-sustainable index, by 0.39% or 39 bps. The Moderate and Conservative portfolios also experienced gains, edging up 3.35% and 1.84%, respectively. Both the Vanguard FTSE Social Index-Investor Shares and the TIAA-CREF Social Choice Bond Fund-Retail outperformed their non-ESG index counterparts. On a cumulative basis, the three portfolios are up 88.86%, 60.66% and 28.44%, respectively.
Monthly Sustainable Fund Flows
Total net assets sourced to sustainable funds, consisting of mutual funds, ETFs and ETNs, stood at $203.2 billion at the end of February. Included in this total is about $198.2 billion, or 98% of assets, invested in mutual funds while about $5.0 billion is invested through ETFs and ETNs. Within this combined sector, index funds have attracted some $12.0 billion in assets or about 6%.
Equity funds continue to dominate, representing $186.6 billion (92%) whereas fixed income funds held $16.6 billion in net assets under management.
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