ESG Issues in the Bond Fund Space presentation slides
The Bottom Line: Slides presented at Crane Data’s Bond Fund Symposium, March 28, 2022, on the topic of ESG Issues in the Bond Fund Space. Key takeaways from Crane’s Bond Fund Symposium presentation: ESG and sustainable investing are terms that are used interchangeably, leading to confusion and misunderstanding. Terms should be defined, and standards established […]
Focusing on ESG ratings: A more active due diligence role for sustainable investors
The Bottom Line: Scrutiny of ESG ratings identifies challenges and signals to investors to take an active due diligence role to understand their fund’s strategies. Sustainable investors should take on a more active due diligence role to understand the sustainable strategies pursued by their funds and ensure continued alignment with their sustainable investment preferences Financial […]
Rough start to the year January 2022
The Bottom Line: January 2022 has been rough for both stocks, bonds and selected sustainable indices that continue offering value in the intermediate and long-term. Concerns about inflation, central bank tightening and tensions with Russia over Ukraine agitated markets in January and led to a sharp increase in volatility and negative results After delivering very […]
January commentary: green bond funds
The Bottom Line: Green bond funds, ending January with $1.44 billion, experienced monthly net outflows for the second consecutive month coincident with total return declines. Summary Green bond funds, including green bond mutual funds and green bond ETFs, experienced monthly net outflows for the second consecutive month coincident with total return declines. Net declines kicked […]
Strong performance gains posted in 2021
The Bottom Line: Strong market gains in December accompanied by higher volatility; at the same time, selected sustainable indices continue to outperform in the intermediate-to-long-term. Strong gains in December accompanied by higher volatility Reversing November’s 0.69% decline, the S&P 500 Index gained 4.48% in December as markets quickly recovered in response to news reports from […]
Sustainable target date funds expand with new J. P. Morgan entry
The Bottom Line: J. P. Morgan’s sustainable target date SmartRetirement Fund expands to four the number and variety of available target date options for investors. J.P. Morgan is latest manager to move into the sustainable target date funds space J.P. Morgan Investment Management is the latest manager to move into the sustainable target date funds […]
Sustainable high yield funds add to investing options
The Bottom Line: An expanding universe of sustainable high yield funds adds to investor options but sustainable strategies can be nuanced and challenging to compare. Expanding universe of sustainable high yield funds adds to investor options Sustainable mutual funds and ETFs across all asset classes ranging from money market funds to equity funds turned in […]
December commentary: Green bond funds
The Bottom Line: December redemptions still place green bond funds at new 2021 high of almost $1.5 billion while absolute total return performance results disappoint. Summary Withdrawals by institutional investors led to a net $9.4 million decline in the assets of green bond funds in December, bringing year-end total net assets to $1,480.8 million. While […]