Tricked ya! Well, as opposed to worrying about what Kim is wearing for next Christmas, instead, spend 3 minutes of your day reading about what you can do to help save the world from climate change. As record heat waves and droughts rattle the nerves, the market for ESG and sustainable investing continues to grow. Just like there is a new 18 year old Instagram millionaire being made every day, it seems like there is a new mutual fund or ETF that pops up daily that claims to have an ESG screen. ESG stands for environment, social and governance, FYI. We continue to keep an eye on them, digging into the individual stocks they hold and determine which ones could be an added benefit to portfolios. I think I even read that Goldman Sachs is touting impact investing these days. Wowser! That’s like saying Darth Vader is now happy to be part of the rebel alliance. It just won’t happen nor should it be allowed to happen. Below is a brief description of recent additions to the “Sustainvest List”.
VOTE-This fresh out of the gate ETF, called the Engine No. 1 Transform 500 ETF, is a large cap weighted fund that looks to be the first to also want to utilize the power of shareholder activism. (by the way, we have wanted to launch a fund like this for years, so looks like they beat us to the chase). We shall see what types of shareholder proposals they kick out, how they are voting shares or if this is just green washing to gather assets.
LGBT–LGBTQ + ESG100 ETF launched in late May, is a passively managed, large-cap index fund that holds the top 100 U.S. companies that most align with the LGBTQ community in terms of the company’s brand awareness, brand image, brand loyalty and how the firm supports the community.
GBLD-It’s about time. For many years, we were only able to buy REIT ETFs without any sustainability screening. REIT stands for Real Estate Investment Trust and is just a fancy word to describe investing in real estate within a publicly traded company, making it liquid, which is good. Welcome GBLD. Invesco MSCI Green Building ETF provides access to sustainable real estate, construction, redevelopment, and retrofitting green-certified properties. With a solid dividend to boot, this could be a replacement for any non-ESG screened REIT.
If we all spent enough time transferring our gas guzzling portfolios to a more sustainable path like Sustainvest or Sustainfolio, then maybe we will be ok in the end. By the look of all of these new sustainable funds, perhaps there is a chance after all. And of course, none of this information is a solicitation nor is a recommendation to buy or sell these investments. Any questions don’t hesitate to reach us at info@sustainvest.com