POPULARITY
TONIGHT: The show begins on Wall Street where the trend is to ease ESG from corporate PR and avoid the train wreck of 2023 returns for ESG ETF. To Berlin and measuring the fractious EU. To Gaza, Riyadh, Jerusalem, where State agents seek taking resolution to Israel's existential war. To London and Beijing (and Stratford). To Kabul 2021. To Fiji and Addis Ababa and Somaliland. Then to 12 billion years before now with astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope. To Islamabad and to Gaza before the war, with school books written with towering self-destruction. 13.4 Billion Years ago.
Users report ChatGTP seems lazy & depressed. OpenAI agrees. Is it hallucination or is there an explanation other than "seasonal depression" they're talking about?Hybrid computer of human brain cells from stem cells and electronicsTesla's new robots arrive as self-driving recall initiated. Biden wants to fund "smart guns" (that no one wants for good reason) with millions of taxpayer moneyIs the federal government throttling Rumble because they're hosting J6 videos?UK military was (is) spying on its citizens' speech. Several judges have railed against the mafia-like coercion for censorship of the Biden administrationScrooge MacGuffins come for Christmas trees and chocolatesWindmills are using diesel generators — far, far dirtier than modern coal plant. French governments constantly vacillating orders are turning the lives of France's farmers upside down — so they are turning upside downOil companies are ramping up extraction and Goldman Sachs is backing away from ESG ETF. Is the tide turning?French farmers say the government is turning the world upside down — so they have a unique protestINTERVIEW Reports of Inflation's Death: Greatly ExaggeratedTony Arterburn, DavidKnight.gold. Is it time for champagne or are the markets drinking Kool-Aid? With all the manipulation what's real?MTG says "MAGA will revolt if Trump even gives Nikki Haley an internship". But didn't he already make Fauci President?Half of people in UK want mask mandates to return on public transport. A fifth want limits on people gathering together. Is the OCD permanent? Former Ranger hammers the Pentagon letter to "involuntary veterans", proud of what it did and not admitting any wrongdoingAnn Coulter, Kellyanne Conway, Sean Hannity — all saying the Republican party's problem is stopping the violent murder of babies.Find out more about the show and where you can watch it at TheDavidKnightShow.comIf you would like to support the show and our family please consider subscribing monthly here: SubscribeStar https://www.subscribestar.com/the-david-knight-showOr you can send a donation throughMail: David Knight POB 994 Kodak, TN 37764Zelle: @DavidKnightShow@protonmail.comCash App at: $davidknightshowBTC to: bc1qkuec29hkuye4xse9unh7nptvu3y9qmv24vanh7Money is only what YOU hold: Go to DavidKnight.gold for great deals on physical gold/silverFor 10% off Gerald Celente's prescient Trends Journal, go to TrendsJournal.com and enter the code KNIGHT
Users report ChatGTP seems lazy & depressed. OpenAI agrees. Is it hallucination or is there an explanation other than "seasonal depression" they're talking about? Hybrid computer of human brain cells from stem cells and electronics Tesla's new robots arrive as self-driving recall initiated. Biden wants to fund "smart guns" (that no one wants for good reason) with millions of taxpayer money Is the federal government throttling Rumble because they're hosting J6 videos? UK military was (is) spying on its citizens' speech. Several judges have railed against the mafia-like coercion for censorship of the Biden administration Scrooge MacGuffins come for Christmas trees and chocolates Windmills are using diesel generators — far, far dirtier than modern coal plant. French governments constantly vacillating orders are turning the lives of France's farmers upside down — so they are turning upside down Oil companies are ramping up extraction and Goldman Sachs is backing away from ESG ETF. Is the tide turning? French farmers say the government is turning the world upside down — so they have a unique protest INTERVIEW Reports of Inflation's Death: Greatly ExaggeratedTony Arterburn, DavidKnight.gold. Is it time for champagne or are the markets drinking Kool-Aid? With all the manipulation what's real? MTG says "MAGA will revolt if Trump even gives Nikki Haley an internship". But didn't he already make Fauci President? Half of people in UK want mask mandates to return on public transport. A fifth want limits on people gathering together. Is the OCD permanent? Former Ranger hammers the Pentagon letter to "involuntary veterans", proud of what it did and not admitting any wrongdoing Ann Coulter, Kellyanne Conway, Sean Hannity — all saying the Republican party's problem is stopping the violent murder of babies.Find out more about the show and where you can watch it at TheDavidKnightShow.comIf you would like to support the show and our family please consider subscribing monthly here: SubscribeStar https://www.subscribestar.com/the-david-knight-showOr you can send a donation throughMail: David Knight POB 994 Kodak, TN 37764Zelle: @DavidKnightShow@protonmail.comCash App at: $davidknightshowBTC to: bc1qkuec29hkuye4xse9unh7nptvu3y9qmv24vanh7Money is only what YOU hold: Go to DavidKnight.gold for great deals on physical gold/silverFor 10% off Gerald Celente's prescient Trends Journal, go to TrendsJournal.com and enter the code KNIGHT
高股息ETF是金融商品熱門首選之一, 也一直不斷有新的產品推出, 最近出現了一款「等權重」設計理念的ETF, 主打魚與熊掌兼顧高股息與報酬, 不過「等權重」到底是什麼意思? 投資研究經驗年資20年的兆豐投信副總經理林忠義來為大家說清楚講明白... / 逢低布局優質股,魚與熊掌兼顧安心存 台灣有很多存股人,常常想要「報酬多多」也想要「股息多多」,除了0050、0056以外,投資台股還有什麼好選擇呢? 存股族的新選擇-【等權重ETF】 00921市值型等權重投資,獲取台股產業成長機會! 搭配00932高股息,透過等權重,贏得股利又賺資本利得! 兆豐台灣ESG永續高股息等權重ETF #00932 https://www.megafunds.com.tw/MEGA/activity/MegaESG/index.html 兆豐台灣產業龍頭存股等權重ETF #00921 https://www.megafunds.com.tw/MEGA/activity/MegaEqualWeight/index.html
市值型ETF從純市值的元大台灣50(0050),迄今,有許多不同選項,包含納入ESG因子的富邦公司治理(00692)、元大臺灣ESG永續(00850)、群益台灣ESG低碳(00923)等,甚至上櫃也有中信上櫃ESG 30(00928)。且從績效表現來看,它們的報酬率也不輸0050喔!誰近1年表現最好?殖利率最高? 追蹤我們獲得理財的最新情報:
Mandeep Singh, Senior Tech Analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, joins to discuss the new Twitter CEO. Bloomberg's Bailey Lipschultz also joins. Jane Foley, Managing Director and Head of FX Strategy at Rabobank, joins to discuss dollar strength and the impact of inflation and a potential debt default on US currency. Robert Teeter, Head of Investment Policy & Strategy Group at Silvercrest Asset Management, joins in studio to discuss sectors and stocks on the move and what could outperform the market amid various economic headwinds. Dan Ives, Senior Equity Analyst at WedBush Securities, explains why he thinks Linda Yaccarino potentially becoming the next CEO of Twitter would be a “home run.” Mark Douglas, CEO at MNTN, also joins to talk about the NBC shakeup and streaming wars. He can also discuss its impact on Peacock and streaming, as well as Tesla. Shaheen Contractor, ESG Research Analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, joins to discuss the backlash causing ESG ETF closing. Hosted by Paul Sweeney, Kriti Gupta, and Madison Mills.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Amanda and Emily celebrate Earth Day with a discussion around green investing, which has started to become synonymous with ESG investing. We discuss: What does ESG investing really mean; How did ESG investments perform in 2022 compared to other investments?; ESG investing in the political crosshairs and the implications; and How Propel incorporates ESG investing for our clients. Correction: Note that at one point Amanda quotes an expense ratio of 0.28% for an ESG ETF, but she mis-spoke. The expense ratio was 0.10% as of 5/4/2023. connectingthedollars.com
Rente, rente en rente. Daar gaat het over in IO Weekly, na het omvallen van Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). Jeroen Blokland over ‘standvastige' Fed, Raymond Frenken over de implicaties voor beleggers van het 'rente-incident dat SVB de das omdeed en Justin de Ridder legt uit waarom vermogende particulieren vastgoedbeleggingen verruilen voor het rendabelere leningen verstrekken. Verder: de opmars van de actieve ESG ETF en geld maakt echt gelukkig(er). Investment Officer is an editorially independent media platform in the Benelux countries providing industry news and insights to investment professionals working for asset owners, asset managers and asset servicing companies. The Netherlands: http://www.investmentofficer.nlBelgium: http://www.investmentofficer.beLuxembourg: http://www.investmentofficer.lu
氣候風險逐年升高,全球共識要在2050年達成淨零碳排, 主要經濟體紛紛立法透過政策來引導企業, 其中,開徵碳稅就是非常重要的一項政策, 這一集請到群益台灣ESG低碳50 ETF基金經理人洪祥益, 來跟大家分享碳定價是什麼? 低碳趨勢跟綠色通膨,又將如何影響我們的投資選擇? / 減碳除了影響台灣企業獲利,也跟存股有關係? 正在影響你我生活的「綠色通膨」又是什麼? 立法院通過《氣候變遷因應法》開徵碳費,出口到先進國家也要課碳稅, 低碳已經是企業競爭力和獲利能力的代名詞, 現在投資台股需要全新思維 00923群益台灣ESG低碳ETF 鎖定ESG體質好、低碳力強的50檔大型權值股 適合長期存股,跟上台股躍升的成長契機 這檔【00923群益台灣ESG低碳ETF】3/8掛牌上市囉!有興趣的朋友可以洽詢你的營業員 了解更多>> https://bit.ly/41zOM9z
Tune in to hear:- What is Rachel's origin story and what led her down a path that bridges social justice and finance?- What is redlining and why will climate change disproportionately effect already marginalized groups?- Why did Rachel feel like finance was the best tool at her disposal for approaching social justice issues?- Rachel gets her investment data directly from the communities that are most impacted by the issues she is fighting for. How does she get this data, how does it differ from more traditional data sources and how does it augment her company's investment process?- When Rachel was striving to get rid of forced arbitration clauses how did she go about this? Was it through divesting, voting shares, advocacy or some other means?- How are social injustices potential investment risks and how might a social justice oriented portfolio outperform a more broadly focused portfolio?- What kind of research does Rachel's company do on fundamentals to ensure these companies are sound financially in addition to ethically?- In recent years there have been some pretty vitriolic attacks on ESG - which of these critiques are fair in Rachel's mind and how can a client reliably distinguish a “real” ESG product from one that is just a marketing ploy?- Does investing in line with your personal values offer any measurable benefit to your investing behaviors?Compliance Code: 0431-OAS-2/13/2023Copy: 0356-OAS-2/7/2023https://adasina.com
Wir haben News zu Pips AI Prediction. Warum sind Fashionette und Teamviewer in den letzten Monaten so stark abgewertet wurden? Sind wir besser als MSCI World und Baillie Gifford? Was für Clean Water und grüne ETFs gibt es? Was kann man aus dem Yandex Leak lernen? Kann ein ETF mit Private Companies funktionieren? Opendoor. Wie waren die Spotify Earnings? Sollte Deutschland wie Frankreich Start-ups unterstützen? Philipp Glöckler (https://www.linkedin.com/in/philippgloeckler/) und Philipp Klöckner (https://twitter.com/pip_net) sprechen heute über: (00:00:45) AI (00:04:00) Fashionette; Teamviewer (00:10:25) baillie gifford (00:20:30) Clean Water ETF (00:27:00) ESG ETF (00:34:45) Yandex Leak (00:40:20) Startup ETF (01:02:45) Spotify Earnings (01:14:00) Frankreichs Startups (01:23:40) Ausblick Shownotes: Werbung: Jetzt 3 gratis Monate PRIME+ bei Scalable sichern. Besparen, handeln und sogar 2,3% Zinsen im Jahr - bis zu einem Guthaben von 100.000 €. Anmelden auf doppelgaenger.io/scalable. Zinsangebot unter scalable.capital/zinsen. Yandex Tweet von Alex Buraks: https://twitter.com/alex_buraks/status/1618988134850785280 Yandex Post von Malte Landwehr: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/landwehr_seo-yandex-rankingfactors-activity-7025015499776217088-rxw6? France plans to use the startup downturn https://sifted.eu/articles/france-plans-startup-downturn-top/ Keine Anlageberatung: AMUNDI INDEX MSCI WORLD SRI PAB https://www.amundi.co.uk/professional/product/view/LU1861134382 ISIN: LU1861134382 Doppelgänger Tech Talk Podcast Sheet https://doppelgaenger.io/sheet/ Disclaimer https://www.doppelgaenger.io/disclaimer/ Passionfroot Storefront www.passionfroot.xyz/doppelgaenger Post Production by Jan Wagener https://www.linkedin.com/in/jan-wagener-49270018b/ Aktuelle Doppelgänger Werbepartner https://lollipod.de/sn/doppelgaenger-werbung
Erica Adelberg, MBS Strategist with Bloomberg Intelligence, joins the program to discuss mortgage interest rates, her housing research, and outlook for real estate. Ben Emons, Head of Fixed Income and Managing Director for NewEdge Wealth, joins the program to discuss the outlook for Japan and global economies following the BOJ decision. Monica Defend, Chief Strategist and Head of Amundi Institute, discusses the struggles various European economies could endure in 2023 and outlook for a recession overseas. Shaheen Contractor, Senior ESG Analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, joins the program to discuss her research on gender diversity on corporate boards and how it affects returns for US and European investors. She also discusses ESG ETF asset growth and its risks. Dana Telsey, CEO and Chief Research Officer with Telsey Advisory Group, joins the show to talk about the latest retail sales and outlook for consumers in 2023. Hosted by Matt Miller and Kriti Gupta.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
A company called Strive Asset Management has launched an anti-ESG ETF that was successful in raising $315 millions in less than a month! Why exactly is the anti-ESG movement gaining ground? And with the OPEC+ announcing that they will be cutting 2 millions of barrels a day, is this a sign to enter the commodities market? Michelle Martin finds out with Swapnil Mishra, Founder, WealthZen & Adjunct Mentor, Singapore Management University. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
《Smart智富話理財》簡單談理財,理財好Smart! 國泰永續高股息(00878)、富邦公司治理(00692)都是ESG ETF!這幾年,ESG概念受到重視,相關ETF也愈來愈多,目前有6檔,可分成3大類─ 1.高息型─國泰永續高股息(00878)、永豐優息存股(00907) 2.市值型─元大台灣ESG永續(00850)、永豐台灣ESG(00888)、富邦公司治理(00692) 3.產業型─中信關鍵半導體(00891) 其中,適合長期存的市值型,有一檔5年年化報酬率逾11%;高息型有一檔超抗跌!是誰?,請聽節目。 追蹤我們獲得理財的最新情報:
This week, Zach Stein, Chief Investment Officer at Carbon Collective joins us to break down their just launched ESG ETF, the Carbon Collective Climate Solutions U.S. Equity ETF (CCSO). Plus, Kim Khan recaps the FOMC meeting and delivers your next week's Catalyst Watch. Join us for Stock Market Live next Wednesday at 12 pm ET. Grab your seat now - https://bit.ly/3z4zIVg
Host Brian Walsh welcomes back roundtable regulars Imogen Rose-Smith and David Bank to dissect the anti-ESG backlash and the Inflation Reduction Act. Plus, the headlines. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/impact-alpha-briefing/message
Host Brian Walsh welcomes back roundtable regulars Imogen Rose-Smith and David Bank to dissect the anti-ESG backlash and the Inflation Reduction Act. Plus, the headlines. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/impact-alpha/message
VettaFi's Lara Crigger discusses the recent resurgence of clean energy ETFs and what's next for the ESG ETF space overall. Strive's Vivek Ramaswamy highlights the launch of their U.S. Energy ETF (DRLL) and a “post-ESG” approach to asset management. Dynamic Beta's Andrew Beer explains the iMGP DBi Managed Futures Strategy ETF (DBMF).
CNBC's Bob Pisani spoke with two top ESG pros – Matt Piro, Global Head of ESG Product at Vanguard, and Jon Hale, Global Head of Sustainability Research at Morningstar. They did a deep dive on all things ESG – and broke down Vanguard's new actively managed ESG fund, which just launched last week – pointing to still strong demand for sustainable investing even in the midst of a market downturn – plus, efforts to standardize ESG metrics in the face of regulatory pushback. In the Markets ‘102' portion of the podcast, Bob continues the conversation with Jon Hale from Morningstar.
VettaFi's vice chairman Tom Lydon discussed the XTrackers S&P 500 ESG ETF (SNPE) on this week's “ETF of the Week” podcast with Chuck Jaffe of “Money Life.” SNPE provides exposure to the S&P 500 but through an environmental, social, and governance lens. The S&P 500 ESG Index that the fund seeks to track utilizes ESG factors and criteria for inclusion while excluding companies that don't have sufficient UN Global Compact scores or else participate in certain industries such as tobacco, controversial weapons, and thermal coal. ESG is going to be a growing part of the investiong equation looking ahead both from a regulatory risk perspective as well as a climate risk perspective and SNPE seeks to provide performance while also reducing risk.
VettaFi's Lara Crigger dives into ESG ETF flows, performance, and overall investor interest. Plus, Lara offers perspective on recent SEC proposals that could impact ESG ETF naming and disclosures. New York Life Investment's Wendy Wong spotlights their IQ Dual Impact Suite of ETFs. ACA Foreside's Sonja Formato provides an inside look at ETF distribution, including […]
This week in the podcast, guest host Sara Mahaffy, RBC's ESG Strategist, runs through the team's latest work on ESG flows. Inflows into US listed ESG ETF's have been relatively strong so far in early March, and we've seen relative performance trends for ESG darlings stabilize. Clean energy flows have also bounced back in March.
ETF Trends' CEO Tom Lydon discusses the IQ Healthy Hearts ETF (HART) on this week's ETF of the Week podcast with Chuck Jaffe of the MoneyLife Show. HART is a "dual impact" ESG ETF that is designed to offer investors an innovative thematic strategy connected to key sustainability priorities, while advancing social good. The fund was created in alignment with the American Heart Association and invests in companies that reflect their core initiatives of healthy, active lives as well as the treatment of cardiovascular disease. IndexIQ, the issuer. along with New York Life Investments, will make ongoing contributions to the American Heart Association's Social Impact Fund.
In November 2021 the Schwab Ariel ESG ETF began trading on the NYSE under the symbol SAEF. Malik Sievers, Head of ESG strategy at Schwab Asset Management talks about their first-ever proprietary ESG ETF and its collaboration with Ariel Investments, LLC, the fund's sub-adviser and a pioneer in ESG and value-based investing. The ETF market is growing rapidly in the U.S, with almost $3.9 trillion invested as of June 2021. Sievers and I talk about opportunities in 2022 to launch additional proprietary ESG funds as well as the 20-year partnership between Schwab Asset Management and Ariel Investments that promotes financial literacy across middle-class Black American communities.
新年新希望!拉亞漢堡的新手投資理財分享~ 內容不含名牌股,也沒有看盤秘訣 (抱歉讓大家失望) 但卻有投資前你覺得要知道的事情! 還有漢堡的 ESG ETF 概念分享與介紹~ 想知道內容嗎?快點擊進來看看! 《贊助時間 》2022 新年快樂~暖心粉絲快來 Donate 拉亞跟漢堡:https://pse.is/3ljkze 《閒聊時間》對投資有任何心得分享嗎?歡迎到粉絲團按讚留言:https://www.facebook.com/marcomfun
ETF Trends CEO Tom Lydon discussed the Schwab Ariel ESG ETF (SAEF) on this week's “ETF of the Week” podcast with Chuck Jaffe on the MoneyLife Show. SAEF is an active, semi-transparent (also known as non-transparent) ETF that invests in small- and mid-cap stocks that have been screened based on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors.
Great Stock and Fund Picks Post COP26 include Tesla, NIO, Li Auto, TPI Composites, Schneider National, Knight-Swift Transportation, FREYR, Fisker, Alstom, NARI Technology, SINOPEC Engineering Group, Covestro, Rexel, Ørsted, Siemens Energy, FirstEnergy, Sunrun, PAVE infrastructure ETF, Parker-Hannifin, Xylem, Jacobs Engineering, Martin Marietta, Cleveland-Cliffs, Xcel Energy, United Rentals, VOTE ETF, Plug Power Inc., Brookfield Renewable Partners PODCAST: Great Stock and Fund Picks Post COP26 Transcript & Links, Episode 71, November 19, 2021 Hello, Ron Robins here. Welcome to podcast episode 71 published on November 19, titled “Great Stock and Fund Picks Post COP26” — and presented by Investing for the Soul. investingforthesoul.com is your site for vital global ethical and sustainable investing news, commentary, information, and resources. Remember that you can find a full transcript, links to content – including stock symbols, quotes, and bonus material – at this episode's podcast page located at investingforthesoul.com/podcasts. Now, just a reminder. I do not evaluate any of the stocks or funds mentioned in this podcast. Furthermore, if you're concerned about the ESG and sustainability ratings of any stock or fund included in this podcast, check your broker's online site for such information. If your broker doesn't have this information, signup for free with Morningstar and you can gain access to company and fund ESG-sustainability ratings. Please note, I receive no compensation from Morningstar or anyone else covered in these podcasts. Also, if any terms are unfamiliar to you, simply Google them. ------------------------------------------------------------- Great Stock and Fund Picks Post COP26 (1) Several of today's articles relate in some way to COP26. Here's the first titled, Following COP26? Look at These 3 Sustainable Investing Strategies and 40 Stock Picks. It's by Jack Denton writing in Barron's. Now please excuse my improper pronunciations of company names in these quotes from this article. Quote. “Interested in the renewables sector? Morgan Stanley says… Look at China Jushi (600176.China), Jiangsu Zhongtian Technologies (600522.China), Luoyang Glass (1108.H.K.), Engie (ENGI.France), Ørsted (ORSTED.Denmark), Siemens Energy (ENR.Germany), FirstEnergy (FE), and Sunrun (RUN). For energy storage… Ganfeng Lithium (1772.H.K.), Panasonic (6752.Japan), Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt (603799.China), and QuantumScape (QS) are worth checking out. Across hydrogen… Morgan Stanley identifies Beijing SinoHytec (688339.China), China Petroleum & Chemical (0386.H.K.), Johnson Matthey (JMAT.U.K.), NEL (NEL.Norway), Air Products (APD), Enbridge (ENB), and New Fortress Energy (NFE) among the potential winners. Attractive bets in sustainable alternative fuels… include major oil companies Exxon Mobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX), as well as HollyFrontier (HFC) and Marathon Petroleum (MPC). The developing field of carbon capture, utilization, and storage offers picks including: Bayer (BAYN.Germany), ConocoPhillips (COP), NextDecade (NEXT), and Occidental Petroleum (OXY). Opportunities in electric transportation and green mobility still abound… Familiar electric-vehicle stocks such as Tesla (TSLA), NIO (NIO), and Li Auto (LI) make Morgan Stanley's list, as do TPI Composites (TPIC), Schneider National (SNDR), Knight-Swift Transportation (KNX), FREYR (FREY), Fisker (FSR), and Alstom (ALO.France). Renovation and energy efficiency also offer options… NARI Technology (600406.China), SINOPEC Engineering Group (2386.H.K.), Covestro (1COV.Germany), and Rexel (RXL.France) are among the potential plays. Morgan Stanley's view is that there are also many stocks facing headwinds… from the trend of decarbonization, including sectors such as energy; power and utilities; cement; chemicals; coal; metals and mining; industrials; automobiles; airlines; and shipping. In particular, it is bearish on stocks including Consolidated Edison (ED), Continental Resources (CLR), XCel Energy (XEL), Ford Motor (F), BMW (BMW.Germany), Nissan (7201.Japan), American Airlines (AAL), Deutsche Lufthansa (LHA.Germany), and Air France-KLM (AF.France), among others.” End quotes. ------------------------------------------------------------- Great Stock and Fund Picks Post COP26 (2) Now, turning to infrastructure. Another favorite of ethical and sustainable investors, there's this article titled Infrastructure stocks on watch after bill passes Congress. Four under-the-hood ways to play it by Keris Lahiff. It appeared on cnbc.com. Here are some quotes. “‘'I think that the (PAVE infrastructure ETF) is a great way to gain exposure…' Ari Wald, head of technical analysis at Oppenheimer, says it has more room to run…Wald told CNBC's ‘Trading Nation' on Monday. ‘We're bullish on that industry because it is indeed reclaiming its leadership… It has also outperformed the S&P 500 this year, climbing more than 35%...' Wald highlights diversified motion and control parts manufacturer Parker-Hannifin as one stock at the top of his watch list… Shares have jumped this month, rising by 11%. The broad-based S&P 500, by comparison, is up just 1%. Nancy Tengler, chief investment officer at Laffer Tengler Investments… Prefers to play the group through individual stocks rather than the PAVE ETF. She picked out three names she believes have upside potential. ‘Xylem is a beneficiary of the $55 billion water spend that's been allocated in the bill,' she said in the same interview. ‘This is significant spending for water. The state appropriation bills are somewhere in the $2 [billion] to $2.5 billion range annually. This is $55 billion over five years.' ‘Then, for the highways portion of the bill, we like Jacobs Engineering. So think about the $40 billion that's being spent for bridges, that's going to benefit engineering and construction companies, and then Martin Marietta, which is obviously just the asphalt for the road,' said Tengler. Xylem, Jacobs and Martin Marietta Materials… this year all are up by at least 30%, while the S&P 500 has climbed 25%.” End quotes. ------------------------------------------------------------- Great Stock and Fund Picks Post COP26 (3) Now for my second article on infrastructure. It's titled, 3 Stocks That Could Win Big Under Biden's Infrastructure Bill by Matthew DiLallo, Neha Chamaria, and Reuben Gregg Brewer. Here are quotes from the authors on their picks. “1. Reuben Gregg Brewer chooses Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE: CLF) Over the past couple of years Cleveland-Cliffs has turned itself from a steel industry supplier into an integrated steelmaker that also sells key competitors iron ore pellets and other steelmaking inputs… Cleveland-Cliffs could also be benefiting from increased demand for its steelmaking ingredients… It is, thus, heavily leveraged to the elevated steel demand likely to come from increased infrastructure spending… Cleveland-Cliffs' stock is the best-performing North American steel mill over the past year. However, thanks to the mergers used to create it, the steelmaker also has the most leverage, with a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.3 times, twice as high as the next competitor. 2. Matt DiLallo likes Xcel Energy (NASDAQ: XEL) The infrastructure package includes significant funding for the energy transition to cleaner alternatives… That aligns perfectly with Xcel Energy's investment plan. The utility has committed to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 and is investing billions of dollars to achieve that bold goal. In addition to investing heavily in renewable energy, Xcel Energy is spending billions of dollars on upgrading its transmission system. It's also building EV infrastructure, including installing charging stations in major transportation corridors and underserved communities… The company said it could invest up to $4 billion over the coming decade on hydrogen-related projects to blend that emissions-free fuel into its natural gas system… The company could tap into government-funded programs from the infrastructure bill to support its spending plans. That could enable it to achieve its decarbonization efforts while creating significant value for shareholders by growing its earnings and dividend. 3. Neha Chamaria recommends United Rentals (NYSE: URI) As federal spending on infrastructure picks up, so should demand for heavy machinery like the ones United Rentals rents out. In fact, the company is already witnessing higher demand even before federal spending kicks off… Growth of 22% in its third-quarter rental revenue encouraged United Rentals to upgrade its outlook… United Rentals looks well positioned to win as infrastructure spending in the U.S. gathers steam.” End quotes. ------------------------------------------------------------- Great Stock and Fund Picks Post COP26 (4) Now, this is a new style ESG ETF, Article's title is VOTE: ESG Activism in an ETF. It's by Neena Mishra of Zacks. Quote. “In this episode of ETF Spotlight, I speak with Yasmin Dahya Bilger, head of ETFs at Engine No. 1, about activist investing through an ETF. The activist investment firm had sent shock waves through Corporate America in May when it targeted Exxon Mobil XOM and successfully placed three candidates on the board of directors. The Engine No. 1 Transform 500 ETF VOTE, which started trading in June, intends to encourage transformational changes in companies through shareholder activism. The fund invests in 500 of the largest US public companies and comes with an expense ratio of just 0.05%. VOTE is an excellent alternative to standard S&P 500 ETFs for ESG focused investors since they can get a similar financial performance while participating in efforts to bring transformational changes in portfolio companies. Microsoft MSFT, Apple AAPL and Alphabet GOOGL are the top holdings in the market cap weighted ETF, which has already gathered about $250 million in assets.” End quotes. ------------------------------------------------------------- Great Stock and Fund Picks Post COP26 (5) Honorable Mentions These are ethical and sustainable investment recommendations worth reading about but I hadn't the space to review them in this podcast. 1. Title: 3 Solid Climate Tech Funds for Investors – appearing on Morningstar.com by Sylvester Flood. Quote “Bill Gates has said that the next generation of FANGs… will be climate tech companies.” End quote. 2. Title: New BlackRock Minimum Volatility Factor and Fixed Income ESG ETFs Provide More Choices to Putting Sustainability at The Core of Investment Portfolios -- on Business Wire. Press release. Quote “These funds further enable our clients to build strong portfolios customized to their sustainable goals and navigate the transition to a low carbon economy.” End quote. UK Focused picks 1. Title: ACE 40 ethical rated list: Interactive Investor completes annual review. Quote “In performance terms, 48% of active funds on ACE 40 are in 1st and 2nd quartile versus peers over one year to end September 2021, with 79% in 1st/2nd quartile over three years and 91% over five years.” End quote. 2. Title: The Best ISA Investment Funds In November 2021 -- on moneyfacts.co.uk. By Derin Clark. Recommendations associated with Renewable Energy 1. Title: Why Solar Energy Stocks Are Suddenly Hot Again – on the Motley Fool. By Travis Hoium. Quote “Headwinds have turned into tailwinds for the solar industry.” End quote. 2. Title: Green Energy Stocks - Why Now is the Time to Invest from the blueandgreentomorrow.com site). By Sean Mellon. Quote “We've chosen to focus on stocks listed on the coveted and tech-led Nasdaq 100, according to the index's most recent performance and data.” End quote. 3. Title: Why Solar Energy Stocks Jumped Thursday again on the Motley Fool. By Travis Hoium. Quote “The U.S. government rejected a request for solar tariffs, and investors liked what they heard.” End quote. 4. Title: Five climate ETFs for a post-COP26 world on etfstream.com. By Jamie Gordon. Quote “Investors can rest easy knowing a glut of ESG ETF launches in recent years means they are bound to find products matching their climate convictions.” End quote. 5. Title: 3 Climate Tech Stocks To Watch In The Wake Of COP26. By Josh Dylan on Nasdaq.com. Quote “Top Climate Tech Stocks To Watch Right Now Daqo New Energy Corporation (NYSE: DQ), Brookfield Renewable Partners (NYSE: BEP), Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ: PLUG).” End quote. Incidentally, Daqo is a controversial pick as it is accused of using forced labor. ------------------------------------------------------------- Ending Comment Well, these are my top news stories with their stock and fund tips -- for this podcast: “Great Stock and Fund Picks Post COP26.' To get all the links, stock symbols, or to read the transcript of this podcast -- and more -- go to investingforthesoul.com/podcasts and scroll down to this episode. Also, be sure to click the like and subscribe buttons in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or wherever you download or listen to this podcast. And please click the share buttons to share this podcast with your friends and family. Let's promote a better post COVID world through ethical and sustainable investing! Contact me if you have any questions. Stay well and healthy—and conscious about the ethical and sustainable values of your investments! Thank you for listening. Talk to you next on December 3. Bye for now. © 2021 Ron Robins, Investing for the Soul.
Saturna Capital's Scott Klimo joined Proactive to discuss HANetf's The Saturna Sustainable ESG ETF performance, which he says, has been broadly in line with equity markets over the past couple of months. Klimo says one of its more sizable exposures include wind power, which he says has been challenged the entire year, has been facing downgrades in estimates, which has held the fund back slightly in October.
ETF Trends' Lara Crigger highlights 2021's ESG ETF success stories and explains how the definition of ESG is evolving. BlackRock's Laura Segafredo and MSCI's Sarah Greenberg discuss ESG considerations in investor portfolios, with a particular focus on climate change. Roundhill's Will Hershey offers a unique perspective on ETF ticker symbols and the importance of social […]
Wie baut Frau sich ein nachhaltiges Portfolio auf, ohne auf Firmen hereinzufallen, die Greenwashing betreiben? herMoney holt sich wertvolle Tipps bei Jennifer Brockerhoff. Sie ist Autorin des neu erschienenen Buches „Grüne Finanzen: Von Altersvorsorge bis Geldanlage – der Ratgeber für Einsteiger*innen“. Die langjährige Finanzexpertin erklärt, warum Nachhaltigkeit kein reines Frauenthema sein sollte und welche Siegel und Ratings bei der Auswahl von nachhaltigen Aktien, Fonds und ESG-ETFs relevant sind. Auch das Thema „nachhaltige Banken und Versicherungen“ steht auf der Agenda. Außerdem erklärt Jennifer Brockerhoff, wovon Investor*innen, die sich möglichst ökologisch aufstellen wollen, besser die Finger lassen sollten.
Over the past year there has been a groundswell of interest in passive ESG ETF products as investors look to fill the core areas of their investment strategy with more sustainable solutions, while gaining substantial returns. Despite the increased interest, financial advisors and retail investors have been slower to embrace this generational-driven change due to a lack of education or by not having the investment solutions at the ready.
Burton Malkiel discusses a range of topics including the rise of indexing, ESG, meme stocks, crypto, and more. ETF Trends' Lara Crigger delves into ESG ETF flows and performance, along with the environmental impact of bitcoin mining. Avantis consultant Sunil Wahal explains the “financial science” behind their investment approach.
The ETF that Zhang manages and subadvises for, ECOZ, won the best new ESG ETF for 2020. We talk about how ECOZ's carbon footprint is 85% lower than the S&P 500 Index. Zhang looks for companies that are focused on economic policy, corporate demand for clean energy, and significantly lower technology costs. These factors drive what Zhang calls the new industrial revolution, with the goal of a net zero carbon economy. We also discuss Zhang's work as a co-founder of Women in ETFs, an organization with 7,000 members worldwide, that helps women advance from analyst positions to portfolio managers.
一週財經聚焦 一、5月19日,全美超過15個城市的麥當勞舉行了罷工,要求麥當勞為員工提高最低時薪至15元。 隨著美國經濟的開始復甦,就業數據卻不如人意,這和通貨膨脹間有沒有關聯?要怎麼解讀? 國際媒體相關報導 ●CNN:〈McDonald's is hiking pay -- but only for some workers〉(麥當勞正在調升薪資,但只針對某些員工) ●WSJ華爾街日報:〈U.S. Employers Added 266,000 Jobs in April as Hiring Slowed〉(由於四月份的聘任放慢,美國就業市場只增加26萬6000個就業機會) ●CNBC:〈Fed's Evans says employment and inflation need to pick up before policy changes〉(芝加哥聯準會主席Evans 表示,就業與通貨膨脹必須在政策變化前轉好) 分析解讀 在過去幾周,麥當勞就對外表示,隨著疫情的趨緩,它們面臨到了越來越嚴重的「用工荒」。為此,麥當勞已決定在其直接經營的一小部分餐廳平均加薪10%,也得到其他勞團的支持。來自「國際碼頭與倉儲工人聯合會北加州分會」的Chris Christensen表示,碼頭工人將與速食行業站在一起,一起反抗來自億萬富翁與大企業對勞工的壓迫。 事實上,隨著美國經濟從疫情中復甦,企業確實正苦於人力不足,四月份非農業就業報告顯示缺工、員工難尋是現在企業共通的抱怨。 美國大公司如如Amazon、McDonald、Cosco等,都為了招募更多人手提高工資。Amazon 五月13 日宣佈在美、加地區招募 7.5 萬人,平均工資超過每小時 17 美元,並提供新進員工 1000 美元的聘用獎金,完成疫苗接種者,還能額外領到 100 美元。 事實上,美國從零售業、速食業到叫車公司,都祭出更高工資或更好的福利向勞工招手,過去入門職缺少有的推薦和簽約獎金,現在愈來愈常見。 不只一般企業,連「零工經濟」也是如此,Uber、Lyft兩大叫車公司也將發獎金給推薦新司機的員工。 企業提高工資或加發獎金,意外替拜登政府想把基本工資提高到每小時 15 美元的政策助一臂之力。 但明明企業積極加薪求才,美國卻仍有上千萬人失業,讓有關就業市場景氣的辯論更白熱化。4 月非農就業僅增加 26.6 萬人,跌破眾人眼鏡,同時職缺數激增,企業調查顯示雇主愈來愈難找到足夠的人手。 為何就業市場明明需求孔急,但失業人口還是這麼多?經濟學家指出可能有以下兩個原因: 1.育兒問題,導致一些家長無法回到就業市場。 2.晶片供應短缺,導致車廠被迫裁員。這也是導致勞動力市場怪異現象的部分原因。 在其他地方,勞工短缺也是一個日益嚴重的問題。 在5月17日敞開大門的英國餐飲業老闆正在尋找需要的服務生;在澳大利亞,職位空缺的情況比疫情爆發前高出了40%;歐洲擺脫封鎖的步伐一直比較慢,但從瑞士到德國的空缺職位,也比以往來的多。 不止這樣,為了刺激就業,目前美國已有至少16個州決定提前退出聯邦紓困方案的失業救濟措施,這個決定將影響近200萬人的生計。這些州長表示,勞動力短缺是促使他們決定退出聯邦資金計畫的主要原因,他們認為失業救濟金過高,變相鼓勵人們不用急於找工作,讓企業難以填補職缺。部分經濟學家也認為,就是因為優渥的失業金,才讓許多失業者不願回到就業岡位。 民主黨在實現完全執政後,於今年早些時候通過名為《2021年美國援助計畫法案》(American Rescue Plan Act of 2021),也就是規模高達1.9兆美元的新一輪新冠紓困振興方案,其中最受到關注的措施,包括向美國人直接發放1400美元現金,以及將《新冠援助、救濟和經濟安全法》(CARES Act)之每週加發300美元的聯邦失業給付措施,延長至9月6日勞動節。 隨著勞力需求激增、人民上班意願不足、可用工人短缺,美國大小企業都在努力填補空缺,但小企業抱怨目前處境痛苦不堪,因為他們的待遇水準很難比得上大企業,政府提供受疫情重創小企業的「薪資保護貸款計畫」(Paycheck Protection Program,PPP)將在5月底截止,有些業主擔心若申請不到貸款將陷入困境,雪上加霜。 據華爾街日報委託中小企業主與高管聯盟Vistage Worldwide,對611家小型企業進行調查顯示,75%小型企業計畫明年增加員工人數,但逾三分之二小企業表示,很難找到合格工人。由此看來,美國的「缺工」狀況十分嚴重。小企業主表示,政府增加失業救濟金、申請工作者缺乏適合技能,是公司職缺難以補足的兩大原因。 對於這個情形,我的想法是,就業復甦放緩、通脹壓力驟增,兩大議題正在讓美國政府新一輪刺激計劃前面臨考驗。 但我附和經濟學人提醒的,為了使勞動力市場更好地運轉,政府應該要好好考慮三個P:payments, passports and patience.(支付,護照和耐心)。 首先是payments(支付),最佳的解決方案不是削減福利,而是重新設計福利,以鼓勵勞工積極的工作。 其次是passports(護照),與移民或移工有關的問題該怎麼處理。暫時性的邊界控制措施可以阻止病毒的傳播,但這種控制措施,不應持續超過疫情期間。這就是為什麼在許多國家中,依賴外國人的行業(例如服務業)正面臨著嚴重的勞工短缺原因。政客們必須清楚,封閉的邊界將帶來痛苦的成本改變或產業改變。 最後一個就是patience(耐心)。許多人因為害怕感染Covid-19而迴避工作。隨著疫苗的施打率提高,這些擔憂將逐漸消失。一些產業在勞動力市場中也出現了工作崗位的萎縮與繁榮局面,面對如此大規模的變革,人們可能需要更長的時間,才能找到新的職業發展方向。 現在就業市場和通貨膨脹是美國的兩大問題,而上周提到的CPI破4,對於正在從疫情中復甦的美國經濟而言,無疑不是好消息,不少人想起了上世紀70年代的大通膨時期。 牛津經濟研究院首席經濟學家Gregory Daco在報告中指出,早期數據顯示,5月份的就業報告也可能疲弱。如果工人們不接受工作,不管是出於什麼原因,無論是繼續擔心疾病、缺乏兒童保育、失業救濟金條件太好,或是供應鏈的管理難以解決,問題是怎麼讓人們回來?這是一個不同於為經濟注入紓困刺激的問題。 讓我們回顧一下上世紀70年代的大通膨,到底是怎麼回事。 當時由於布雷頓森林體系(註1)剛剛終結,加上石油危機,美國通脹率持續走高,並在1980年達到13.5%的峰值。 當時美國除了依賴進口石油,經濟與全球的關聯度並不高。大多數消費者購買的商品都是在美國製造的,美國工人的工資在工會的支持下不斷上漲,石油危機和工資上升的共同作用,造成了美國歷史上最大規模的通脹潮。 在卡特總統任期內,美國每月平均增加21.5萬個工作崗位,失業率卻在上升,最終導致其連任失敗。 如今的供應鏈約束正在加劇供需矛盾,而政府財政支持則不斷注入流動性,因此通貨膨脹預期不斷上行。 不過真正的通貨膨脹螺旋,發生在工資漲幅開始跟上物價水準的時候。當今環境與70年代的最大的差別,在於勞動力絕對缺乏定價權,這一點從政府最低工資談判的艱難程度可見一斑。因此,我對美國經濟前景持樂觀態度,同時通脹持續惡化的可能性不大。 摩根大通CEO Jamie Dimon本月初在接受美國媒體採訪時指出,美國經濟即將迎來一輪繁榮,但如果刺激計劃安排不當,之前的努力可能會被浪費。 當然,市場難免擔心通膨升高可能引發美國聯準會收緊貨幣刺激政策,連帶使股市重挫。瑞銀UBS就認為,通膨擔憂不太可能令股市漲勢結束,建議透過金融和能源等行業為在通膨佈局,因為歷史上這些類股,往往受益於通膨上升或收益率走高 。 重要的是,主要央行已表明無意因為物價短暫上升而收緊貨幣政策。美聯準會官員重申了這一訊息,美聯準會理事Lael Brainard 表示,決策者應該保持耐心,等待後疫情時代數據失真逐漸恢復正常。 類股走勢反映出對通膨與收益率上升的擔憂,「再通膨」受益股和價值股普遍跑贏科技股和成長股。例如美國能源股跑贏大盤0.6個百分點,金融股跑贏1.7個百分點,科技股雲集的納斯達克指數則下挫2.3%。 二、5月20日,CFA( 特許金融分析師協會)協會亞太區在香港表示,各國監管機構將ESG披露標準,由上市公司推廣至投資產品及基金經理。 市場上的ESG標準過於繁多,已經出現魚目混珠的情況。投資人應該怎麼對待這個現象? 國際媒體相關報導 ●Economist經濟學人:〈Sustainable finance is rife with greenwash. Time for more disclosure〉(可持續綠色金融已經泛濫成災。是時候進行更多的披露了) ●WSJ華爾街日報:〈Who Really Pays for ESG Investing?〉(誰會真的為ESG投資買單?) ●FT倫敦金融時報:〈CFA offers certification in sustainable investing〉(特許金融分析師協會對永續投資提出要求驗證) 分析解讀 環境、社會及管治(ESG)的投資越來越多,但市場上基金「漂綠」(Greenwashing)情況也很多。CFA協會就投資產品的ESG披露準則發表意見,以提高附有 ESG 相關特性投資產品之透明度及比較性,並宣布初稿將於今年11月發表。 徵詢稿對投資產品策略的8項因素,作出披露規定及建議,包括投資目標、投資基準、ESG資訊來源及類型、ESG 剔除項目、有關財務分析及估值的 ESG 資訊、投資組合層面的 ESG 標準及特性以及盡責管理,以達到產品透明化的目的。 香港擬在2025年全面落實,而歐盟發展較為成熟,於今年3月全面落實「永續金融披露規範」(SFDR),將投資基金分為「深綠基金」、「淺綠基金」,及「灰色基金」三大類別。 同時間,新加坡交易所、DBS集團、淡馬錫和渣打集團,聯合推出全球碳交易平臺及項目市集Climate Impact X(CIX),以提供高品質的碳信用額(carbon credits,簡稱碳信用),預料在今年底前推出。 CIX的交易平臺主要通過標準化合約,將具規模及高質量的碳信用銷售給跨國公司和機構投資者等市場參與,以爭奪綠色投資的市場。 回頭來看,台灣金管會主委黃天牧5月3日也表示,在推動CSR與ESG上,台灣是與世界同步併行的,同時也會防止企業只作表面,即嚴禁「漂藍」、「漂綠」,所以也將陸續推出相關的認證與評鑑機制,供投資人更清楚的分辨。 而綠能也成為台灣金融業的投資顯學,過去幾個月,至少五家金融業喊進,包括永豐銀、星展銀、兆豐銀、國票金以及滙豐銀,綠色債券、太陽能光電都是必搶之地,星展銀更指出,看好離岸風電發展下,台灣未來將有機會成為主要專案融資中心。 事實上,全球ESG投資在2019年下半年熱度開始攀升,2020年進入了ESG的投資大爆發,總計ESG相關投資年增長50%。從數據來看,ESG概念基金規模2015年僅4,000億美元,到2019年底足足增長了一倍至8,000億美元,2020年底總投資金額更達1.2兆美元。由此可知,綠色投資現在的確是眾人追尋的目標。以國泰金控與臺北大學在去年底合作的台灣SRI(社會責任投資)調查中也顯示,台灣相關投資金額佔總資產規模已達31.7%。 在這樣的全球ESG與SRI投資趨勢下,台灣投資人該如何參與相關的投資? 由於台灣主管機關積極推動公司治理3.0,將有越來越多台灣上市櫃企業致力於永續經營,帶動ESG相關的ETF或基金發展潛力。現階段,國內投資人仍然能夠透過近300檔國際級ESG基金與ETF標的進行佈局,或透過專業的ESG評等公司所評等出表現優秀的公司作為投資標的。 聯合國於2015年啟動「2030永續發展目標(SDGs)」,提出17項全球政府與企業共同邁向永續發展的目標後,ESG開始受到關注,再加上如氣候組織(The Climate Group)與碳揭露計畫(Carbon Disclosure Project, CDP)所主導的全球再生能源倡議,從美系大廠Apple、 Facebook、Nike,到台灣的台積電、台達電積極參與下,ESG投資需求也成為投資市場的新顯學。 2020年的Covid-19無預警的發生,使得全球有三分之一的人口一度被禁止外出,大自然的反撲,也讓投資人對節能減碳、社會關懷、產業鏈維繫等重要議題關注提升,綠色投資也迎來榮景。 ESG投資期望創造更穩定報酬外,更重要的積極使命是透過ESG投資,讓已將ESG設定目標的公司做的更好,也讓還未加入ESG的公司加快參與腳步,否則將被投資人拒於門外。 分析台灣ESG基金/ETF結構,其中約65%是大型股,而海外ESG基金/ETF則約60%配置股票、20%則配置在債券。因此,基本上股債配置已將投資風險降低,若再加上ESG認證,相信對於退休族與穩健型的投資人來說,將是投資佈局中不可或缺的重要版圖。 可是伴隨而來的「漂綠(Greenwashing)」也不是陌生字眼。漂綠,指的是「以友善環境為名義,遮蓋掩護其產品、政策、或行動,掛羊頭賣狗肉」。 當投資人重視企業是否破壞環境時,公司就會藉「漂綠」,來宣傳和誇大其推動改善環境的績效。像是有些原物料業、食品業會高舉拯救雨林大旗,卻只是印印DM、辦辦宣傳會,或用非主流產品當做形象急先鋒。放到投資上,這就成了基金經理人為「漂綠基金」加冕的一道綠色光環。 這的確需要譴責,因為這是道德不良的典範。 隨著ESG基金的總資產管理規模(AUM) ,在2020年上半年首度突破一兆美元里程碑,放任冒名、搶熱度的漂綠基金遊走市場,恐將帶來大衝擊,連美國證券交易委員會(SEC)都考慮要更新永續基金的命名規定,希望基金名稱必須和其主要投資政策有相關性,來遏止基金漂綠行為。 面對無所不在的綠色投資宣傳、ESG友善呼籲,投資人最想問的是,我們該如何避開漂綠基金,找到真正永續投資的良心企業? 永續投資簡單說,就是將ESG(Environmental環境;Social社會;Governance公司治理)要素納入投資策略考量。但是,同樣是「永續」「ESG」名號的基金,因投資決策不同,挑選到的ESG企業涉入程度也不一樣。面對眾多的ESG基金,我們可以有以下幾個評斷方法: 1.排除罪惡股。早期有不少基金表面上運用ESG篩選策略,卻僅僅是排除「罪惡股」(如軍火、菸草等),永續深度很有限。 2.遵循第三方廠商ESG評級。多數機構法人以 MSCI、Sustainalytics 等協力廠商評級機構的評分資訊,作為ESG投資決策依據,投資人可以參考。 3.自行調查研究。投資人擁有自行調查研究的能力,更能減少對第三方資訊的依賴,不僅具備前瞻性,也才能真正看懂ESG。 漂綠,就本質來說,是一種行銷上的欺騙行為,想避免這種不良行為,可以以由上至下的法規來解決,像是歐盟在2020年6月通過「永續分類標準」,要求所有金融商品必須揭露其永續性資料;亞洲地區包含香港、新加坡和日本的監管機構也正積極對永續金融實施新規範,以提高ESG治理與公開性。 其次則是落實從下而上的投資人教育,從一片漂綠中洞悉真相,最基礎的方法即是學會問對問題、用心做功課,才能自主撥開漂綠基金的煙霧彈,做到用投資獲利、為社會與環境盡心。 《經濟學人》總評 封面故事 這期雜誌的重點,放在美國的種族問題上。封面上我們看到,在五顏六色的人影憧憧背景前,是去年被員警壓制致死的George Floyd。上面兩排黑色字體,大字寫的是:「Race in America」(美國的種族問題);下面一排小字:「A SPECIAL REPORT」( 一個特別報導)。 在George Floyd被員警壓制致死一年後,這期經濟學人用了七篇文章,告訴我們美國種族議題在過去一年發生的變化。 此外,經濟學人還在美國版塊第一篇指出,其實拜登的「家庭計畫」最主要的目的是想要脫貧,經濟學人認為,確實不應該只解決某一個種族問題,而是應該讓整個美國脫貧,切斷種族與貧窮之間的連結 Floyd 的去世引發了美國有史以來最大規模的民權抗議活動,警察Chauvin也不同以往,被了判謀殺罪成立,美國及美國以外的機構,也開始以不同的眼光看待自己。有些事情確實需要改變。 但到底是什麼需要改變呢?經濟學人指出,當三個狀況同時發生時,大部分的種族差距就會出現,這三個狀況是:長期以來的經濟趨勢、奴隸制和種族隔離的遺留作用,以及當今對種族的既有歧視。前兩個通常是造成非裔美國人對現狀不滿的主要原因,但第三個狀況更引人關注。 這是一種倒退。種族歧視在美國仍然是一個詛咒,儘管它不像民權運動時期那麼離譜,也沒有30年前那麼普遍,但由於它的根深蒂固,因此想要根除它,不是現在任何一個政府有能力做到的。 貧窮與種族歧視在各個機構中遺留下來的結構性問題是不一樣的。以拜登政府新的兒童稅收減免政策為例,該政策似乎可以將兒童貧困率降低40%,但由於非裔美國人貧困人口高的不成比例,因此這種種族中立的政策,可以讓貧窮的黑人兒童數量減少高達一半。所以經濟學人認為,這個方法不但受到歡迎而且有效,脫貧的方式也是正確的。 註1:布雷頓森林協定(Bretton Woods Agreements)是第二次世界大戰後以美元為中心的國際貨幣體系協定。布雷頓森林體系(Bretton Woods system)是該協定對各國就貨幣的兌換、國際收支的調節、國際儲備資產的構成等問題共同作出的安排所確定的規則、採取的措施及相應的組織機構形式的總和。 Powered by Firstory Hosting
Mark Monfort is the founder & CEO of New Era Analytics, a company dedicated to helping others by turning their raw data into powerful and actionable insights. An example is ETF Tracker which shares interactive analysis of Australian ETFs.https://www.neweraanalytics.com.au/ https://www.etftracker.com.au/Episode blog post: https://www.sharesforbeginners.com/blog/monfort"Some people might buy an ESG ETF and a technology ETF and an overall market ETF and not realize that there's crossover in the holdings. You might have CBA and Resmed and CSL appear in quite a few of those because of how those ETFs are set up."Portfolio tracker Sharesight tracks your trades, shows your true performance, and saves you time and money at tax time. Get 4 months free at https://www.sharesight.com/au/sharesforbeginnersDisclosure: The links provided are affiliate links. I will be paid a commission if you use these link to make a purchase. You will also usually receive a discount by using these links/coupon codes. I only recommend products and services that I use and trust myself or where I have interviewed and/or met the founders and have assured myself that they're offering something of value. Shares for Beginners is for information and educational purposes only. It isn't financial advice, and you shouldn't buy or sell any investments based on what you've heard here. Any opinion or commentary is the view of the speaker only not Shares for Beginners. This podcast doesn't replace professional advice regarding your personal financial needs, circumstances or current situation. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Alternative Energy Picks and Surprises. Plus… Equinor, Covanta Holdings, Evergy, Ocean Power Technologies, Torchlight Energy Resources Inc., SunHydrogen Inc., Vanguard ESG U.S. Stock ETF, Fidelity Sustainability Bond Index Fund, Calvert US Large-Cap Core Responsible Index Fund, Evoqua Water Technologies Corp., AECOM, BlackRock U.S. Carbon Transition Readiness ETF, BlackRock World ex U.S. Carbon Transition Readiness ETF PODCAST: Alternative Energy Picks and Surprises. Plus… Transcript & Links, Episode 56, April 23, 2021 Hello, Ron Robins here. Welcome to podcast episode 56 published on April 23, titled “Alternative Energy Picks and Surprises. Plus…”— and presented by Investing for the Soul. investingforthesoul.com is your site for vital global ethical and sustainable investing news, commentary, information, and resources. Remember that you can find a full transcript, links to content – including stock symbols, quotes, and bonus material – at this episode’s podcast page located at investingforthesoul.com/podcasts. And Google any terms that are unfamiliar to you. ------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Alternative Energy Picks and Surprises. Plus… In this podcast, we return to alternative energy picks. The first article is titled 3 Alternative Energy Stocks Defying Industry Challenges. It’s by Zacks analyst Aparajita Dutta and is on the Zacks site. As usual, I’ll mention the company name followed by select quotes from Ms. Dutta. “1) Equinor (EQNR) Based in Stavanger, Norway, is one of the premier integrated energy companies in the world… The company is investing actively in renewable energy projects, comprising power generation from solar and wind energy… The company currently holds a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). 2) Covanta Holdings (CVA) Based in Morristown, NJ, Covanta offers waste and energy solution to its customers by processing the waste and generating energy out of it… The company delivered an average earnings surprise of 267.90% in the last four quarters. The company currently holds a Zacks Rank #2. 3) Evergy (EVRG) Based in Kansas, MI, Evergy provides clean, safe and reliable energy to 1.6 million customers in Kansas and Missouri. It is home to the largest electric vehicle charging network in the United States and has one of the top 10 wind portfolios of electric utilities in the country… The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).” End quotes. ------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Alternative Energy Picks and Surprises. Plus… Continuing on the theme of alternative energy is Top Penny Stocks To Buy Now? (with a BIG question mark!) 4 Alternative Energy Stocks To Watch by D. Marie. The author isn’t giving outright buy recommendations but as stocks to look at. Each stock offers different perspectives on what you might consider being in the speculative alternative energy space. The article is on pennystocks.com. Again, I’ll mention the company followed by a few quotes by the author on each company. Now, before I begin, some might want to skip the first one as it involves uranium mining! “1) Denison Mines Corp. (NYSE: DNN) Denison is a uranium exploration and development company. Its main project is the Wheeler River Uranium project located in the Athabasca Basin region in Saskatchewan… its stock price has nearly tripled in the last 6 months. 2) Ocean Power Technologies (NASDAQ: OPTT) This company specializes in the development and commercialization of renewable electricity generating systems using ocean waves. 3) Torchlight Energy Resources Inc. (NASDAQ: TRCH) Energy Resources was an oil and gas company. However, it is now working towards meeting regulations to consummate its previously announced business combination with Metamaterial Inc. It develops high-performance materials and nanocomposite products used in things like solar energy and auto applications. 4) SunHydrogen Inc. (OTC: HYSR) The final energy penny stock to watch just saw a massive price increase. SunHydrogen is a solar technology company based in California. It is developing solar-powered nanoparticle systems to act as photosynthesis, to separate hydrogen from water.” End quotes. ------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Alternative Energy Picks and Surprises. Plus… In this next article, I return to ESG ETF recommendations. These are from two analysts -- Paulina Likos and Matt Whittaker -- who wrote an article titled 7 Best Socially Responsible Funds. It was on the Yahoo! Finance site. Again, I’ll first mention the fund’s name followed by quotes from the authors concerning that particular fund. Quote: “1) Vanguard ESG U.S. Stock ETF (ESGV) According to Vanguard, (this) ETF excludes stocks of certain companies that don't meet standards of U.N. global compact principles and companies that don't meet certain diversity criteria. Stefano Safaei, managing director of investments at Wedbush Securities, highlights (a) low expense ratio and impressive performance as attractive features for investors. 2) 1919 Socially Responsible Balanced Fund (SSIAX) Some of the fund's criteria include excluding companies that have significant direct exposure to fossil fuel real assets, investing in companies with fair employment practices and seeking assets that have respect for human rights. 3) Fidelity International Sustainability Index Fund (FNIDX Most of its securities are a part of the MSCI ACWI ex USA ESG Index, a capitalization-weighted index that offers investors exposure to large and midcap companies in developed and emerging markets with high ESG performance. 4) Fidelity Sustainability Bond Index Fund (FNDSX) This Fidelity fund follows the Bloomberg Barclays MSCI U.S. Aggregate ESG Choice Bond Index, which includes investment-grade debt securities. 5) Calvert US Large-Cap Core Responsible Index Fund (CISIX) According to the fund's fact sheet, its holdings had 88% lower fossil fuel reserves, 100% lower tobacco exposure and 83% lower toxic emissions than the Russell 1000. 6) SPDR S&P 500 Fossil Fuel Reserves Free ETF (SPYX) The fund, made up of large-cap U.S. equities, tracks the performance of the S&P 500 Fossil Fuel Free Index. 7) Shelton Green Alpha Fund (NEXTX) … seeks environmentally conscious companies that have demonstrated their ability to manage environmental risk and have above-average growth potential." End quotes. ------------------------------------------------------------- 10 Best Stocks That Will Gain From Biden’s Job and Infrastructure Plan Infrastructure continues to gain interest from ethical and sustainable investors. So, I’ve got one more article here. It’s titled 10 Best Stocks That Will Gain From Biden’s Job and Infrastructure Plan. It’s by Usman Kabir and appeared on Yahoo! Finance. So, I’ll mention the stock and follow it with a few select quotes from Mr. Kabir. Quote, starting with no. 10. 10) Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE: CLF) … is an Ohio-based company in the mining and steelmaking business… (and) the largest steelmaker in the country. 9) Quanta Services, Inc. (NYSE: PWR) Quanta Services, Inc. is a Houston-based company that provides infrastructure services for communications, industries, electric power companies and pipeline projects… it is one of the key players in the American market that focuses on modernization of the electrical grid using renewable energy. 8) Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE: VMC) In the US, the firm is the largest producer of construction aggregates, namely gravel, crushed stone, sand, and concrete. 7) American Tower Corporation (REIT) (NYSE: AMT) American Tower Corporation (REIT) is a Boston-based real-estate investment trust that owns and operates mobile phone towers across the world. American Jobs Plan envisions spending more than $100 billion to widen the high speed broadband nest in the country. 6) Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) Applied Materials, Inc. is a California-based firm that supplies equipment, services and software for the manufacturing of semiconductor chips… As broadband occupies a top priority in the American Jobs Plan, the digital acceleration of the economy from high-speed internet is expected to drive the demand for these chips. 5) American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ: AEP) American Electric Power Company, Inc. is an Ohio-based electric company meeting the electrical needs of millions of American citizens in more than ten states across the country. President Joe Biden has marked $100 billion to modernize the American electrical infrastructure. 4) Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE: UNP) Union Pacific Corporation is a Nebraska-based railroad holding company. It is one of the largest rail providers in the Western US, posting strong profits that it expects to grow by 31% over the next two years. 3) Evoqua Water Technologies Corp. (NYSE: AQUA) The firm offers capital systems and related recurring services for treating industrial process water, utility water, and wastewater… Evoqua also makes products that filter and separate clean and dirty water. Since the American Jobs Plan envisions the provision of clean water to every American household, the firm could benefit from it. 2) Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) … is one of the largest game companies in North America and Europe. US President (Biden) has pushed for increased access to high-speed broadband across the country… The COVID-19 pandemic pushed the stock of the firm higher owing to increased video-game demand. 1) AECOM (NYSE: ACM) … is a California-based American engineering firm. Since infrastructure spending forms the biggest chunk of the American Jobs Plan, the firm will stand to gain a lot from the multitude of new projects that will be initiated by the US government… It also operates an environmental and risk management department for big projects. ------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Alternative Energy Picks and Surprises. Plus… Now a quick piece of interesting news titled BlackRock Launches Two Carbon Transition ETFs, ‘LCTU’ & ‘LCTD’ by Aaron Neuwirth. Published on etftrends.com. Quote, “The BlackRock U.S. Carbon Transition Readiness ETF (LCTU) and the BlackRock World ex U.S. Carbon Transition Readiness ETF (LCTD) invest in large- and mid-cap companies. The two funds raised more than $1.5 billion… The day-one investments into the BlackRock U.S. Carbon Transition Readiness ETF make it the largest ETF launch ever.” End quotes. ------------------------------------------------------------- Ending Comment Well, these are my top news stories with their stock and fund tips -- for this podcast: “Alternative Energy Picks and Surprises. Plus… “ To get all the links, stock symbols, or to read the transcript of this podcast -- and more -- go to investingforthesoul.com/podcasts and scroll down to this episode. Also, be sure to click the like and subscribe buttons in iTunes/Apple Podcasts or wherever you download or listen to this podcast. And please click the share buttons to share this podcast with your friends and family. Let’s promote a better post COVID world through ethical and sustainable investing! Contact me if you have any questions. Stay well and healthy—and conscious about the ethical and sustainable values of your investments! Thank you for listening. Talk to you next on May 7. Bye for now. © 2021 Ron Robins, Investing for the Soul.
In this episode we follow on with the theme of episode 20, being ESG ETF investments, by looking at the specific options available to South African investors on the JSE. Sygnia recently listed the third ESG ETF on the JSE – the Sygnia Itrix S&P Global 1200 ESG ETF. How does this differ from the other two options already available?
Sygnia, the asset manager founded by Magda Wierzycka, has launched a new exchange-traded fund (ETF), giving investors exposure to overseas companies that promote sustainable investment. Sygnia Itrix S&P Global 1200 ESG ETF was listed on the main board of the JSE on Monday, bringing the number of ETFs listed on the local bourse to 79, with the combined market value of R109.8bn. The fund is also expected to list on A2X Markets. To find out more about the fund Michael Avery caught up with Iva Madjarova, Sygnia’s Head of investment Consulting and Itrix
Petri Redelinghuys of Herenya Capital on the markets for the week ahead. Sygnia's Iva Madjarova on the new Sygnia ESG global ETF. Purple Group CEO Charles Savage on Purple Group reporting strong interims.
New ESG S&P Indexes. Top tech stocks, and more! Reviewed include Twillio, Etsy, Pinterest, Xtrackers S&P MidCap 400 ESG ETF, Xtrackers S&P SmallCap 600 ESG ETF, Humankind US Stock ETF, CropEnergies AG, SunPower Corporation, Renewable Energy Group, Inc., Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P., NextEra Energy, Inc., Ørsted A/S, Vestas Wind Systems A/S, Tesla, Inc., Iberdrola, S.A. PODCAST: New ESG S&P Indexes. Top Tech Stocks Transcript & Links, Episode 53, March 12, 2021 Hello, Ron Robins here. Welcome to podcast episode 53 published on March 12, titled “New ESG S&P Indexes, Top Tech Stocks”— and presented by Investing for the Soul. investingforthesoul.com is your site for vital global ethical and sustainable investing news, commentary, information, and resources. Remember that you can find a full transcript, links to content – including stock symbols, quotes, and bonus material – at this episode’s podcast page located at investingforthesoul.com/podcasts. And Google any terms that are unfamiliar to you. ------------------------------------------------------------- Appearing on fool.com Danny Vena wrote an interesting article titled 3 Top Tech Stocks That Will Make You Richer in March (and Beyond). I think these would likely fit in any ethical and sustainable portfolio. I’ll mention the three stocks followed by some brief comments from Mr. Vena. “1. Twilio (NYSE: TWLO) Many consumers have used Twilio's tools without even realizing it. The real-time messages you get from your food delivery service? The updates from your rideshare provider? The ability to reset a password within an app? How about in-app chats with customer service? If you've experienced any of those, there's a pretty good chance it was underpinned by Twilio's technology. 2. Etsy (NASDAQ: ETSY) While e-commerce platforms Amazon and Shopify stole the headlines last year, they were both outdone by the little engine that could: Etsy. The tailwinds that propelled digital retail also extended to retro and vintage goods, as well as handmade products. Those trends all played right into Etsy's wheelhouse. The company turned these once niche markets into a lucrative enterprise… 3. Pinterest (NYSE: PINS) It seems like it's only a matter of time before antitrust and regulatory concerns catch up with Facebook… Investors looking for exposure to social media growth without all the drama are turning to Pinterest… The platform acts as a digital repository and ‘visual discovery engine’ that allows users to find, save, and organize all their favorite things from around the internet.” End quotes. ------------------------------------------------------------- New ESG S&P Indexes Now, this could be something that many ethical and sustainable investors might like. The details are in an article 2 new ESG ETFs bring small- and mid-cap stocks into focus. It’s by Jeff Benjamin and was on investmentnews.com. Mr. Benjamin writes that: “Xtrackers S&P MidCap 400 ESG ETF (MIDE), and Xtrackers S&P SmallCap 600 ESG ETF (SMLE) listed Wednesday applying sustainable investing screens to the popular indexes. These are the first ETFs to track the environmental, social and governance versions of the indexes… The new listings follow the Xtrackers S&P 500 ESG ETF (SNPE), which launched in June 2019 and has since grown to nearly $450 million. That fund gained 19.9% in 2020 and is up 3.4% this year through Feb. 23, which compares to the S&P 500 Index, which gained 16.3% last year and is up 3.3% so far this year.” End quotes. ------------------------------------------------------------- 15 Biggest Renewable Energy Companies and Stocks So, here we go again with another analysis of the renewable energy sector titled 15 Biggest Renewable Energy Companies and Stocks. It’s by Ty Haqqi and was found on Yahoo! Finance. I’ll list each company followed by some remarks on that company by Mr. Haqqi. We start going backward. “15. CropEnergies AG (XETRA: CE2.DE) CropEnergies is the leading European producer of ethanol. Ethanol, while not as clean a resource as wind or solar, is still a viable source of renewable energy. The company produces biofuels from renewable raw materials such as sugar syrups, wheat, and raw alcohol from wheat, maize, and barley. 14. SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWR) The Silicon Valley-based energy company SunPower Corp is partially owned by the French multinational oil and gas company Total SE (NYSE: TOT). SunPower develops and manufactures solar panels and photovoltaic cells. The company has received more than 1,000 patents for solar innovation. 13. Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras SA Preference Shares Series B (BVMF: ELET6) Headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, this Brazilian power company is among the top global clean energy companies in the world… More than 90% of Eletrobras’ installed capacity comes from sources with low greenhouse gas emissions. 12. Renewable Energy Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: REGI) This US-based company has been providing cleaner fuels including biodiesel, renewable diesel as well as a mixture of the two known as REG Ultra Clean. The company operates 12 biorefineries dispersed across America as well as in Europe. 11. Hanergy Holding Group (Private) It is China's largest privately-held energy enterprise operating on projects of hydro, wind, and solar power. It is known for being the leader in thin-film solar technology. 10. Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. (NYSE: BEP) Known as one of the world's largest investors in renewable power, this Canadian company operates in the wind, solar, and hydro power sectors of the renewable energy industry. Brookfield Renewable Partner’s parent company, Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE: BAM) is ranked at 155 on Fortune’s Global 500 Ranking. 9. First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) First Solar is an American company established in 2001, most recognized for selling Photovoltaic Systems, and Photovoltaic Modules… First Solar has also recently pledged to power 100% of its global solar PV manufacturing operations with renewable energy by the year 2028. 8. Canadian Solar Inc (NASDAQ: CSIQ) … is (a) solar PV (photovoltaic) module manufacturer. The company has subsidiaries in 20 countries while their products are bought by customers hailing from more than 150 countries. 7. JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. (NYSE: JKS) JinkoSolar currently stands as the top solar panel manufacturer in the world by market share, distributing solar products to many countries. 6. NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE) A subsidiary of the Fortune 500 company NextEra Energy, NextEra Energy Resources is the world's largest generator of wind and solar renewable energy… They also offer energy storage and energy marketing among other services. 5. Ørsted A/S (CPH: ORSTED.CO) The company has been ranked as the topmost sustainable energy company in the world by Corporate Knights Global 100 Index for three consecutive years. The multinational company is also the largest energy company in Denmark, providing wind power, bioenergy, thermal power, and customer solutions and distributions. 4. Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, S.A. (MCE: SGRE.MC) The company was formed as a result of the merger between Siemens Wind Power and Gamesa. Siemens Gamesa is a Spanish-German wind engineering company. The Sustainability Yearbook compiled annually by S&P Global Inc. (NYSE: SPGI) has named this company several times over the years, recognizing efforts made to promote and achieve sustainability. 3. Vestas Wind Systems A/S (CPH: VWS.CO) Vestas Wind Systems stands as the largest installer of wind turbines in the world… Vestas Wind Systems also provides a digital platform known as Vestas Online for wind turbine owners to manage their wind turbine-related self-services including invoices, blade asset management, and service order reports. 2. Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) Elon Musk’s electric-car company is also a big leader in the renewable energy industry. The company also sells energy storage, solar roof tiles, and solar panels. Its subsidiary, SolarCity Corporation (also known as Tesla Solar), manufactures these products and is known to be a low-cost provider of solar products. 1. Iberdrola, S.A. (MCE: IBE.MC) Topping our list of 15 biggest renewable energy companies and stocks is none other than the Spanish multinational energy giant, Iberdrola. Beginning as Hartford City Light Company in USA over 170 years ago, Iberdrola has grown to be the number-one producer of wind power in the world.” End quotes. ------------------------------------------------------------- Humankind Investments Launches First Sustainable ETF—as a Benefit Corporation! Now this one will be fascinating to watch. The details are in this press release Humankind Investments Launches First Sustainable ETF (HKND). Here are some quotes. “Humankind Investments, a quantitatively driven asset manager specializing in socially responsible investments, announced today the launch of its first exchange traded fund (ETF), the Humankind US Stock ETF. ‘Humankind is exclusively focused on socially responsible investing,’ said Katz. ‘This commitment is reflected in the corporate DNA of the Humankind US Stock ETF – to our knowledge it’s the first Registered Investment Company organized as a benefit corporation…’ The Humankind US Stock ETF leverages the firm’s proprietary Humankind US Equity Index to track the top 1,000 US companies that promote healthier, safer, more equitable and longer lives. The Index’s ranking is based on a quantitative analysis of each company’s positive and negative contributions to society as measured by its impact on investors, consumers, employees and citizens - defined as its ‘Humankind Value.’” End quotes. ------------------------------------------------------------- Top 25 Socially Responsible Dividend Stocks — Income To Feel Good About Now, many of you are interested in dividends from ESG and sustainable stocks and funds. Well, go to this article. And if you feel comfortable sign-up for their free registration to get all their recommendations. Please note, however, I have no idea about who is behind this site and what they may or may not do with your email address though. The article is titled Top 25 Socially Responsible Dividend Stocks — Income To Feel Good About and appeared on etfchannel.com. Here are four that they give away freely. #25. Marathon Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: MPC) — 4.11% Yield #24. International Business Machines Corp (NYSE: IBM) — 5.43% Yield #23. Gilead Sciences Inc (NASDAQ: GILD) — 4.49% Yield #22. Texas Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: TXN) — 2.50% Yield. ------------------------------------------------------------- Well, these are my top news stories with their stock and fund tips -- for this podcast: “New ESG S&P Indexes. TopTech Stocks.“ To get all the links, stock symbols, or to read the transcript of this podcast -- and more -- go to investingforthesoul.com/podcasts and scroll down to this episode. Also, be sure to click the like and subscribe buttons in iTunes/Apple Podcasts or wherever you download or listen to this podcast. And please click the share buttons to share this podcast with your friends and family. Let’s promote a better post COVID world through ethical and sustainable investing! Contact me if you have any questions. Stay well and healthy—and conscious about the ethical and sustainable values of your investments! Thank you for listening. Talk to you next on March 26. Bye for now. © 2021 Ron Robins, Investing for the Soul.
在第三期里,我们聊了ESG (环境,社会,企业管理)是怎么样让从事金融业的老粥和先儿成为职场“红”人的,今天我们来聊一聊ESG投资,以及如何理解ESG指数和评级。 00:54 – 想要投资ESG概念股?从了解ESG评级开始吧! 05:20 –ESG的评级机构的数量繁多,背景迥异,评级分歧巨大。 12:01 – ESG评级的评级员现象 “rater effect” 是偏见吗? 18:42 - ESG评级众说纷纭,ESG概念股该怎么买? 24:00 - ESG指数基金(ETF)能跑赢一般指数基金吗? 28:45 - 特斯拉ESG评级太低,也许无缘加入标普500 ESG指数? 33:00 – ESG潮流与 “比特币”背道而驰? 本期词条 ESG评级公司 穆迪公司于2019年4月16日宣布,该公司已收购环境、社会与治理(ESG)研究、数据和评估领域的全球领导者Vigeo Eiris的多数股权。此次收购进一步推进了穆迪力求帮助更多市场参与者采用ESG全球标准的目标。 标普全球 ESG 评分是一个环境、社会和治理数据集,根据SAM 公司可持续发展评估(CSA, 对公司可持续实践的年度评估)流程提供公司级别、要素级别和标准级别的评分。这是最先进的 ESG 评分方法之一,依托的是 20 年来分析可持续性对公司长期价值创造的影响的丰富经验。此数据集提供:1) 可持续性评分,对 7000 多家公司的业务价值驱动因素(包括增长、盈利能力、资本效率和风险敞口)有影响;2)基于 SAM 的媒体和利益相关者分析 (MSA, 评估公司对年内可能出现的关键可持续性问题的反应) 的定性筛选;3)可追溯至 2013 年的完整数据历史;4)轻松关联到标普全球市场财智的其他标识符。https://www.marketplace.spglobal.com/zh/datasets/s-p-global-esg-scores-(171) MSCI ESG Research公开了2800多家公司的 MSCI ESG评级。MSCI ESG Research根据各公司的ESG风险暴露程度及其相对于同业的风险管理成效,对各公司进行 “AAA至CCC”范围的评级。MSCI ESG评级是利用来自公司披露和替代数据集的1000个数据点构建,涵盖每周审查的37个关键ESG问题。MSCI利用人工智能和机器学习,以及200多个强大团队1持续监测和更新各公司的相关动态,并提供相关ESG见解。 ESG指数 道琼斯全球可持续发展指数;道琼斯区域可持续发张指数;道琼斯国家可持续发展指数 MSCI ESG领导者指数;MSCI ESG关注指数;MSCI责任投资指数;MSCI ESG广泛指数 恒生可持续发展企业指数;恒生A股可持续发展企业指数 富时罗素社会责任指数;富时罗素ESG指数
In this week's Bloomberg Intelligence Radio show featuring our analysts and their research, Anand Srinivasan gives his take on how higher mobile, auto and industrial chip demand, combined with shortages, is skewing the market. Eric Balchunas talks about efforts to revive the VanEck Social Sentiment ETF. Shaheen Contractor details the surge in ESG ETF assets, Elchin Mammadov discusses how the hydrogen boom may pit oil and gas against utilities and Grant Sporre shows where metals investors are finding value. The BI Radio show podcasts through Apple’s iTunes, Spotify and Luminary. It broadcasts on Saturdays and Sundays at noon on Bloomberg’s flagship station WBBR (1130 AM) in New York, 106.1 FM/1330 AM in Boston, 99.1 FM in Washington, 960 AM in the San Francisco area, channel 119 on SiriusXM, www.bloombergradio.com, and iPhone and Android mobile apps. Bloomberg Intelligence, the research arm of Bloomberg L.P., provides in-depth analysis and data on more than 2,000 companies and 130 industries. On the Bloomberg terminal, run BI .
ESG Fund stock picks covered include Invesco Solar ETF, iShares Global Clean Energy ETF, ALPS Clean Energy ETF, iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF, Xtrackers S&P 500 ESG ETF, First Trust Water ETF, SPDR SSGA Gender Diversity Index ETF, Sunnova Energy International Inc., Canadian Solar Inc., SolarEdge Technologies Inc., First Solar, and Enphase Energy. More PODCAST: ESG Fund Stock Picks Under Biden Transcript & Links, Episode 50, January 29, 2021 Hello, Ron Robins here. Welcome to podcast episode 50 published on January 29, titled “ESG Fund Stock Picks Under Biden”— and presented by Investing for the Soul. investingforthesoul.com is your site for vital global ethical and sustainable investing news, commentary, information, and resources. Remember that you can find a full transcript, links to content – including stock symbols, quotes, and bonus material – at this episode’s podcast page located at investingforthesoul.com/podcasts. And Google any terms that are unfamiliar to you. ------------------------------------------------------------- 1. ESG Fund Stock Picks Under Biden This first article suggested the title for the podcast. It’s titled 7 ESG Funds to Buy Under a Biden Administration by Debbie Carlson and was on USNews.com. I’ll mention each of the seven funds, followed by some brief comments by Ms. Carlson on each one. “1) Invesco Solar ETF (TAN) ETFs that focus on renewable energy already saw a strong run up in 2021. Todd Rosenbluth, senior director of ETF and mutual fund research for CFRA, expects that to continue… Invesco Solar is focused directly on that industry with its mix of technology and semiconductor equipment firms… (The stock) more than doubled in price in 2020. 2) iShares Global Clean Energy ETF (ICLN) … gives investors diversification at both the geographic and sector level, Rosenbluth says, and includes companies in both the wind and solar energy industries… (It’s) geographic breakdown is nearly a third in the U.S., but it also includes companies based in China, New Zealand, Spain and Canada. (The) iShares Global Clean Energy ETF has seen… a nearly 140% return in 2020. 3) ALPS Clean Energy ETF (ACES) … gives investors exposure to clean energy companies such as SunPower Corp. (SPWR), but it also holds electric vehicle maker Tesla (TSLA). (It’s) a newer ETF, having debuted in 2018, but it already has more than $750 million in assets under management. 4) iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF (ESGU) Investor demand for broadly diversified ESG ETFs grew in 2020, and Rosenbluth says he expects that to continue in 2021… This iShares fund includes both Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) among its top holdings, which are considered strong corporate citizens from an ESG perspective, although he points out that those companies' investment merit isn't necessarily driven by ESG revenue growth. 5) Xtrackers S&P 500 ESG ETF (SNPE) Daniel Milan, managing partner at Cornerstone Financial Services, likes the Xtrackers S&P 500 ESG ETF for how well it mirrors the S&P 500. (It) uses an exclusionary screen to keep out tobacco firms and controversial weapons makers, (and) those which score low on the United Nations Global Compact ranking or companies in the bottom 25% of ESG ratings within their industry. 6) First Trust Water ETF (FIW) Milan says that although First Trust Water ETF doesn't have ESG in its name, for people interested in the water sector, this is his choice. The fund holds 36 of the largest water companies in the U.S., Canada and Brazil ranked by market cap and weighted equally within five tiers. 7) SPDR SSGA Gender Diversity Index ETF (SHE) There may be more focus on gender diversity, especially with Nasdaq's push to enforce gender diversity in corporate boardrooms for the companies that are listed on its exchange… Top holdings include PayPal Holdings (PYPL) and Netflix (NFLX).” End quotes. ------------------------------------------------------------- 2. ESG Fund Stock Picks Under Biden You know, I don’t choose the sectors to follow. I let what the analysts write in their news flows do that. And the analysts are just totally in love with solar energy. So, here’s yet another post on that sector, titled, 10 Best Solar Energy Stocks to Buy Now. It’s written by Ozgur Yalcin and appeared on Yahoo! Finance. He used solar stocks most favored by hedge funds as the basis for selection. Here are the stocks each followed by some brief comments from Mr. Yalcin. Incidentally, the stock gains he mentions of this year I believe refer to 2020. 10) Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure (NYSE: HASI) Hannon Armstrong is a US-based large-cap investment company solely dedicated to investments in climate solutions, providing capital to companies in energy efficiency, renewable energy, and other sustainable infrastructure markets. The business currently has more than $6 billion in managed assets with 208 total investments. The company’s key markets are distributed solar systems, storage, onshore wind and solar land grid connections, stormwater remediation, (and) ecological restoration… Stock gain this year is 116.9% and the compound 3 year revenue growth rate is 34.4%. 9) Sunpower Corp (NASDAQ: SPWR) … is a US-based large-cap company that designs all-in-one residential and commercial solar system solutions backed by personal customer service… Stock gain this year is 290.7% and the compound 3 year revenue growth rate is -3.6… Moreover, Goldman Sachs recently lifted its price target for Sunpower stock from $23 per share to $33 per share, another reason behind the latest stock rally." 8) Daqo New Energy (NYSE: DQ) … is a China-based large-cap company (and a) leading manufacturer of high-purity polysilicon for the global solar PV industry. The company is known for high-purity polysilicon production with a capacity of 70.000 metric tons per year. Stock gain this year is 660.8% and the compound 3 year revenue growth rate is 29.7%. 7) Clearway Energy Inc (NYSE: CWEN) … is a North America-based large-cap… publicly-traded energy infrastructure (company)… focused on modern, sustainable, and long-term contracted assets across North America… Stock gain is 72.7% and the compound 3 year revenue growth rate is 4.1%. 6. Sunnova Energy International Inc (NYSE: NOVA) … is a US-based large-cap company that provides residential solar and energy storage services, with customers across the US and its territories. With home solar systems, battery storage, roof replacement, monitoring, maintenance, and financing options, the company has more than 100k customers. Stock gain 349.5% and the compound YoY revenue growth rate is 27%. 5) Canadian Solar Inc (NASDAQ: CSIQ) … is a Canada-based large-cap global company that produces and sells solar photovoltaic products and provides energy solutions as well as one of the largest solar power plant developers globally… The company reaches 150 countries with 17 manufacturing facilities. In 2021, it (expects)… a 10% growth in shipment capacity. Stock gain 148.3% and the compound 3 year revenue growth rate is 4.4%. 4) Sunrun Inc (NASDAQ: RUN) … business focuses on solar panel sales, storage systems, and financing… Sunrun Inc has over 500,000 customers and has sold its solar service in 22 US states. Stock gain 526.7% and the compound 3 year revenue growth rate is 19.1%. 3) SolarEdge Technologies Inc (NASDAQ: SEDG) … is an Israel-based but US-domiciled large-cap smart solutions company that provides power optimizers, solar inverters, and monitoring systems for photovoltaic arrays. Stock gain 231.3% and the compound 3 year revenue growth rate is 42.1%. 2) First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR) … is a US-based large-cap global company that develops, finances, engineers, constructs, and currently operates many of the world’s largest grid-connected PV power plants. Stock gain 84.6% and the compound 3 year revenue growth rate is 6.1%. 1) Enphase Energy (NASDAQ: ENPH) The Company delivers solutions to residential and commercial solar PV systems as well as storage, accessories, and management app programs. (Enphase) revolutionized the solar industry with its microinverter technology and produces a fully integrated solar-plus-storage solution. Stock gain 573.3% and the compound 3 year revenue growth rate is 34.3%.” End quotes. ------------------------------------------------------------- 3. ESG Fund Stock Picks Under Biden From The Motley Fool site, I found this post, titled, 3 Energy Stocks Positioned to Win in a Renewable Power World. It has three authors each recommending a major energy producer. Reuben Gregg Brewer recommends Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A)(NYSE: RDS.B) He says, “The key, however, is that going forward only 35% to 40% of the capital spending budget is earmarked for oil. The rest is split between its transition and growth businesses. This is a fairly aggressive plan that will work out particularly well if the world makes a decided shift toward renewable power. Shell appears to be in a better position to transition to the clean energy future while milking its cash cow oil business for as long as it can manage.” End quote. Matt DiLallo likes Xcel Energy (NASDAQ: XEL) Mr. DiLallo says, “It aims to deliver 100% carbon-free electricity by 2050… The company intends to retire all its coal power plans by 2030 and replace that capacity with cleaner natural gas and renewable energy. Meanwhile, it's investing in emerging technologies like green hydrogen to achieve its ambitious multi-decade plan to produce emission-free energy.” End quote. Neha Chamaria’s pick is NextEra Energy (NYSE: NEE) Neha says, “If you're looking to invest in renewables, look no further than NextEra Energy. It is, after all, the world's largest producer of energy from solar and wind.” End quote. ------------------------------------------------------------- End Comment Well, these are my top news stories with their stock and fund tips -- for this podcast: “ESG Fund Stock Picks Under Biden.“ To get all the links, stock symbols, or to read the transcript of this podcast -- and more -- go to investingforthesoul.com/podcasts and scroll down to this episode. Also, be sure to click the like and subscribe buttons in iTunes/Apple Podcasts or wherever you download or listen to this podcast. And please click the share buttons to share this podcast with your friends and family. Let’s promote a ‘build-better’ post COVID world through ethical and sustainable investing! Contact me if you have any questions. Stay well and healthy—and enjoy the gains in your ethical and sustainable investments! Thank you for listening. Talk to you next on February 12. Bye for now. © 2021 Ron Robins, Investing for the Soul.
ESG has been a growing theme over the past three years and the level of interest from investors was illustrated this week this as data on ESG ETF flows in 2020 found AUM in ESG ETFs grew by 220%.Alan Green joins the UK Investor Magazine Podcast to discuss the current dynamics and what it could mean for UK Investors. We also explore three UK-listed companies that have strong ESG credentials. There is also consideration paid to oil majors listed in London and what the future holds for them given the launch of the Saudi Arabian NEOM sustainable city project that plans to build a city some 170km in length that will be careless and run entirely on renewable energy.Companies discussed on the Podcast include Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), NIO (NYSE:NIO), British Honey (LON:BHC), Itaconix (LON:ITX) and Open Orphan (LON:ORPH) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
MSCI’s Guillermo Cano and iShares’ Sarah Kjellberg go in-depth on ESG investing, including discussing index construction, ESG data, and portfolio implementation using ETFs. ETF.com’s Drew Voros highlights 2020’s ESG ETF flows and new launches.
ETF Trends CEO Tom Lydon discussed the SPDR S&P 500 ESG ETF (EFIV) on this week’s “ETF of the Week” podcast with Chuck Jaffe on the MoneyLife Show. The S&P 500 ESG Index is designed to measure the performance of securities meeting certain sustainability criteria (criteria related to ESG factors) while maintaining similar overall industry group weights as the S&P 500 Index.
Brie is the Head of Practice Management at State Street Global Advisors for the Global SPDR Business. She visits the XY Podcast to talk about why ESG investing is rising to the top, and if it will stay there. Brie Williams LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briepwilliams/ SSGA Website: https://www.ssga.com/us/en/institutional This ethical podcast series is sponsored by SPDR ETFs. To find out more about their latest ESG ETF, the SPDR S&P/ASX 200 ESG Fund, visit https://www.ssga.com/e200 Join the XY platform: App Store: http://co.xyadviser.com/xyistore Google Play: http://co.xyadviser.com/xygplay Desktop: https://www.xyadviser.com/ General Disclaimer – https://www.xyadviser.com/disclaimer/
Shaun Wurzbach is the Managing Director, Channel Management and Solutions at S&P Dow Jones Indices. He joins Clayton to discuss who exactly is leading the charge in ESG Investing on a global scale. Shaun Wurzbach LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaun-wurzbach-43a97214/ SPG Global Website: https://www.spglobal.com/spdji/en/ This ethical podcast series is sponsored by SPDR ETFs. To find out more about their latest ESG ETF, the SPDR S&P/ASX 200 ESG Fund, visit www.ssga.com/e200 Join the XY platform: App Store: http://co.xyadviser.com/xyistore Google Play: http://co.xyadviser.com/xygplay Desktop: https://www.xyadviser.com/ S&P Dow Jones Indices does not sponsor, endorse, sell, promote or manage any investment fund or other investment product or vehicle that seeks to provide an investment return based on the performance of any index. S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC is not an investment or tax advisor. S&P Dow Jones Indices makes no representation regarding the advisability of investing in any such investment fund or other investment product or vehicle. General Disclaimer – https://www.xyadviser.com/disclaimer/
As Fox and Hare Financial Advice celebrates its third birthday, Glen Hare stops by to talk about the shifting mindset towards capitalism and how inclusion is an important part of ESG Investing. Glen Hare LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/glen-hare-8594a528/de Fox and Hare Website: https://foxandharewealth.com/ This ethical podcast series is sponsored by SPDR ETFs. To find out more about their latest ESG ETF, the SPDR S&P/ASX 200 ESG Fund, visit www.ssga.com/e200 Join the XY platform: App Store: http://co.xyadviser.com/xyistore Google Play: http://co.xyadviser.com/xygplay Desktop: https://www.xyadviser.com/ General Disclaimer – https://www.xyadviser.com/disclaimer/
Elizabeth from WealthSpring Financial is a CFP SMSF Specialist Adviser, and drops in to talk about how best to approach the conversation of a client's ethics and values. Elizabeth Hughes XY: https://www1.xyadviser.com/members/2437743 WealthSpring Financial Website: http://wealthspringfinancial.com.au/ This ethical podcast series is sponsored by SPDR ETFs. To find out more about their latest ESG ETF, the SPDR S&P/ASX 200 ESG Fund, visit www.ssga.com/e200 Join the XY platform: App Store: http://co.xyadviser.com/xyistore Google Play: http://co.xyadviser.com/xygplay Desktop: https://www.xyadviser.com/ General Disclaimer – https://www.xyadviser.com/disclaimer/
Rory works with the investment team at ASX. He drops by the XY podcast to discuss the growth of ESG investing, female investment trends, and interesting take outs from the latest Australian Investor Study Rory Cunningham Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rorycunningham/ ASX Website: https://www.asx.com.au/ This ethical podcast series is sponsored by SPDR ETFs. To find out more about their latest ESG ETF, the SPDR S&P/ASX 200 ESG Fund, visit https://www.ssga.com/e200 Join the XY platform: App Store: http://co.xyadviser.com/xyistore Google Play: http://co.xyadviser.com/xygplay Desktop: https://www.xyadviser.com/ General Disclaimer – https://www.xyadviser.com/disclaimer/
首播時間:2020/09/30 20:00 只要了解持有黃金的目的,自然就能判斷黃金當下的價格是否合理。 台灣人有多愛利息?"國泰ESG永續高股息"7月底才上市,股東就已超越台灣50,高人氣卻令人失望?為何還沒領到就已賠掉今年的利息。
In this Episode, Gerard and Laurent invite Mark Lewis, Global Head of Sustainability Research, BNP Paribas Asset Management for a "battle royal": how ESG and Sustainability are redefining finance. During a great conversation, they analyse the evolution of Green Finance under various angles: the Blackrock’s letter, the famous rant of Jim Cramer on CNBC, the consequences of COVID-19, Mark Carney’s TCFD, Shareholder’s Activism, Environmental Ratings, ESG ETF, Sustainability and Impact Investing.Mark Lewis, recent winner of the Sustainable Investment Award for his groundbreaking report “Wells, Wires and Wheels”, confronts his views with Gerard and Laurent.And a special congratulation to BNPP AM which not only talks the talk, but also walks the walk: according to a new ranking by FT, BNPP votes 100% of Climate resolutions in General Assemblies, which makes it a genuine leader in ESG
ETF.com’s Lara Crigger discusses record ESG ETF inflows, explains the increase in actively managed ETF launches, and looks at the spike in ETN closures. ETF Trends’ Dave Nadig describes his attempt to redeem one share of the VelocityShares Daily 2X Short-Term ETN (TVIX), which was recently delisted.
ESG Stock Market Leaders in pandemic. See the individual stocks and ETFs! Singapore’s pandemic success offers potential sustainable investing profits. Energy stocks to buy? McCormick & Company and Northland Power are ESG stocks that benefit whilst pandemic continues, says Tim Nash. Analyst recommendations from Zacks, The Motley Fool, InvestorPlace, Singapore Business, Corporate Knights and ccmarkets PODCAST: Pandemic’s ESG Stock Market Leaders Transcript & Links, Episode 32, May 22, 2020 Hello, Ron Robins here. Welcome to podcast episode 32 published on May 22 titled “Pandemic’s ESG Stock Market Leaders”— and presented by Investing for the Soul. investingforthesoul.com is your site for vital global ethical and sustainable investing news, commentary, information, and resources. Remember that you can find a full transcript, links to content – including stock symbols and bonus material – at this episode’s podcast page located at investingforthesoul.com/podcasts. And Google any terms that are unfamiliar to you. Hey, the ESG analysts are back. A few days of up markets have brought them to life! So, let’s rip! ------------------------------------------------------------- 1) Pandemic’s ESG Stock Market Leaders We start with an article from InvestorPlace written by Todd Shriber – an old friend of these podcasts – and it’s titled 5 of the Best Socially Responsible ETFs to Buy. I’m going to quote Mr. Shriber stating the name of the ETF followed by a quote for each one. “Xtrackers MSCI U.S.A. ESG Leaders Equity ETF (USSG) Expense Ratio: 0.10% per year. The Xtrackers MSCI U.S.A. ESG Leaders Equity ETF is one of the true success stories in the socially responsible ETF space. At just over a year old, [it] has $1.65 billion in assets under management… Xtrackers S&P 500 ESG ETF (SNPE) Expense Ratio: 0.11% per year. The Xtrackers S&P 500 ESG ETF is the one ESG ETF that follows the S&P 500 ESG Index — the ESG offshoot of the famed domestic equity benchmark… Nuveen ESG Small-Cap ETF (NUSC) Expense Ratio: 0.40%. [Its] home to $227 million in assets under management, the Nuveen ESG Small-Cap ETF is the biggest ESG small-cap ETF on the market. iShares ESG MSCI USA Leaders ETF (SUSL) Expense Ratio: 0.10% per year. The iShares ESG MSCI USA Leaders ETF is the iShares rival to the aforementioned Xtrackers MSCI U.S.A. ESG Leaders Equity ETF as both funds follow the MSCI USA ESG Leaders Index. iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social ETF (DSI) Expense Ratio: 0.25% per year. The iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social ETF turns 14 years old later this year, making it one of the oldest funds in the socially responsible ETF category.” End quotes. ------------------------------------------------------------- 2) Pandemic’s ESG Stock Market Leaders In these days of COVID-19, most of you have heard about the great success of Singapore in subduing the pandemic there. And it’s done that without having to shut down its economy! Hence, it’s businesses are likely to generally show better results than in most other countries. So, it could be a place where some of you might consider investing. If that’s you have a look at this article in Singapore Business titled Top 5 ESG stocks outpace STI's blue chips. ------------------------------------------------------------- 3) Pandemic’s ESG Stock Market Leaders Another analyst who I like to quote is Tim Nash. Writing again for Corporate Knights he has penned a post titled Pandemic Portfolio: Two stocks to watch as COVID-19 drags on. The two stocks are McCormick & Company (MKC) and Northland Power (NPI). Regarding McCormick. Mr. Nash says that “With restaurants closed, home chefs are having their moment… McCormick & Company is a spice and flavour manufacturer that sells a wide array of spices, condiments and sauces… Its environmental, social and governance (ESG) scores from the Corporate Knights research arm, as well as MSCI and Sustainalytics, are among the best in its sector…” End quote. Concerning Northland Power, Mr. Nash writes that “Renewable energy utilities are in the enviable position of having consistent cash flows, since they have long-term purchase price agreements that set a fixed price on the electricity they generate. Northland Power, headquartered in Toronto, is one such utility… the company’s cash flows shouldn’t suffer if the pandemic’s stay-at-home orders persist… The stock is expected to pay a 3.91 per cent annual dividend.” End quote. Mr. Nash produces a useful scorecard on the companies that you can review in his article. ------------------------------------------------------------- 4) Pandemic’s ESG Stock Market Leaders Now I have two articles that offer their perspectives on renewable energy. They both appear on The Motley Fool site and have the same contributors. A few of the companies appear in both articles. The authors are Travis Hoium, Tyler Crowe, Jason Hall, Matthew DiLallo, and John Bromels. The first article is titled 5 Renewable Energy Stocks to Buy Right Now. Since I’ve covered these companies – often many times in this podcast – I’m just going to mention the company names. You can go to the article’s link on my podcast page for greater detail on these analysts’ current thoughts on these companies’ stocks. The companies are Ormat Technologies (NYSE:ORA), Vivint Solar (NYSE:VSLR), Brookfield Renewable Partners (NYSE:BEP), SunPower (NASDAQ:SPWR), and Atlantica Yield (NASDAQ:AY). The second article is titled Looking at Oil Stocks? 5 Renewable Energy Stocks That Are Better Buys Right Now. As previously, I’m just going to mention their names and you can follow the link on this podcast page. The companies recommended are First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR), Brookfield Renewable Partners (NYSE:BEP), Clearway Energy (NYSE:CWEN), NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE), and Vivint Solar (NYSE:VSLR). ------------------------------------------------------------- 5) Pandemic’s ESG Stock Market Leaders The site cmcmarkets.com has a post titled The 7 top ESG ETFs for ethical investing. I’ll give their names followed by a short description of each one from the post. Incidentally, two of them were previously recommended in this podcast. iShare ETFs “The biggest: iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social ETF (DSI). With over $1.7 billion in net assets, this is the largest fund in the category… It steers clear of companies that make money from alcohol, tobacco or firearms. Europe’s best performer: iShares MSCI Europe SRI UCITS ETF (ACC) The iShares MSCI Europe SRI UCITS ETF topped Just ETF’s list of best performing ESG ETFs for the 12 months up to 30 April 2020. The fund screens out companies with exposure to fossil fuels through extraction and other activities. For US stocks: iShares ESG MSCI USA Leaders ETF (SUSL) Started in June 2019, this fund tracks US large and medium caps and was up 21.7% since inception at the beginning of February. The emerging markets: iShares ESG MSCI EM Leaders ETF (LDEM) The iShares ESG MSCI EM Leaders ETF might be less than six months old, but it's already seen huge inflows of cash with Finnish pension-provider IImarien pumping $650 million into the fund. A good sign as Ilmarien has a track-record backing high-performing ESG ETFs. For low emissions: iShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target ETF (CRBN) One for the environmentally-minded, this fund filters companies based on their greenhouse emissions. For clean energy: iShares Global Clean Energy ETF (ICLN) The iShares Global Clean Energy ETF gives investors access to the clean energy sector, including wind power, solar power and renewable energy. The fund has a global outlook.” SPDR ETF For gender diversity: SPDR SSGA Gender Diversity Index ETF (SHE) This gender-diversity fund tracks the 1000 major companies in the US, looking at the ratio of men and women in senior positions. Of those, it invests in only the top 10%." End quotes. The article itself has more data on each of these ETFs. To read it you’ll have to subscribe to the site. But that’s free. Again, the link to the article is on this podcast’s webpage. ------------------------------------------------------------- 6) Pandemic’s ESG Stock Market Leaders Zacks has produced another research report titled ESG Stocks Remain Resilient to Virus Slump: 5 Top Picks. Here are the 5 stocks. Quote: “Eli Lilly and Company (LLY) discovers, develops, manufactures and markets pharmaceutical products. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 12.8% compared with the Zacks Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry’s projected earnings growth of 7.1%. Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) develops, licenses and supports software, services, devices and solutions. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 19.8% against the Zacks Computer - Software industry’s projected earnings decline of 4.9%. NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA), operates as a visual computing company. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 28.7% against the Zacks Semiconductor - General industry’s projected earnings decline of 21%. DexCom, Inc. (DXCM) designs, develops, and commercializes continuous glucose monitoring systems. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 21.2% compared with the Zacks Medical - Instruments industry’s projected earnings growth of 6.8%. Adobe Inc. (ADBE) operates as a diversified software company. Its expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 24.4% against the Zacks Computer - Software industry’s projected earnings decline of 4.9%." End quotes. ------------------------------------------------------------- End Comment Well, these are my top news stories and tips for this podcast: Pandemic’s ESG Stock Market Leaders. And to get all the links, stock symbols, and more, or to read the transcript of this podcast and with additional information too, please go to investingforthesoul.com/podcasts and scroll down to this episode. Also, be sure to click the like and subscribe buttons in iTunes/Apple Podcasts or wherever you download or listen to this podcast. And please click the share buttons to share this podcast with your friends and family. That way you can help promote not only this podcast but ethical and sustainable investing globally. So, let’s help create a better world with our investments! Contact me if you have any questions. Stay well and healthy -- and prosperous! Thank you for listening. Talk to you again on June 5. Bye for now. © 2020 Ron Robins, Investing for the Soul.
CIO Bob Smith talks with research analysts Andrew Poreda and Emma Smith about recent market events and the value of sustainable investing through Sage's fixed income ETF, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol GUDB.
New top sustainable companies' rankings: Corporate Knights’ 2020 Global 100 and CDP’s 179 ‘A’ list! More ESG and sustainable ETFs and stocks for 2020. Best water stocks in the Americas, large and small. The most highly rated funds for Canadians appear also in Corporate Knights and the Interactive Investor site for British investors. And more PODCAST: Top Sustainable Companies, Water Stocks. And More… Transcript & Links, Episode 24, January 31, 2020 Hello, Ron Robins here. Welcome to podcast episode 24 for January 31, 2020, titled “Top Sustainable Companies, Water Stocks. And More…”—presented by Investing for the Soul. investingforthesoul.com is your site for vital global ethical and sustainable investing news, commentary, information, and resources. Remember that you can find a full transcript, links to content – including stock symbols – and bonus material at this episode’s podcast page located at investingforthesoul.com/podcasts. And, Google any terms that are unfamiliar to you. Now to this episode. ------------------------------------------------------------- Top Sustainable Companies I’m going to lead this episode with two great new top sustainable companies’ lists. The first one is Corporate Knights’ 2020 Global 100 ranking. This is an annual favourite of mine. Their top five sustainable companies are: Orsted A/S, (ORSTED.CO) in wholesale power, Denmark. Chr. Hansen Holding A/S, (CHR.CO) engaged in food and other chemical agents, also Denmark. Neste Oyj, (NESTE.HE) petroleum refineries, Finland. Cisco Systems Inc., (CSCO.Nasdaq) communications equipment, United States. Autodesk Inc., (ADSK.Nasdaq) software, United States. Now you can see the full list by going to the link on this episode’s webpage. Top Sustainable Companies' Ranked The second compilation of top sustainable companies is CDP’s 179 company ‘A’ list. About this list, CDP says its “Annual A List names the world's most pioneering companies leading on environmental transparency and performance. This year, we recognize more than 170 corporates as the leaders acting to address climate risks and build our future zero-carbon economy - one that works for both people and planet.” End quote. CDP doesn’t actually give them a ranking. They just list who they feel are the companies that meet their criteria. For a link to the full list go to this episode’s webpage at investingforthesoul.com/podcasts. Incidentally, these top sustainable companies' lists only provide rankings according to various sustainability criteria. They don’t rate the companies as to whether their stocks are worth buying! To do that, you can obviously go to the research section of your broker’s site, ask an advisor, or also check out financial analysts’ opinions on many free online sites. The best ones I’ve found are YahooFinance, Reuters, MarketBeat, Nasdaq Analyst Stock Recommendations, and TipRanks. ------------------------------------------------------------- 7 Socially Responsible ETFs to Buy in 2020 My next piece is by Todd Shriber, on the InvestorPlace site, titled 7 Socially Responsible ETFs to Buy in 2020. I’m going to say what his picks are and follow with a quote by him on each company. “1) VanEck Vectors Green Bond ETF (NYSEARCA: GRNB). Comprised of U.S. dollar-denominated green bonds that are issued to finance environmentally friendly projects, and includes bonds issued by supranational, government, and corporate issuers globally. 2) Nuveen ESG Large-Cap Growth ETF (BATS: NULG). This socially responsible ETF dispels the notion that virtuous investing can be a drag on returns. Over the past year, the Nuveen ESG Large-Cap Growth ETF has outpaced the S&P 500 Growth Index by nearly 1,000 basis points. 3) Xtrackers S&P 500 ESG ETF (NYSEARCA: SNPE). The rookie ETF is notable for at least two reasons, albeit superficial. First, it is the first ETF to track the S&P 500 ESG Index. Second, it has amassed $110 million in assets since inception, a very impressive start. At just 0.11% per year, the Xtrackers S&P 500 ESG ETF is one of the most cost-effective funds in the socially responsible category.” Now, my comment. However, be aware that this ETF is rather unbalanced in that it’s heavily weighted with tech stocks. For many investors that’s fine – but not for all nor for all market conditions. Now, back to quoting Mr. Shriber. “4) Global X Conscious Companies ETF (NASDAQ: KRMA). It follows the Concinnity Conscious Companies Index, and that Global X says it offers exposure to companies achieving positive outcomes for 5 key stakeholders: Customers, Suppliers, Stock & Debt Holders, Local Communities, and notably, Employees. 5) Inspire Corporate Bond Impact ETF (NYSEARCA: IBD). Inspire offers a broad suite of faith-based ETFs, with [this bond fund] being the first corporate ETF dedicated to Christian values. And according to the issuer it’s donating a portion of fees to support Christian ministry projects such as clean water wells, refugee relief efforts, Bible distribution and other worthy causes. 6) Nuveen ESG High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (NYSEARCA: NUHY). Applying virtuous filters to high-yield bonds can help investors reduce and avoid trouble spots… [it’s also] the first socially responsible ETF in the high-yield category. 7) VanEck Vectors Low Carbon Energy ETF (NYSEARCA: SMOG). With its memorable ticker and significant Tesla exposure, [this fund] is a broad-based play on the soaring alternative energy industry.” End quotes. ------------------------------------------------------------- Making the Low Carbon Call With ETFs Now, if you’re looking specifically for more low carbon investments, Tom Lydon offers more picks with his article Making the Low Carbon Call With ETFs at ETF Trends. He recommends iShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target ETF (NYSEArca: CRBN) and SPDR MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target ETF (NYSEArca: LOWC). ------------------------------------------------------------- More Top Sustainable Companies Now we turn our attention from ESG ETFs to individual ESG stocks. The article is titled, 5 ESG Stocks to Buy as Climate Risk Takes Center Stage by Zacks Equity Research appearing on YahooFinance. Here are the five stocks by Zacks. Quoting directly from the article: “1) Applied Materials, Inc. Symbol AMAT provides manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display and related industries. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 24%. 2) Keysight Technologies, Inc. Symbol KEYS provides electronic design and test solutions to commercial communications, networking, aerospace, defense and government, automotive, energy, semiconductor, electronic, and education industries. This Zacks Rank #1 company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is nearly 10%. 3) NVIDIA Corporation. Symbol NVDA operates as a visual computing company, that offers processors, which include GeForce for PC gaming, GeForce NOW for cloud-based game-streaming service and much more. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the fiscal fourth quarter is more than 100%. 4) The Procter & Gamble Company. Symbol PG provides a range of beauty, grooming, health care, fabric and home care, and baby, feminine and family care products. The company is constantly working toward restricting microfiber release. Every load of washing releases millions of microfibres that are flushed down the drain, and gradually ends up in beaches and oceans where they remain for years and disturb sea creatures’ food chain. Procter & Gamble has an expected earnings growth rate of 9.3% for the current year. And 5) General Mills, Inc. Symbol GIS manufactures and markets branded consumer foods. Among the many sustainability initiatives of the company, its Cheerios brand uses regenerative agriculture and organic farming to source ingredients for products including the legacy cereal brand. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 5.3%.” End quotes. Zacks is proving to be a good source of recommendations! ------------------------------------------------------------- Water Stocks in the Americas Getting increasing attention among ethical and sustainable investors are water stocks. So it’s timely that Debra Fiakas wrote a piece titled Water Stocks in the Americas. There she reviews what she believes to be the best water stocks operating in the Americas. Ms. Fiakas writes about Consolidated Water (CWCO: Nasdaq), American Water Works (AWK: NYSE), and Global Water Resources (GWRS: Nasdaq). However, she includes a chart with four more companies. Best to go to her article to read her insights into this industry and its key players. The link, again, is on this episode’s page at investingforthesoul.com/podcasts. ------------------------------------------------------------- Best Canadian Funds Now for my Canadian listeners, my great colleague, Toby Heaps at Corporate Knights, has just published The ultimate guide to responsible investing. Mr. Heaps says that I quote,” We ranked over 700 mutual funds and ETFs through a sustainability lens. Here are the top scorers.” End quote. Also, a regular on this podcast, Tim Nash, another insightful analyst, has published The 2019 eco-fund ranking of his top Canadian funds. His article is also on the Corporate Knights site. Again, for links to these articles go to this episode’s podcast page. ------------------------------------------------------------- Best UK Funds For UK ethical and sustainable investors there’s the Interactive Investor site!. It’s a terrific site for you which, they say, quote, “We have identified more than 140 ethical investment options available on our platform.” End quote. Not only do they have all that information and data, but the site takes you through step-by-step to locate the investment option that best matches your personal values! Again, the link to the key page on their site is also on this episode’s podcast page. ------------------------------------------------------------- Ending Comments Well, these are my top news stories and tips for ethical and sustainable investors over the past two weeks. And to get all the links, stock symbols and more, or to read the transcript of this podcast and with additional information too, please go to investingforthesoul.com/podcasts and scroll down to this episode. Also, be sure to click the like and subscribe buttons in iTunes/Apple Podcasts or wherever you download or listen to this podcast. And, please click the share buttons to share this podcast with your friends and family. That way you can help promote not only this podcast but ethical and sustainable investing globally. So, let’s help create a better world with our investments! Contact me if you have any questions. Thank you for listening. Talk to you again on February 14. Bye for now. © 2020 Ron Robins, Investing for the Soul.
Many investors buy ETFs in order to get a niche investing strategy, but do you really know what you are buying? (0:45) - Understanding ESG ETFs: VEGN (7:05) - ESG ETF Exclusions: SPYX (12:20) - Tech Heavy Holdings and Similar Holdings For ESG ETFs: CRBN & SUSA (17:15) - Episode Roundup: BRKB, AMZN, DIS, JNJ, HD, JPM, FB, GOOGL
In this week’s Bloomberg Intelligence Radio show, analyst Eric Balchunas looks at ESG ETF holdings and shares some surprising findings, Geetha Ranganathan talks about Netflix's resilience in the face of a robust Disney+ debut and Alison Williams discusses her recent meeting with Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan, as well as her thoughts for banks in 2020. Also, Anand Srinivasan gives his take on China ordering its agencies to swap out foreign technology for Chinese gear and Lee Klaskow gives his 2020 outlook for containerliners.
Big developments in new ESG ratings help for investors – from global leaders MSCI and Morningstar! What are the best renewable energy stocks with reliable dividends? A new day dawns in solar industry stocks as they rise. Will nuclear energy stocks gain traction? State Street launches ETF that screens S&P 500 for ESG exclusions. And more PODCAST: New ESG Ratings Help for Investors. And More… Transcript & Links, Episode 20, December 6, 2019 Hello, Ron Robins here. Welcome to podcast episode 20 titled New ESG Ratings Help for Investors. And More… for December 6, 2019—presented by Investing for the Soul. investingforthesoul.com is your site for vital global ethical and sustainable investing news, commentary, information, and resources. And, Google any terms that are unfamiliar to you. Also, you can find a full transcript, live links to content, and often bonus material to these podcasts at their episodes’ podcast page located at investingforthesoul.com/podcasts. Please note that in my next podcast on December 20, I’m going to make a really special offer to you! Now to this podcast! New ESG Ratings Help for Investors (1) To kick-off, I want to talk to you about some big developments on the ESG company rating’s front that can greatly help you in evaluating investments. The first is from MSCI which has developed – and made available for free to all investors – an online tool that shows their ESG ratings “[Of] 7,500 companies (13,500 issuers including subsidiaries) and more than 650,000 equity and fixed income securities globally as of October 2019” according to MSCI’s website. It’s an impressive ESG company rating platform that you should really make use of. The second and equally impressive change is the revamped Morningstar Sustainability Rating for funds. Morningstar’s Jon Hale explains that “The enhanced version differs from its predecessor in three ways: First, it is focused on material ESG risk, rather than on a broader array of ESG issues, some of which may not be financially material to investors. Second, company ESG risks can now be compared across industries, rather than only within industry peer groups. And third--the new rating is simple and transparent, no longer requiring a complicated calculation.” End quote. New ESG Ratings Help for Investors (2) By the way, material ESG risk simply means risk relevant to a company’s financial performance. The Morningstar ESG fund ratings are developed from the more granular company ESG ratings provided by one of the real pioneers and a global leader’s in this space – and that is Sustainalytics. These new ESG ratings help should provide a boon to investors! 3 Renewable-Energy Dividend Stocks to Buy Today A frequent financial writer appearing in these podcasts recommending renewable energy stocks is Travis Hoium who publishes on the Motley Fool site. In a post titled 3 Renewable-Energy Dividend Stocks to Buy Today he describes why some renewable energy dividend-paying stocks have disappointed and then recommends a particular threesome. He writes that “Renewable energy stocks that pay a dividend have been hit or miss for investors in the last few years. Many renewable energy asset owners haven't performed as well as expected because they lacked a pipeline of projects that would keep the dividend growing year after year, leading them to sell their businesses to large investors. Ironically, the renewable energy asset owners that remain are in a better position than their predecessors because they have a smaller pool of competitors looking to buy projects and a project pipeline strategy that has worked for years. Today, the three renewable energy dividends that I think are still worth owning are from NextEra Energy Partners (NYSE:NEP), Hannon Armstrong (NYSE:HASI), and Brookfield Renewable Partners (NYSE:BEP).” End quote. Go to his article for his reasons for these three. 3 Solar Stocks to Buy for a New Day in Solar Energy Continuing on the renewable energy theme, Larry Ramer, an InvestorPlace contributor has some solar stock picks in his post titled 3 Solar Stocks to Buy for a New Day in Solar Energy. Regular listeners to these podcasts will be familiar with two of his picks: JinkoSolar (NYSE:JKS) and SunPower (NASDAQ:SPWR). His third choice is Daqo New Energy (NYSE:DQ). About these stocks he says that “Solar stocks have really taken it on the chin this year, but the huge declines are totally unjustified, creating a great buying opportunity for longer-term investors. And the recovery could be underway, JunkoSolar stock has added 7% YTD, SunPower stock has added 42% and Daqo stock has added a whopping 60% after a dismal 2018. The catalyst for the retreat of solar stocks appears to have been a decision by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to eliminate ‘a requirement for utilities to offer long-term fixed prices for qualifying facilities.’” End quote. However, when you read Mr. Ramer’s article he makes it clear that that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s decision would only affect a small number of solar projects underway today. Hence, the market’s new upward reassessment of many solar renewable energy stocks. 5 Renewable Stocks To Watch In 2020 And we have more on renewable stock recommendations from an unusual source and with some equally unusual picks. It’s by Anes Alic writing on the oilprice.com site. Her article is 5 Renewable Stocks To Watch In 2020. Ms. Alic writes about her five stocks as follows: “1) NextEra Energy Inc. (NYSE:NEE) [as distinct from NextEra Energy Partners] is a Florida-based clean energy company and America’s largest electric utility holding company by market cap. NEE is the world’s largest producer of wind and solar energy. 2) Cosan S.A. (NYSE:CZZ) is a Brazil-based biofuels conglomerate with operations across South America and the U.K. Cosan has interests in the bioethanol space, among other energy projects. The company generates 940 MW of sugarcane bioethanol through its Raízen Energia arm, placing it among the leading producers of bioenergy. 3) JinkoSolar Holdings Co. (NYSE:JKS) [second time recommended in this episode] is the largest PV module manufacturer in the world, with a 12.8% slice of the market. Headquartered in Shanghai, China, the company shipped a record 11.4 GW of modules in 2018 and is on course to exceed that in the current year. 4) Vestas Wind Systems (OTCPK:VWDRY) is the world’s largest wind power company, responsible for more wind turbine installations than any other company, estimated at around 68,000 turbines in 80 countries. And, 5) MKS Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) While nuclear energy has been gradually falling out of favor as evidenced by shrinking investments, that does not mean that investing in the sector has stopped being profitable. One company that has been defying the odds is MKS Instruments Inc. The company manufactures a variety of nuclear fuel processing, nuclear accelerator, and uranium conversion systems… [and] holds 600 nuclear-related patents. In discussing the future for nuclear power Ms. Alic writes that “Nuclear power is presently classified as a sustainable energy source; however, it could become completely renewable if the uranium source changed from mined ore to seawater. Since the uranium mined from seawater is replenished continuously through a geologic process, nuclear energy would become as renewable as wind and solar.” End quote. Incidentally, some leading environmentalists advocate nuclear energy. Anyhow, I’m on the sidelines of this debate and I’ll leave it to those much more knowledgeable than me to decide on that. State Street launches ETF that screens S&P 500 for ESG exclusions Moving away from energy, I’d like to talk about one new and unique ESG ETF and that is State Street Global Advisors’ SPDR S&P 500 ESG Screened Ucits ETF. In an article titled State Street launches ETF that screens S&P 500 for ESG exclusions by Jessica Beard, she says that “The SPDR S&P 500 ESG Screened Ucits ETF will track the newly-launched S&P 500 ESG Exclusions II Index. The index methodology has been devised to exclude companies based on data from independent provider of ESG research and ratings, Sustainalytics.” End of quote, but quoting further, Ms. Beard adds that, ”The exclusion-based approach eliminates exposure to controversial weapons, civilian firearms, tobacco and thermal coal, as well as companies that do not comply with the principles of the UN Global Compact.” End quote. It wasn’t too long ago that most ethical and sustainable investors employed only negative screens – screening out industries and companies they disliked. Remember ESG criteria today generally does not concern itself with the actual product or services a company produces, but usually only refers to the way a company functions. Hence, this new State Street ETF should help fulfill a clear need. Also, it is based on the S&P 500 ESG Screened Index is a great plus. ------------------------------------------------------------- In closing... Well, these are my top news stories and tips for ethical and sustainable investors over the past two weeks. Again, to get all the links or to read the transcript of this podcast and sometimes get additional information too, please go to investingforthesoul.com/podcasts and scroll down to this episode. And be sure to click the like and subscribe buttons in iTunes/Apple Podcasts or wherever you download or listen to this podcast and please click the share buttons to share this podcast with your friends and family. That way you can help promote not only this podcast but ethical and sustainable investing globally and help create a better world for us all. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about the content of this podcast or anything else related. Thank you for listening. Now my next podcast is scheduled for December 20 and as I mentioned I’m going to make a really special offer to you in that episode! So be sure to listen! Bye for now. © 2019 Ron Robins, Investing for the Soul.
00850 元大台灣ESG永續ETF在今年上市之後,立刻引發了相當大的話題與投資熱潮,可以說是今年台股ETF的話題新人王了。到底 00850 這檔 ETF 是不是一個好的投資標的,適不適合小資族買這檔來投資呢? 本集M觀點,就來跟大家分享一下我對於00850這檔ETF的看法。 00850 ESG 台灣永續指數 M觀點資訊 M觀點商學院 PressPlay 訂閱服務: https://lihi.cc/zY5Qc M觀點Podcast - https://bit.ly/34fV7so M觀點電子報: https://bit.ly/345gBbA M觀點LINE@ https://line.me/R/ti/p/%40zxy2907b M觀點YouTube頻道訂閱 https://bit.ly/2nxHnp9 M觀點粉絲團 https://www.facebook.com/miulaperspective/ 任何合作邀約請洽 miula@outlook.com
Etsy, the growing online craft marketplace seen as great ESG stock. Southwest Airlines flies high on its sustainable practices. First ever ESG ‘junk bond’ ETF debuts. Seven renewable energy stock picks. Rising wind power trends of repowering and replacement of turbines offer exciting investing opportunities. New international faith-based ESG ETF launches with global appeal. More PODCAST: Etsy, Southwest Air, ESG Junk Bonds, and more… Transcript & Links October 11, 2019 Hello, Ron Robins here. Welcome to my podcast Ethical & Sustainable Investing News to Profit By! for October 11, 2019—presented by Investing for the Soul. investingforthesoul.com is your site for vital global ethical and sustainable investing news, commentary, information, and resources. And, Google any terms that are unfamiliar to you. Also, you can find a full transcript, live links to content, and often bonus material to these podcasts at their episodes’ podcast page located at investingforthesoul.com/podcasts. Now to this podcast! ------------------------------------------------------------- Many of you have heard of Etsy, the online craft marketplace and perhaps wondered if it’s a good ESG stock. Well, Maria Gallagher says a resounding yes to that in an article on The Motley Fool site titled, ESG Investing: Is Etsy a Responsible Investment? She says, that, quote, “Etsy boasts more than 60 million unique items, 43 million buyers, and 2.3 million sellers on its platform… Etsy scores a 9 out of 10 on The Motley Fool's Framework for ESG Compounders… It is a strong company that appears to strive intentionally to make its marketplace the best it can be for purveyors of handmade goods. There are areas for improvement, but Etsy seems to be balancing profitability, scale, and strong ESG principles.” End quote. ------------------------------------------------------------- Another Motley contributor, Dan Caplinger reviews Southwest Airlines and finds it best in the airline sector for ESG practices. His piece is titled, ESG Investing: Is Southwest Airlines a Responsible Investment? Mr. Caplinger says, “Many environmental advocates view global air travel's enormous carbon footprint as needlessly wasteful.” But he goes on saying – and I quote, that, “Currently, Southwest helps travelers visit more than 100 destinations in the U.S. along with 10 countries internationally… and it’s No. 11 on Fortune’s list of the World’s Most Admired Companies in 2019… Southwest has embraced ESG principles throughout its history, even before most investors paid much attention to those concepts… it's hard to find an industry player that makes a better ESG case than Southwest Airlines… Southwest has put itself in position to thrive for years to come.” End quote. ------------------------------------------------------------- Turning to ESG bonds, we know that generally ethical and sustainable investing bonds are of high quality – and sometimes with even lower than average yields because of their great quality. Now we have a departure from that. Nuveen – which already has 9 ESG ETFs – is launching a below investment grade ESG bond fund. Andrea Riquier, in an article titled, The first-ever ESG junk bond ETF debuts, says this about the ETF, quote, “Investors are increasingly drawn to holdings that pay attention to ESG issues and financial-services firms are always on the hunt for new flavors of investments to offer. So, a new fund that seems to offer high yield as well as comply with ESG principles might seem attractive, even though it raises some questions about how appropriate it might be for investors.” End quote. Among the concerns for this type of bond are that the research into their credit-worthiness is often limited as well as the number of bonds that might fit the criterion for inclusion in this ETF. Nonetheless, it might appeal to those investors willing to assume somewhat greater risk for possible greater return on their fixed income portfolio, while still wanting it to be ESG-based. ------------------------------------------------------------- Will Ashworth, in an article titled, 7 Renewable Energy Stocks to Buy for Sunny Long-Term Returns, appearing on the Investorplace website, recommends some of the same stocks that have been covered here in previous episodes of this podcast. Here are the seven stocks he recommends, much abbreviated from his post, but using his words. Quote, “1) NextEra Energy (NYSE: NEE) Not only is NextEra Energy the world’s largest utility, it’s also the largest producer of wind and solar energy anywhere on the planet… [its] the company’s views on energy diversity that makes it an excellent long-term investment. 2) Brookfield Renewable Partners (NYSE: BEP). Brookfield announced that it had increased its ownership (with partners) of TerraForm Power (NASDAQ: TERP) from 51% to 65%… TerraForm Power generates 3,634 megawatts of solar and wind power around the globe… Brookfield Renewable worldwide has 843 renewable power facilities… capable of producing 16,300 megawatts of power annually… If you want to own more than renewable energy assets, you might consider Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE: BAM) which owns 61% of BEP and is one of the world’s largest alternative asset managers. If I could only own one company’s stock, Brookfield Asset Management would be at the top of my list. 3) TransAlta Corporation (NYSE: TAC). It could be better for U.S. investors to choose TransAlta Corporation as one of the best renewable energy stocks to buy rather than its 64%-owned renewable energy subsidiary TransAlta Renewables (TSE: RNW), which trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange… [Then he says] if you’re an aggressive investor, I’d go with TransAlta Renewables. 4) Enviva (NYSE: EVA) Eviva is the world’s largest producer of wood pellets… The pellets themselves are sold to utilities in the U.K. and Europe that use them in place of coal to produce a cleaner electricity source… If you’re an income investor, Enviva is a very safe way to meet your annual income requirements. 5) Renewable Energy Group (NASDAQGS: REGI) Whenever you see one of those trucks sucking out the grease traps at a restaurant, it’s going to one of Renewable Energy’s 13 biomass refineries to be turned into diesel fuel… The demand for biodiesel is tremendous… I believe REGI has got room to move into the $30s on rising demand. 6) TPI Composites (NASDAQ: TPIC) TPI Composites is the largest independent manufacturer of composite wind blades for turbine manufacturers… Last year, it announced a joint development agreement with Navistar International (NYSE: NAV) to develop a composite tractor and frame rails for a Class 8 truck… With margins moving higher, the profits will follow. 7) Siemens (OTCMKTS: SIEGY) This last one gives you exposure to a global industrial player in Siemens which, amongst its many ventures, owns 59% of Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (OTCMKTS: GCTAF), the world’s largest producer of wind turbines and one of the interesting renewable stocks to buy without going all-in on renewables.” End quote. Incidentally, Travis Hoium has published an article in the Motley Fool titled, Why Solar Energy Stocks Are Dropping Like a Rock but he soothes his reader's worries by saying, and I quote, that “Investors are afraid of solar energy right now, but the long-term prospects of the industry are improving.” End quote. ------------------------------------------------------------- Continuing on the subject of renewable power, Maxx Chatsko says that wind power trends in the US and around the world have gained a certain level of maturity, and now some new perspectives come into focus. In an article titled, 2 Trends in Wind Power That Investors Need to Know About in The Motley Fool, Mr. Chatsko says, that “The American wind power industry is barreling toward an important inflection point. The production tax credit (PTC), which provides a subsidy for each kilowatt-hour of electricity g enerated from wind farms… is about to be phased out… The phaseout makes sense… [and that] investors interested in renewable energy stocks can't overlook the significance of these two trends reshaping the wind power industry…” End quote. Mr. Chatsko’s says the two big new themes at play are the repowering – or replacement – of wind farms and the recycling of old turbines. Two companies he recommends concerning these trends are General Electric (NYSE: GE) for new turbines and Trex Company (NYSE: TREX) for recycling. ------------------------------------------------------------- For faith-based investors, America’s Inspire Investing has launched a new international ESG ETF with the name Inspire International ESG ETF (NYSEARCA: WWJD). Quoting Tom Lydon, of ETF Trends in an article he wrote titled, Inspire Investing Launches Faith-Based International ESG ETF, he says, that, “With an expense ratio of 0.80%, the Inspire International ESG ETF is a faith-based ESG ETF comprised of 150 biblically aligned large-cap companies outside of the United States, as measured by Inspire’s revolutionary Inspire Impact Score methodology, which measures a company’s positive impact on the world… The new WWJD is comprised of 80% developed markets companies and 20% emerging markets stocks.” End quote. ------------------------------------------------------------- So, these are my top news stories and tips for ethical and sustainable investors over the past two weeks. Again, to get all the links or to read the transcript of this podcast and sometimes get additional information too, please go to investingforthesoul.com/podcasts and scroll down to this episode. And be sure to click the like and subscribe buttons in iTunes/Apple Podcasts or wherever you download or listen to this podcast and please click the share buttons to share this podcast with your friends and family. That way you can help promote not only this podcast but ethical and sustainable investing globally and help create a better world for us all. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about the content of this podcast or anything else related. Now, a big thank you for listening. Come again! And my next podcast is scheduled for October 25. See you then. Bye for now. © 2019 Ron Robins, Investing for the Soul.
Amazon dissed as a sustainability investment compared to eBay. Livent, Brookfield Asset Management, and Sunpower, as renewable stock investments suggested by analysts. US Vegan Climate Exchange Traded ETF appears to finally arrive. Not what it seems though. ESG overlay for corporate bonds enhances portfolio performance says J P Morgan study. Unique ESG Factor ETF. More PODCAST: Amazon vs. eBay, First Vegan Fund, and more… Transcript & Links August 16, 2019 Hello, Ron Robins here. Welcome to my podcast Ethical & Sustainable Investing News to Profit By! for August 16, 2019—presented by Investing for the Soul. investingforthesoul.com is your site for vital global ethical and sustainable investing news, commentary, information, and resources. Investment ideas in these podcasts are generally gleaned from market participants in the US, Canadian, UK, European, Asian and Australasian investment markets. And, Google any terms that are unfamiliar to you. Also, you can find a full transcript, live links and often bonus material to these podcasts at their editions’ podcast page located at investingforthesoul.com/podcasts. Now to this podcast! ------------------------------------------------------------- Tim Nash at Corporate Knights has another insightful Sustainable Stock Showdown. This time comparing Amazon (AMZN.OQ) vs. eBay (EBAY.OQ)! He begins his analysis with the following critical statement, saying that, “Amazon may be primed for growth but amidst worker protests, climate concerns and military links, is eBay a better bet?” End quote. Additionally, Mr. Nash writes about Amazon’s poor sustainability record. You probably know that Amazon is a top holding in many ESG and sustainable funds. But should it be, given the previously mentioned issues! Do you feel comfortable investing in Amazon when it is heavily criticized on such issues? Writing about some of these concerns Mr. Nash says, again quoting him that, “A petition with 270,000 signatures was delivered to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos calling for better worker rights and for the company to cut ties with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the federal agency responsible for rounding up and deporting undocumented immigrants. Although these protests didn’t amount to much action, they certainly shone a light on Amazon’s many problems.” End quote. By contrast, on eBay, Mr. Nash writes that, and I quote, “eBay is the next largest online retail company and is a much better performer when it comes to sustainability metrics. With a focus on selling pre-owned products, about 16% of eBay’s revenues are estimated as green…eBay publishes a detailed Impact Progress Report that charts its progress on sustainability goals such as growth of sellers in ‘less-advantaged communities’ and a 50% absolute reduction in Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 2025.” Close quote. In summary, Mr. Nash concludes, that, “Sustainable investors will want to consider the financial trade-offs involved in walking away from a stock with Amazonian growth, but they’ll sleep better at night owning eBay and knowing its carbon footprint won’t swallow the planet at the click of a button.” Close quote. ------------------------------------------------------------- Next item is about a unique new ESG ETF called the IQS ESG Global Equity Multi-Factor UCITS ETF – now that’s a mouthful! We have this information from an article titled, Invesco launches multi-factor ETF with strict ESG criteria written by Gary Buxton in IFA Magazine. Talking about his new ESG ETF, fund manager Gary Buxton, Head of EMEA ETFs at Invesco, says, ‘Three of the biggest trends we have seen over the past decade are growing demand for multi-factor strategies, ESG investments and ETFs more generally. Proven expertise in all these areas has enabled us to respond to investor demand by delivering a multi-factor solution that adheres to strict ESG criteria and has all the benefits you would expect from our ETF structure.’” End quote. Additionally, Mr. Buxton says, again quoting him, that, “Eligible stocks are screened for compliance with the fund’s ESG Criteria, and then scored based on their attractiveness with respect to three investment factors: Quality, Value and Momentum.” End quote. Most ESG ETFs simply hold a group of stocks screened for only their ESG characteristics according to that ETFs objective – such as only renewable energy stocks, for instance. Whereas a multi-factor approach also includes further screens that might include the stocks perceived quality, value – say its relatively low price-earnings ratio, and momentum, that is the rate of acceleration of a stock’s price or volume of trading. Anyhow, it’s a unique approach and it’ll be interesting to see how well it works. ------------------------------------------------------------- Now, The Motley Fool ran a story that I thought I’d like to pass on. The story title is 3 Top Renewable Energy Stocks to Buy Right Now. There are three contributors, and each recommends one stock. sine qua non The first contributor is Rich Smith who favours, Livent (LTHM.N), which is a major lithium producer. Though he admits the immediate future might be difficult for the company, he looks beyond that, saying, and I quote, “If you believe, as I do, that lithium is a SIN + AY + KWAA + NOHN for storing energy generated from renewable sources like wind and solar, it makes sense to believe that Livent – one of the top three players in lithium – will outlive its present difficulties, and become much more profitable as time goes by.” End quote. The second recommendation comes from John Bromels who likes Brookfield Asset Management (BAMa.TO). This is a Canadian asset manager that holds a diverse group of renewable power assets. Mr. Bromels says, and I quote, that, “About 75% of Brookfield's assets are in good-old, reliable hydroelectric power, which helps the company generate steady cash flow and pay a hefty distribution that currently yields 5.6%... [An] MLP ownership isn't for everyone, but if you're looking to add a renewable energy company to your portfolio, Brookfield Renewable Partners is about as solid a bet as you'll find in this sector.” End quote. Now on this editions podcast page, I have a link to a good article describing MLPs for US investors. (See understanding MLPs.) Finally, Travis Hoium suggests Sunpower (SPWR.OQ). Mr. Hoium likes Sunpower because he says, “Not only are high-efficiency solar panels improving in cost-effectiveness, SunPower is adding energy storage to more projects. One-third of its commercial solar power systems now include energy storage, and the company says it will introduce a residential solar solution later this year. These new products combined with improving market conditions in the residential solar industry may make SunPower one of the biggest winners in energy in 2019.” End quote. So, check them out and see what you think. ------------------------------------------------------------- For a few podcasts now, I’ve been writing about investments relating to veganism or vegetarianism. Well, finally it appears that the first vegan-friendly ETF called the US Vegan Climate Exchange Traded ETF (VGN ETF) is planned for listing on the NYSE on September 10. However, I would deem it quite controversial – even for vegans – as it’s not what it might appear. Garry White in The Telegraph newspaper in the UK writes that “The fund is not currently investing in vegan food producers, but aims to avoid companies whose activities directly contribute to animal exploitation or environmental damage… Its largest holdings will include companies such as Microsoft, Apple, Facebook and Mastercard. This means the ETF will look pretty similar to other, lower-cost alternatives… although Facebook is included in the vegan ETF because it meets its criteria, the company’s shares were thrown out of the S&P ESG Index in June because of weak oversight in the sale of its user data to advertisers.” End quote. So, see what I mean about it not being what ethical and sustainable investors might infer from its title! Garry White’s article is titled, Is vegan investing a marketing fad or a real investment trend? It’s a good read for anyone interested in the rapidly growing market of plant-based food investing. Another useful write-up on the Vegan Climate Fund can be found under the title, World’s First Vegan-Friendly Fund Opens for Trading, appearing on the VegWorld Magazine website. And, further insight can be found in this post Ethical Stock Investment To Launch On New York Stock Exchange by Liam Gilliver writing in Plant Based News. Incidentally, Beyond Meat Inc. (BYND.O) (Nasdaq) was still trading at multiples of its initial public offering price as of compiling this podcast. However, given current market dynamics and the history of stocks that go ballistic, it wouldn’t be surprising to see its share price retreat somewhat in the near future. ------------------------------------------------------------- Now for some wonderful news concerning ESG corporate bonds. For the first time, a study finds that adding ESG criterion to selecting corporate bonds boosts outcomes for investors. In an article titled, ESG overlay 'boosts outcomes for corporate bond investors': report, Susanna Rust, in IPE, writes that "[JP Morgan Asset Management] found that ESG scores could enhance portfolio outcomes via lower drawdowns, reduced portfolio volatility and, in some cases, marginally increased risk-adjusted returns. Although its study showed that using ESG scores improved gross portfolio returns for all categories of corporate bonds, this only held true for investment grade corporate debt once transaction costs were accounted for." Close quote. These are important new findings by JP Morgan. It had been found that screening sovereign bonds using ESG criteria provided better risk-adjusted returns – but corporate issues hadn't been explored much. Of course, though I trust JP Morgan to do excellent research, I'd really like to see this, and similar investment industry research, published in appropriate peer-reviewed journals. That would help ensure such research can be relied upon and is not just some investment firm 'pushing a product.' ------------------------------------------------------------- So, these are my top news stories and tips for ethical and sustainable investors over the past two weeks. Again, to get all the links or to read the transcript of this podcast and sometimes get additional information too, please go to investingforthesoul.com/podcasts and scroll down for this edition. And be sure to click the like and subscribe buttons in iTunes/Apple Podcasts or wherever you download or listen to this podcast and please click the share buttons to share this podcast with your friends and family. That way you can help promote not only this podcast but ethical and sustainable investing globally and help create a better world for us all. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about the content of this podcast or anything else related. Now, a big thank you for listening. Come again! And my next podcast is scheduled for August 30. See you then. Bye for now.
(Note: my next podcast is August 2.) Kellogg has the most successful vegie burger, pressure begins for IPO. More ESG stock, fund, and portfolio tips. Abandon GE, buy Schneider Electric, says Tim Nash in his stock challenge. Pot companies plan to adopt ESG as they strive to be seen as responsible, ethical, and sustainable investments. PODCAST: Kellogg’s ‘Beyond Meat,’ ESG Stock Tips, Ethical Pot Companies Transcript & Links July 5, 2019 Hello, Ron Robins here. Welcome to my podcast Ethical & Sustainable Investing News to Profit By! for July 5, 2019—presented by Investing for the Soul. investingforthesoul.com is your site for vital global ethical and sustainable investing information and resources. Please note that due to holidays my next podcast will be on August 2. Now to this podcast. And, Google any terms that are unfamiliar to you. Also, you can find a full transcript, live links and bonus material to this podcast at this edition's podcast page located at investingforthesoul.com/podcasts ------------------------------------------------------------- Hey, about the continuing saga of Beyond Meat. Its stock as of this writing is still holding well over $150 s share. Well, it seems that Brett Arends writing in MarketWatch has found that Kellogg has its own successful Beyond Meat competitor under the guise of its subsidiary MorningStar Farms -- and it’s going under the radar of everyone! In an article titled, Kellogg is sitting on a ‘fake meat’ gold mine bigger than Beyond Meat, Brett argues that Kellogg, whose stock price has been struggling for years, should take MorningStar Farms public and might well become even more valuable than Beyond Meat. Quoting Brett, he says, that, “Kellogg already owns the largest single ‘fake meat’ operation in the country in MorningStar Farms, a brand that has been around since the 1970s. [and he says] Where’s its IPO?” Continuing, Brett states, that, “I tried MorningStar’s ‘Grillers’ vegetarian burgers not long ago, on the recommendation of some friends. Frankly, I found them way better than Beyond Meat’s ‘Beyond Burgers’ and not obviously worse than the so-called ‘Impossible Burger’ that people are raving about. Close quote. Brett says that Kellogg won’t break out the annual sales figures for MorningStar Farms—though he believes they could be around $450 million and that compares with $290 million for Beyond Meat’s 2019 sales estimate! So, will Kellogg spin-off MorningStar Farms and do an IPO? Who knows but Sustainalytics gives Kellogg an ESG rating of 65—putting it in the 81st percentile of its peers and Reuters says analysts following the stock presently rate it as a hold. So, something you might consider. ------------------------------------------------------------- Barron’s the US investment daily paper recently published a piece by Karen Hube titled, How to Build Your Own ESG Portfolio. She says all the right things, such as the following, quoting her, "By putting your savings in funds that assess how a company is addressing (or worsening) environmental, social, and governance, or ESG, factors, you hitch your investments to good corporate citizens, and may earn above-average returns. But turning the concept into a practical investment portfolio without compromising on investing mandates such as diversification and due diligence comes with a unique set of challenges." End quote So, some great points are made in her article, but her portfolio appears overly diversified to me. Statistically, having more than fifteen stocks in diversified industries across regions will give you very little extra statistical benefit. Also, no-doubt it'll include sectors and companies that won't please you! Along similar lines, John Eade of Argus Research Group published their sustainable stock recommendations in a post, An Argus Research Portfolio for Sustainable Impact Stocks which appeared in Money Show. John likes: Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL: OQ), Ecolab Inc. (ECL: NYSE), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ: NYSE), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM: NYSE), McDonald’s Corp. (MCD: NYSE), Microsoft Corp. (MSFT: N), Norfolk Southern Corp. (NSC: NYSE) and a few more that you can see by clicking the link in the transcript for this podcast. Again, if you have or are interested in creating a portfolio of profitable individual stocks that reflect your values, learn how to do it properly and systematically in my one-hour DIY Ethical-Sustainable Investing Pays Tutorial. Take a few seconds to check it out! Go to investingforthesoul.com/podcasts and look down the right-hand sidebar. ------------------------------------------------------------- In speaking of portfolio diversification, heavy industry is not a sector that as an ethical and sustainable investor you might consider. Nonetheless, you can’t escape the necessity for it in our society and it can have a place in your portfolio too. So, in Tim Nash’s sustainable stock showdown pulls plug on GE, he compares General Electric (GE: NYSE) with Schneider Electric (SGBSY: OTC). GE has been in the doldrums for several years. Tim says about GE, that, “GE was a great investment throughout the 20th century, but lacking a clear forward-looking strategy to transition into a low-carbon future, it’s no wonder that sustainable investors are turning out the lights on GE shares.” End quote Concerning Schneider Electric, Tim says, that, “Schneider Electric is a French energy management company making hardware and software that helps companies improve their energy efficiency… Schneider Electric at #60 on the 2019 Corporate Knights Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World list, and #13 on the 2019 Corporate Knights and As You Sow Clean200 list.” Finally, he says, “If you want to keep the lights on sustainably in the 2000s, forget GE. Schneider Electric is a better investment.” ------------------------------------------------------------- Yet another new low-cost ESG ETF has been launched. It’s the Xtrackers S&P 500 ESG ETF (NYSE: SNPE). What’s special about this ESG ETF is that it tracks the new S&P 500 ESG Index. According to Todd Shriber at Benzinga in a post, Another Cheap ESG ETF is Here, Todd writes, that, the “S&P Dow Jones launched the index earlier this year and its approach to ESG investing is traditional in that it excludes tobacco companies, civilian firearms manufacturers and companies with low scores based on the United Nations Global Compact for responsible business… Continuing the quote, Todd says that, “The new SNPE allocates over 27% of its weight to the technology sector and a combined 28.23% of its weight to the health care and consumer discretionary sectors. SNPE is home to 319 stocks. The financial services and industrial sectors combine for over 20% of the fund's weight.” Now earlier I brought up the subject of over-diversification and here I’m concerned that like most other general ESG ETFs they tend to under diversify into a few key sectors—and so, for instance, when tech, health care, and financials do well, they thrive. Since these sectors have done so well in the past decade, portfolios that are heavily weighted in those sectors have generally outperformed. However, with trade frictions, anti-monopolistic sentiments and governments potentially further regulating health care costs and privacy concerns coming to the fore, it’s possible that stock market leadership might rotate to other market sectors. From another perspective that also relates in a way to diversification, is a protestation by James Gard in a Morningstar UK article. In it, he argues to be a little ‘looser’ in not being too strict in only including top ESG rated companies in your portfolio. His article is titled, Should ESG Funds Buy "Bad" Companies? James makes a point that, quote, “Investors who shun such firms may miss out if these efforts pay off in the long-term.” James further quotes Jon Hale, also of Morningstar, as follows, “Wouldn't another investor come along to take the place of the ‘responsible’ investor? And if enough investors shun a company's stock, it could become undervalued and end up outperforming for those who don't have any problem investing in it.” And by the time that happens, that poor performing ESG stock could become a leading ESG stock with great stock price gains that you would’ve missed out on. So that’s the argument for loosening your ESG stock screening. ------------------------------------------------------------- Incidentally, terrific price gains have been made with pot stocks in recent years. But can they be worthy investments for ethical and sustainable investors? That’s a complicated question. Besides the personal values issues for you, you might’ve wondered if pot companies can do well with ESG issues? Well, the pot industry is aiming to create its own ESG standards. Kristine Owram, writing in a Bloomberg article titled, Pot Firms Seek to Transition From Sin Stocks to Ethical Darlings, says, that, and I quote, "A group of 45 companies operating in the cannabis industry has crafted a set of standards that they hope could one day transform them from sin stocks into ESG darlings." This will be fascinating to watch! Can pot companies be sold as health producing ESG focused entities to institutional investors? For a great review of the pot industry from an ESG perspective see the Sustainalytics post and report, ESG Risks of Cannabis Cultivation: Energy, Emissions and Pesticides. ------------------------------------------------------------- So, these are my top news stories and tips for ethical and sustainable investors over the past two weeks. Again, to get all the links or to read the transcript of this podcast and sometimes get additional information too, please go to investingforthesoul.com/podcasts and scroll down for this edition. And be sure to click the like and subscribe buttons in iTunes or wherever you listen to this podcast. That way you can help promote not only this podcast but ethical and sustainable investing globally. And remember, I’m here to help you grow in your investment success—and investing in opportunities that reflect your personal values! Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about the content of this podcast or anything else investment related. I can’t say I’ll have all the answers for you and some answers I can’t give due to licensing restrictions. But where I can help I will. Now, a big thank you for listening—and please click the share buttons to share this podcast with your friends and family. Come again! And as I mentioned, my next podcast is scheduled for August 2. Yes, I’m taking a break. Talk to you then. Bye for now.
Which renewable energy stocks benefit from lower rates? Beyond Meat’s wild stock success shows paradigm shift among investors for new vegan-vegetarian food investing. Comparing PepsiCo vs Coke-Cola environmentally and as investments. New robo advisor offers investing for racial justice. What to watch for to avoid greenwashing when investing. New large cap ESG ETF gets attention. PODCAST: Renewable Energy Energized, Greenwashing and Investing Transcript & Links June 21, 2019 Hello, Ron Robins here. Welcome to my podcast Ethical & Sustainable Investing News to Profit By! for June 21, 2019—presented by Investing for the Soul. investingforthesoul.com is your site for vital global ethical and sustainable investment information and resources. Now to this podcast. And Google any terms that are unfamiliar to you. Also, you can find a full transcript, live links and bonus material to this podcast at this editions’ podcast page located at investingforthesoul.com/podcasts ------------------------------------------------------------- Now, many investors listening to this podcast are investing with an ethical-sustainable investing mindset that takes seriously the need to care for the planet and as such is already leaning towards – if not done so already – to a more vegetable-based diet. Therefore, you’ve been following with great interest Beyond Meat’s ascension to stock price heights that were unimaginable a few weeks ago. Recently, it was trading above $160—and to me, that tells us something. It says that there’s a paradigm shift taking place in the food industry centering around vegan-vegetarian foods and in my June 7 podcast I gave you some links to sites where you could find some interesting ideas for such investments. Now, also along these lines, Corporates Knights have published another good article on this industry titled, Plant burgers bring home the bacon and there you might find even more companies in this sector that you could look at. ------------------------------------------------------------- Another favorite for ethical-sustainable investors is renewable energy. In the US, despite President Trump’s attempt to get everyone excited about the fossil fuel industry there, renewable energy continues to take-off. An argument for even greater take-off is made by Travis Hoium in his Motley Fool post Why Renewable Energy Stocks Could Have a Great Year. He argues that lower US interest rates will power up renewables. Quoting him, he says, “Like it or not, renewable energy stocks' performance today is tied to what the Federal Reserve does with interest rates in any given month. The value of renewable power plants rises and falls with the market's interest rates, and the impact of their movement trickles down to influence demand for everything from solar panels to inverters and wind turbines.” End quote. Companies he likes in the solar panel area are Canadian Solar (NASDAQ: CSIQ), First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR), and SunPower (NASDAQ: SPWR) and for wind, General Electric (NYSE: GE) and Vestas Wind Systems (NASDAQOTH: VWSYF). Travis also makes other recommendations in the renewable energy sector that you can read in his post. Sophia Cai, writing in Barron’s with an article titled, Solar Power Is Starting to Shine. Here Are Some Stocks Poised to Benefit, covers Sunrun (NASDAQ: RUN), SunPower (NASDAQ SPWR), Vivant Solar (NYSE: VSLR), and Invesco Solar ETF (NYSE Arca: TAN). While on the subject of renewable energy, a global new cell efficiency and modular output record were made by JinkoSolar (NYSE: JKS). And what they did specifically, quoting a news release titled, JinkoSolar Breaks World Record for Cell Efficiency and Module Output states, “that the maximum conversion efficiency of JinkoSolar’s cheetah size cells and N-type cells reached 24.38% and 24.58%, respectively, during testing conducted by the Chinese Academy of Sciences in March 2019, China's authoritative national academy for the natural sciences.” Close quote. Is JinkoSolar a buy? Well, the average of six analysts covered by Reuters rate it as hold, possibly a buy. However, these analyst opinions appear to have been made prior to JinkoSolar’s announcement. ------------------------------------------------------------- Profitably investing in renewable energy is one way we can help solve our climate change problems and thus create a less polluted world. Another is investing in companies making real efforts to reduce plastics’ pollution. Plastics’ pollution has recently been given prominence and two companies among the largest polluters of plastic are Coca-Cola and PepsiCo. Tim Nash over at Corporate Knights compares them both from a plastics, environmental, and investing perspective, in his article, Tim Nash’s sustainable stock showdown: Pepsi vs. Coke plastic challenge. He says, “Forget taste tests – [its] which drink maker will be the choice of a planet-conscious generation?” His final opinion is that, and quoting him again, he says that “Coca-Cola and Pepsi are very similar when it comes to most sustainability metrics, but I’ll give Pepsi the edge thanks to its broader diversification and the disruptive potential of refillable dispenser technologies like SodaStream. Both companies have a long way to go, but Pepsi is this week’s winner of the Sustainable Stock Showdown.” End quote. ------------------------------------------------------------- Now doing your own investing can be daunting. Just in these podcasts, you hear about so many different investment opportunities. Because I know what this can be like, a year ago I created a simple step by step one-hour DIY Ethical-Sustainable Investing Tutorial. It doesn’t require any financial knowledge or math skills and you’ll quickly learn some simple things to easily put-together a stock portfolio reflecting your values directly – and which will potentially be as profitable and at a lower cost than any other option available! So, take a few seconds to check it out! Just go to investingforthesoul.com/podcasts and scroll down the right-hand column for the link. ------------------------------------------------------------- Now let’s cover a few useful miscellaneous items. If you’re interested in racial justice issues there’s a robo advisor for US investors offering just that. The firm is Openinvest, and it has launched the Racial Justice Index Fund. Here’s what Openinvest says about it, quote, “OpenInvest has identified companies that hold themselves accountable to the public regarding their progress on employee diversity and their commitment to environmental justice. Our Racial Justice cause allows any investor to tailor their investments to only include those companies who are transparent about their progress on diversity targets, and to divest from those that disproportionately pollute in communities of color.” You can also read more about it a FORTUNE article titled, You Can Now Invest in a 'Racial Justice' Index Fund by Rey Mashayekhi. And there’s yet another new US ESG ETF that’s gathering attention and that is Nuveen’s ESG Large-Cap ETF (CBOE: NULC). You can read all about in Todd Shriber’s article, Nuveen Adds To ESG Roster With New Large-Cap ETF at benzinga.com. Quoting his article, “The new NULC tracks the TIAA ESG USA Large-Cap Index. The Index uses a rules-based methodology that seeks to provide investment exposure that generally replicates that of large-cap benchmarks through a portfolio of securities that adhere to predetermined ESG, controversial business involvement and low-carbon screening criteria, according to Nuveen.” Close quote. While wanting to invest ethically, sustainably, we can always be subject to ‘greenwashing’ investing. That is, investing in companies that say a lot of good things, but don’t do any real heavy lifting. I’ve always been greatly concerned about this and for decades have advocated that corporate social responsibility reports, now often replaced with sustainability reports, provide not only metrics that are material – that is, would affect their operations and stock price – but also such reports be quantifiable where possible and audited by reputable outside independent auditors. Much the same way as for financial statements. And we’re getting there! Only in this way can we get rid of greenwashing. Masja Zandbergen has written a good piece about avoiding greenwashing from a portfolio manager’s perspective in the article titled, Avoiding greenwashing in sustainable investing in Singapore’s The Business Times. It’s useful reading to see how you might avoid falling for greenwashing in your investing. ------------------------------------------------------------- So, these are my top news stories and tips for ethical and sustainable investors over the past two weeks. Again, to get all the links or to read the transcript of this podcast and sometimes get additional information too, please go to investingforthesoul.com/podcasts and scroll down for this edition. And be sure to click the like and subscribe buttons in iTunes or wherever you listen to this podcast. That way you can help promote not only this podcast but ethical and sustainable investing globally. And remember, I’m here to help you grow in your investment success—and investing in opportunities that reflect your personal values! Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about the content of this podcast or anything else investment related. I can’t say I’ll have all the answers for you and some answers I can’t give due to licensing restrictions. But where I can help I will. Now, a big thank you for listening—and please click the share buttons to share this podcast with your friends and family. Come again! My next podcast is scheduled for July 5. Bye for now.
Exciting new ESG ETFs hit market. See reviews here. Corporate Knights stock showdowns: Exxon vs Neste (energy) and Kimberly-Clark vs Cascades (paper). Low ESG performers promising to upgrade their ESG activities can potentially outperform high ESG stocks. Beyond Meat leading a craze in vegan meat replacements that has years to run with many investment opportunities. Transcript & Links June 7, 2019 Hello, Ron Robins here. Welcome to my podcast Ethical & Sustainable Investing News to Profit By! for June 7, 2019—presented by Investing for the Soul. investingforthesoul.com is your site for vital global ethical and sustainable investment information and resources. Now to this podcast. And Google any terms that are unfamiliar to you. Also, you can find a full transcript, live links and bonus material to this podcast at this editions’ podcast page located at investingforthesoul.com/podcasts ------------------------------------------------------------- First off, I’m going to talk about two new ESG ETFs: The Vanguard Global ESG Select Stock (NASDAQ: VEIGX) and the Xtrackers MSCI USA ESG Leaders Equity ETF (NYSE Arca: USSG) The Vanguard ETF is written-up by someone I really admire and have posted works by him before. His name is Jon Hale of Morningstar. His insightful article was posted at Yahoo! Finance. One of Jon’s main points is that this ETF is likely to be mostly comprised of low-risk ESG companies given that it’s manager, Wellington Global Stewards, manages a fund available for Europeans that has a similar risk profile. Also, for an actively managed fund, it is low cost with an estimated annual expense ratio of 0.55%. Jon likes this fund, saying that, and quoting him, “the fund does have a lot going for it out of the starting gate, including low fees, a quality subadvisor, and what appears to be well-conceived approach to ESG. I expect successful asset-gathering over time.” He does have one concern though, saying that, and I quote, “One caveat I have about the fund is that while comanagers Mandel and Courtines have years of portfolio management experience, [this fund] appears to be their first serious dive into ESG investing.” Close quote. The second ETF, the Xtrackers MSCI USA ESG Leaders Equity ETF has done something remarkable for an ESG ETF and that is in its first two months of trading—that is by May 29—it attained over $1 billion in assets, according to a post, titled, An Impressive Start For USSG ESG ETF, on the ETF Trends website. Another difference about this fund that some of you might like is that compared to other ESG ETFs it screens out companies engaged in alcohol, weapons, gambling, and other controversial products or activities. You should realize that ESG ratings refer to company operations and almost never to a company’s end products or services. Hence, tobacco, alcoholic beverage, and even weapons companies, can still score high on ESG factors! One other feature about this ETF and a possible reason for its terrific asset gathering performance in its first two months is that it has an annual management fee of only 0.10%! Now remember though, this is a passively managed fund tracking the MSCI USA ESG Leaders Index that includes 339 stocks. ------------------------------------------------------------- Tim Nash over at Corporate Knights has another great stock showdown. He sought to find a greener energy replacement for Exxon, the giant US oil company, and found, Neste (on the Helsinki Exchange: NTOIY). Quoting Tim, “Neste is a Finnish oil refiner that is now redefining what an energy company looks like. Although it still earns most of its revenues from oil refining and gas stations, biofuels like renewable diesel are now the fastest growing part of its business, comprising half its total profits. Its biofuels are made from a combination of waste sources (animal fat and used cooking oil) and plant sources (rapeseed oil and palm oil).” Continuing quoting him, he says, “If you’re looking to divest your portfolio from fossil fuels entirely, Neste may not be the company for you. But by showing the world how an oil and gas company can successfully transition into a renewable energy powerhouse, Neste wins this week’s Sustainable Stock Showdown.” Unquote. ------------------------------------------------------------- Tim Nash has also done another recent ‘stock showdown’—this time Kimberly-Clark (NYSE: KMB) vs. Cascades (TSE: CAS), two companies prominent in disposable paper products. Though some of you might not like the idea of investing in such companies, you can’t get away from the fact that our use of paper keeps growing despite the digital everything economy. Also, in a well-balanced all-weather portfolio, you can’t be too overweight in say, tech, and financials. All industries have their ups and downs, and yes, tech has done incredibly well but given the current concerns with privacy, tariff policies, etc., who knows what the future will be. So, yes, boring companies in boring traditional all-weather industries that have good ESG credentials have a place in most portfolios. So, Tim gives a wonderful overview of the disposable paper products industry—its pros and cons from environmental and other viewpoints—and how both companies are trying to do a better job on the issues he raises. Here are some quotes from his article, he says, that, “The forestry sector, in general, has a chequered past with impacts on biodiversity loss, climate change, and indigenous rights.” Continuing, he says, “From an investment perspective, Cascades is a much smaller company than Kimberly-Clark and pays a smaller dividend. Cascades could see higher revenue growth from expansion into areas like 100% recycled food packaging, and may provide better growth over time as the anti-plastic wave picks up. Both companies have good sustainability scores, but I’ll give Cascades the win for this week’s Sustainable Stock Showdown.” Close quote. ------------------------------------------------------------- Now, do you select investments based solely on excluding specific industries, such as weapons and tobacco companies? If so, Masja Zandbergen, head of ESG at Swiss investment firm, Robecco, argues in a post written by Joe McGrath in Expert Investor, that a portfolio made up of such investments shouldn’t be called sustainable. I agree with that if that’s the sole basis for portfolio selection. Furthermore, if you want to screen out certain industries, that’s fine, but it’s also good to apply ESG criteria in selecting the balance of your investments. Incidentally, Ms. Zandbergen, like many in the ESG-sustainable investment industry argues that—and quoting her, saying, “she believes that companies with low ESG scores should be encouraged to improve their behaviors, through engagement.” And that’s what we all want, and it makes financial sense too. You might be aware of the several studies showing that companies with high ESG scores trade at a relative premium to companies with low ESG scores. However, did you know that low ESG scoring companies that prove to be on an upward trajectory in their ESG performance can make outsized stock price gains relative to the high ESG performers? This in part explains why companies like Robecco often pick lower scoring ESG companies and engage with them to improve their ESG activities and thereby ride the wave of that company’s improved stock price. ------------------------------------------------------------- In previous podcasts, I covered the rise of Beyond Meat. Well, its stock recently traded over $100—four times its IPO price! To me, this whole area of vegetable meat replacement food is terrifically exciting, offering new investment possibilities—and the media is onto it too! If you haven’t considered investing in this new industry, you just might want to. As is often the case, celebrities often influence public taste—sorry for the pun! A great example of media interest in vegetable meat replacement is Tom Metcalf’s Bloomberg article, titled, James Cameron Sees Global Salvation in Plant-Based Investing. James Cameron’s films have been immensely successful, grossing over $6 billion worldwide. Quoting the article, “[James and wife Suzy Amis] have increasingly focused their family office on plant-based investments, from an organic farm in New Zealand to a Canadian plant that makes protein concentrates from peas and lentils.” Unquote. The article also gives some impressive US stats, saying that, and I quote, that, “Retail sales of plant-derived meat alternatives rose by almost 25% to an estimated $770 million in the 12 months ended August 2018 from a year earlier, according to a February report by Rabobank, while vegan alternatives to products such as milk, cheese and yogurt are estimated to ring up $4.1 billion in sales.” End quote. For a good review article of this trend and other players in this industry see the Greenbiz post by Shana Rappaport, titled, It's 'impossible' to ignore the world of alternative proteins. For stocks to invest in, vegfaqs.com, suggests Beyond Meat (NASDAQ: BYND), Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE: INGR), Bunge Limited (NYSE: BG), AAK (STO: AAK), SenzaGen (STO: SENZA) and SIMRIS (STO: SIMRIS). On this edition’s podcast webpage, you can find bonus information and links on investing in this exciting new sustainable industry. Go to investingforthesoul.com/podcasts and scroll down to this edition. (Bonus links: http://investsnips.com/list-of-publicly-traded-vegan-companies/ and https://vegconomist.com/ ) ------------------------------------------------------------- So, these are my top news stories and tips for ethical and sustainable investors over the past two weeks. Again, to get all the links or to read the transcript of this podcast and sometimes get additional information too, please go to investingforthesoul.com/podcasts and scroll down for this edition. And be sure to click the like and subscribe buttons in iTunes or wherever you listen to this podcast. That way you can help promote not only this podcast but ethical and sustainable investing globally. And remember, I’m here to help you grow in your investment success—and investing in opportunities that reflect your personal values! Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about the content of this podcast or anything else investment related. I can’t say I’ll have all the answers for you and some answers I can’t give due to licensing restrictions. But where I can help I will. Now, a big thank you for listening—and please click the share buttons to share this podcast with your friends and family. Come again! My next podcast is scheduled for June 21. Bye for now.
Top 100 US ESG companies for 2019 by CR Magazine. Profitably invest in harmony with your spiritual or religious ideals. Solar power breakthrough—but investing in solar has its perils. A valuable investing tip that really works. Confused who’s best, Uber or Lyft? An analyst compares them. Vanguard launches actively managed ESD ETF. And more. PODCAST: Top US ESG Companies, Solar Power Breakthrough, Investing Tip Transcript & Links May 26, 2019 Hello, Ron Robins here. Welcome to my podcast Ethical & Sustainable Investing News to Profit By! for May 26, 2019. Presented by Investing for the Soul. investingforthesoul.com is your site for vital global ethical and sustainable investment resources. Now to this podcast. And for any terms that are unfamiliar to you, simply Google them! Also, you can find a full transcript, live links and often bonus material at my podcast page located at investingforthesoul.com/podcasts ------------------------------------------------------------- The first item to discuss is CR Magazine's 100 Best Corporate Citizens of 2019! CR Magazine reviewed 1,000 US companies for their ESG practices. Robbie Lock, a writer for 3BL Association, commenting on the research results wrote that “Owens Corning tops the ranking, followed by Intel, General Mills, Campbell Soup and HP Inc… Twenty-seven companies are new to the ranking in 2019 including Allstate, Delta Airlines and Mondelez International. Biggest gainers include Ball Corp., CBRE, Ford and Xylem, Inc.” Mr. Lock provides further clarification as to how CR Magazine obtains the rankings. Quoting him again, he says, ”The 100 Best Corporate Citizens ranking uses 134 total corporate disclosure and performance factors in seven categories: climate change, employee relations, environment, finance, governance, human rights, and stakeholders and society.” Also, that the, “There is no fee for companies to be assessed. To compile this ranking, information is obtained from publicly available resources only, rather than questionnaires or company submissions. Companies have the option to verify data collected for the ranking at no cost.” Close quote. I like the idea that companies don’t pay to be included in the research and the data compiled is from publicly available sources. ------------------------------------------------------------- The 100 Best Corporate Citizens demonstrate various degrees of above average corporate ethics, and ethics is a central theme for those wanting to apply their spiritual or religious beliefs to investing. If you’re interested in applying spiritual or religious values to investing, Meredith Jones just published in MarketWatch a post that could be of interest to you. It’s titled, “Opinion: When your faith guides your investing decisions, can you still beat the stock market?” And she says the answer can be yes. Ms. Jones reviews the leading ETFs and mutual funds for investors interested in Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, and Christian-Bible related ethics and principles. For Catholics, she likes the Global X S&P 500 Catholic Values ETF, LKCM Aquinas Catholic Equity Fund, and the Ave Maria group of funds. For those of Jewish persuasion, she says there’s only one for now and that’s the AMIDEX35 Israel Mutual Fund which invests in Israeli companies. For Muslims, there’s the Imam Fund IMANX the Amana group of funds and ETFs listed on the London Stock Exchange including iShares MSCI World Islamic ETF ISWD and the iShares MSCI USA Islamic ETF ISUS. And under the umbrella of Christian-Bible offerings, Ms. Jones reviews the Timothy Plan and Guidestone family of funds. For links to these funds go to my podcast page for this edition at investingforthesoul.com/podcasts. ------------------------------------------------------------- In my last podcast, I introduced the research of Tim Nash at Corporate Knights. Well, he’s produced another research report that compares the pros and cons of investing in Uber or Lyft. You can read his full post under the title of Tim Nash’s sustainable stock showdown: Uber vs. Lyft. Personally, I’m not keen on either company because I believe competition—not just between them but also other entrants including potentially motor vehicle manufacturers themselves—will force them to keep user prices low which will continue to severely restrict profits. Also, their environmental benefits are overplayed as I mentioned in my podcast of April 12. Anyhow, this is what Mr. Nash says in conclusion, “I’d put Lyft ahead by a headlight in this week’s Sustainability Stock Showdown, but anyone that’s interested in investing in either stock should be ready to fasten their seat belts and brace for a bumpy ride.” ------------------------------------------------------------- One big area that I know might interest you is renewable energy. I have several items of news and information that I want to share with you concerning investing in this area. The first thing you should know is that developments in new products are almost overwhelming. This industry has numerous innovative players and it’s very difficult to know who will eventually be a leader. Sure, you can buy renewable energy ETFs—and a good read on what to buy is an article that appeared recently on Nasdaq, titled, 5 Clean Energy ETFs to Buy for 2019. But if you’re interested in individual companies, here’s what I’ve seen in the past two weeks. The New York Times ran an excellent piece reviewing a Danish company called Orsted. They produce massive offshore wind turbines whose energy costs are rapidly declining while already being highly competitive with new natural-gas fired plants. In solar power, there’s been a tremendous breakthrough in producing new solar panels that appear to be 20-25% more efficient than the best existing panels. A paper outlining the breakthrough appeared in ScienceDaily under the title, Breakthrough in new material to harness solar power. Who will manufacture, market and install such panels wasn’t mentioned. Incidentally, these panels do have a downside—they contain some lead. I’m sure testing in rainy and humid environments will be needed and manufacturing processes and end-of-life disposal policies will be needed too, considering that most countries will want assurance about the safe removal of lead. I did a detailed study on solar panel manufacturers a few years ago and discovered that the manufacturing processes themselves can be highly toxic. Furthermore, most countries had no end-of-life policies in place to deal with the safe disposal of the toxic components of solar panels—and that is deeply concerning! It’s possible that the companies engaged in the manufacturing, marketing and installation of solar panels could at some point be hit with levies or fines in dealing with these issues. At the time of my research, I was most impressed with SunPower and its environmental efforts. So, one thing you might want to find out before investing in solar panel manufacturers is how they perform environmentally. A great resource for this is the Solar Power Scorecard produced by the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition. However, their last scorecard is a little dated and I’m hoping to see their new one soon. Incidentally, Fox Business just reported on the huge growth of solar panel installation in the US in a post, titled, 2 Million U.S. Solar Installations Are Just the Start. By the way, a tip for checking how investment analysts rate solar companies—or any companies for that matter—is simply to type into Google Search the name of the company followed by Reuters—the name of the media company—after it. Click search and then click the search item that says the company name and the text Reuters quote. Reuters will then bring-up a research report. Click on analysts in the links bar and you can see how analysts rate the stock of the company you’re researching. By getting the information on how analysts rate the companies you’re interested in can be terrifically helpful in deciding which companies to invest in. It saves you a lot of time and effort. And this is exactly the kind of tip and help you get in my DIY Ethical-Sustainable Investing Pays Tutorial! This tutorial will be the most worthwhile 1-hour you’ll ever spend getting help with your investments! ------------------------------------------------------------- Some other exciting new developments that might interest you are the following. Vanguard, one of the world’s largest fund companies, has launched its first actively managed ESG ETF, called the Global ESG Select Stock Fund (ticker VEIGX). It will officially begin trading on June 4. This is big as ETFs are mostly ‘passively’ managed, that is they pick a group of stocks typically based on an index, whereas active management means selling and buying different stocks as the managers see fit. In recent years passive investing has usually outperformed active investing. However, who knows what the future will bring. Also, S&P Dow Jones, who have had ESG indices for many years is launching something new. They are launching ESG global indexes based on core regional and country benchmarks. What is especially interesting is that these indexes, and quoting their press release, provide “a return profile that's consistent with mainstream benchmarks that have been widely followed for years.” As an aside, what you can do, where possible, is to review the indexes that interest you and see what companies are included in them. You can often get useful ideas for new companies to look at! ------------------------------------------------------------- So, these are my top news stories and tips for ethical and sustainable investors over the past two weeks. Again, to get all the links or to read the transcript of this podcast and sometimes get additional information too, please go to investingforthesoul.com/podcasts and look for this edition. And be sure to click the like and subscribe buttons in iTunes or wherever you listen to this podcast. That way you can help promote not only this podcast but ethical and sustainable investing globally. And remember, I’m here to help you grow in your investment success—and investing in opportunities that reflect your personal values! Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about the content of this podcast or anything else investment related. I can’t say I’ll have all the answers for you and some answers I can’t give due to licensing restrictions. But where I can help I will. Now, a big thank you for listening—and please click the share buttons to share this podcast with your friends and family. Come again! My next podcast is scheduled for June 7. Bye for now!
Hello, and welcome back to another episode of the long run show. This is Austin Wilson, and I'm sitting alongside my cohost Michael O'Connor indeed.And today we are going to be talking about E S G environmental social governance investing a, more of a methodology episode here. We're not gonna be too. Necessarily about specific stocks, although we'll probably get into that, but more on the methodology. Is it helpful? Is it not should you use it in your portfolio?What to consider if you're going to use in your portfolio really is going to drive the conversation today. To jump right in Mike, I think it would be helpful if we just give it, give a definition first. So we're sure on the terms and cover that first, so and environmental, social governance.Okay. Often throw it around. You want to give a broad level definition real quick? Yeah, sure. Essentially it's the, it, far as I understand, it's the broad understanding and methodology taken to, I believe it comes from real stakeholder methodology and philosophy in business where your company is not operating in a vacuum.They operate in an environment that consists of the society, that the people who are workers. Consumers who are neither who are just ancillary and around it consists of the natural environment the physical space, trees, plants all of that. And you have governance you have the regulatory environment, the local state government world level. So it's that almost a full stack of different things that are not necessarily directly correlate. The company's bottom line or shareholder value and stuff like that. Yeah. It, and that's where it becomes interesting that this is such a a hot topic in a world of financial space, normally driven by the bottom line numbers. Traditionally that's been the, that's been the number one driver, we get to create shareholder value and that's led to some interesting not. Optimal outcomes with odd externalities that definitely we're not incentivized by just trying to create shareholder value.So it is it is interesting that we're now getting to this methodology of, okay. Let's look at all the stakeholders. And I remember studying stakeholder kind of methodology in a class in university. So it makes some sense. My. My question is does it make sense at the investor level? Should this be a reason to invest or not invest in a company? Because obviously somewhat the secondary market, so not IPO's, but everything else, the secondary market is somewhat an incentive system for the company. But not always you're not necessarily, if you're.And the secondary market, you're not necessarily funding the company. So it's not as a direct correlation or or a relationship as some people might expect, but I do understand the ethical standpoint of, okay. I want to be an owner, a part owner in companies that I believe in and I want to have a framework for deciding that so I can see the impact. Might be helpful to give a formal definition as well according to PWC, which is a pretty good source. Environmental side, they say take action on climate issues, minimize to minimize impacts, capture opportunities and deliver value to all stakeholders. And so focused on, like you said, the environmental impact of doing business. And then on the social side, creating enterprise value and enhancing public trust by addressing the, and managing, communicating societal commitments. So talking about what, what happens with. Workforce, what are you doing? What your products and services, how are they impacting the society and the community at large, and then also the local community too? So that would maybe include giving back or some charitable work something along those lines and then the governance side, of course making sure all of this is actually implemented. And I actually have the three thing, probably the governance side is maybe the most valuable to the enterprise. Because. You can you can give back companies can give a charitable donation, get a tax credit, but actually enforcing any of those things. You have to have the governance side so that the G of ESG is the most important part. So again, getting that out of the way what are your thoughts, do you think it's helpful that we have this framework now?Does it? I know Milton Friedman was actually very much against. He thought it was ridiculous to say that this was important to businesses. And that this should be even considered when it comes to the enterprise level of thinking, he thought bottom line is the end all be all.That's how you measure success. Do you what are your thoughts there? Can we is it just the bottom line or should we be worrying about these as investors? Should we be worrying about these other impacts that business has. And different stakeholders involved. Sure. And I think that there, it's interesting because there have been studies done where they try and measure and kind of show a correlation between ESG activity and profits have seen some studies and read some papers that kind of outline that, that, but the argument out that companies that do good subjectively in ESG You better in terms of their actual bottom line, do better profits.However, I think one kind of confounding variable in that is that most likely the companies that have the resources to be able to dedicate to ESG are probably doing pretty well already. So I think there's, it's tricky to figure that out. Very difficult to measure. It can definitely be sampling bias. So I think it's the bottom line is ESG is a pretty difficult thing to grasp. Especially if you're outside of a company I think it's difficult to like efficiently and effectively judge the real value of ESG, unless you are in-depth inside a company. Cause I think like you said, the governance is very important part of it and unless you're on the board, there's a lot of things that are probably a black box. So it's difficult I think to measure and I believe some ETFs and funds that have tried. To save their ESG or even entire hedge funds or instruments that are like, yeah, we're ESG focused. There have been some scandals where you know that then half of their holdings are actually not really doing much.If anything will come out or one of the big ones will come out and there'll be there'll be some sort of difficulties in, in vetting that effectively. And so it's a tricky job to try and. Outside of any, either outside of any company. Now yeah, given that, I think it is, it can be important if nothing else because of brand value and because of perception. I think that can be a tangible effect. Probably not easily measurable, but tangible. And at the same time there, there are arguments to be made. If a specific company, the name of the show, The long run. If a company is if companies producing negative externalities, whether it's environmental or social, et cetera, I guess one example could be, let's say you have a very harsh work environment with high churn is one example that end at work environments are actually becoming more and more of a focus for ESG, which hasn't necessarily been as much in the past as far as I understand, but it's becoming more and more of a focus.At the end of the day if this company has a very high churn or they're burning through employees, human capital is, it seems like an inexhaustible resource. I'd say for most companies and in the economy, but it's really not. And COVID and remote work and the great resignation and all that has shown that more saliently, I think.So it depends on the long run and the kind of environment. And especially the labor economy is just one example where ESG and having some sort of governance may be able to provide tangible value and that you may be, you keep employees for longer, they're more productive, et cetera, et cetera.So I think there definitely can be value benefits to ESG, but the problem is it's. I think it's very difficult to fully understand those benefits unless you are integrated into that company. Yeah. And that's where that's where I have a tough. I'm using it as a methodology because my to my my, my sense of the situation is that okay. If you are a company who is like you said, if you have have high churn you have a negative workplace environment it's very difficult. Or for instance another good one that's an easy historical example is like big tobacco, there's a huge externalities there. Causing cancer and your customers or a classic if you're a manufacturer and you're polluting the the Allegheny river down your Pittsburgh or something that is going to come back and bite you in the buck. So over the long run, it does pay to be playing by these ESG rules for the company.And I think there's a very good argument that it makes sense from a bottom line perspective for. Company to, to be a good citizen, so to speak. But it make it's like you said, very difficult to make sure that is accurately reported. We don't even necessarily w we don't have the reporting of the financial hard data of companies down to a science yet.There's a lots of examples of improprieties when it comes to the reporting, the financial data of companies. It's tangible right. That's numbers and that's dollars and cents. So when we're reporting on on the social impact and the environmental impact of a PR one particular company, not only other component variables and not only is there a an unevenness in the distribution of the information between the outside investor and the inside shareholder, or insight stakeholder, not only that, but it's very difficult to quantify.So that's why I have I'm not necessarily against it per se, but it seems like it is being overweighted from an investment perspective, because I don't feel that the data is actually act actionable. It is too. It's not clean enough. The data isn't clean enough for me to go, oh, okay. This person has that.Cause, cause for instance, when it's used in an investment standpoint, we're talking about like ESG scores where it's like on a scale of zero to a hundred, these guys. Whereas this company is a 75. So I'm going to go with the 95 rather than the 75. There's so many factors that go into how the score is calculated, but then what's the data that went into calculate the score in the first place.Was that data even good? Does it actually reflect reality or is it fudged a little bit by the company or what have you, so that makes it difficult for me to trust like an ESG framework. So to say so to speak when it comes to. Choosing an investment it, like you said, you don't want to be creating negative externalities that either use it, the resource or are detrimental to your longterm growth as a company. And I think that just, that's more it's almost more common sense and unfortunately common sense is not very common, right? So it's if people would, especially in people in management and places. Power steering the ship in the company, if they would use common sense and think forward about long-term growth, maybe yes, you wouldn't have to be such a conversation. But we do seem to, a lot of the times sacrifice the long run for the short term, whether it's a financial we gotta meet this quarters growth points at the expense of next year. Decades ability for growth. Or if it's just I'm going to do this cause I'm a selfish person and this is going to get me my quarterly bonus there's just, it seems like it's in in the measurement of the thing, it is flawed. It's not necessarily that ESG is bad. It's just that it's flawed in its measurement. And I don't know that could ever necessarily accurately be measured. I'm not sure. Feel free to perspective. No, I think what you said is important because I think there is a distinction to be made between, and this is where my opinions on ESG lie, as well as that ESG is ultimately a management strategy, not an investment strategy.And I think that while the management strategy is crucial to have as part of the toolbox for a board and C-suite. The whole company, the whole, it, I think there is a, almost a temptation to pull that out and extrapolate that and attempt to use that as an investment strategy. Whereas investing is in some ways it's a lot easier than running a business in some ways it's a lot, it's a lot easier to lose a lot of money then, but it's, I think that there is a, this idea that any kind of metrics that you can pull out.The standard business more helps an investment decision and while it's certainly, I think it's certainly true that the more legitimate information you have about a business, the better informed decision you can make. The difficult thing is that I think there's a gap between the value of ESG in a long run management strategy scenario, which I think it is probably high.It's probably a high value to be able to have a very top down view and. And where your corporation or company exists in relation to all these different factors. I think there's a gap between that value and the value that an investor can or may receive at the same time. There is still perceived value if nothing else. The value of feeling like you're supporting companies that are supporting the environment, whether real or not is. It was a factor. And I think that's do you extrapolate that? I think that's a huge draw for people to, to invest in ETFs or to have financial advising and people who don't want to worry about their money at all might be in one category.But then you have a category of people who are interested in active investing or more passive investing, but choosing their investments. They may still be concerned about exactly where it's not necessarily just for the dollar value. So I think that ESG can bring value in investment scenarios.But I think, like you said, it's, it seems as if there's a lot of, not necessarily hype, but a lot of talk and a lot of developments going on around ESG that we saw like with the gigantic Volkswagen scandal, where, how do you, this, there's no way to know that what that's about to happen.And that's that sticks out in our mind because it's very easy. You to think about. And we have we have that kind of as a heuristic, a bias then that's very easy to think about, but think about all the car companies that haven't done that, but at the same time, it's we know that's a possibility. We know that ESG numbers are fungible in a lot of scenarios. Things can and are manipulated and out there in the world. You can get with a healthy grain of salt. I think not completely discounting. I do believe that ESG has some value in an investment thesis, but I think not simply taking that as it is, and looking at it in a holistic manner.Yeah. I almost, I don't know. I like what you said at the beginning there where you said it's more valuable as a management style or a management structure or framework rather than a. Rather than an investing framework. That makes sense to me, because if I'm looking at a company, there might be a better framework that would line up with yes.I want to make sure that I am choosing a company and supporting a company and owning part of a company that I agree with from an ethical standpoint. And that, and we've talked about this before, like with. The metaverse and Facebook and Mehta platforms, Inc. We've talked about okay, if you're, if you don't like the metaverse idea and you don't want to invest in that.Okay don't buy facebook.com, but you have exposure to it if you're in an index fund. So maybe there is some value to the ethical side of it, but that seems like it's a totally different framework than ESG. ESG still seems like a management framework. To me, it seems like maybe it should be called ethical investing, which I think was a term.And maybe a couple of years ago, and ESG was coming to the light. There was like ethical investing or green investing or something like something along those lines. And I would say, okay, maybe that's a little bit better of a way if you're a financial advisor trying to build a portfolio based on your client's values, or if you're an individual trying to make sure that your investment portfolio lines up with your personal beliefs that's fine. And I think that's good. Yeah. That I don't know that ESG is the correct framework. It seems like you would want to look at the company on a case by case scenario and say, okay, does this have your list of qualifications as an investor and go down that list and see if it matches, not necessarily take some third party. This is going to be the cynical side of me speaking, but take some third party consultants report on the company and use that as your means of qualifying or disqualifying. The investment or the the this particular company as part of your portfolio, because the cynical side of me leans towards saying ESG is being hyped because there's money to be made on the reporting and analytics of ESG.Not that it's actually substantially helpful for the investor and the end user, because if companies are told they must care about. They will pay for consultants and third parties to come in and create ESG reports for them. And that's big money because we're talking about business to business contracts, which are always bigger than B to C products or services.So that's big money. And so I can see the incentive system there for ESG to become hyped as a investor relations kind of service. But again, I don't know that it's helpful. I think. Jewel investor. If they're consciously choosing stocks, they need to pick that that framework of, okay, these are my qualifications, disqualifications and use that instead of relying on a third party, I think that's a much more clean way to go about it.And again, you're, you can trust yourself in that because you're to find the information out yourself and qualify or disqualify that company a lot more work. But I think it's probably the better route to go and actually achieve. Rather than tricking yourself into thinking you're actually aligning with your values when really you might not be just exactly what you mentioned with those hedge funds. If I was a, if I was a client of those hedge funds, I'd be pissed. If I found out that they had a huge allocation to some company that was completely against my values, because I'd be like, I gave you all this money to invest based on my values. Why didn't you do it well, is it the company's fault?Is it the hedge funds fault? Oh, yeah, it's probably the hedge funds fault, but is the problem that they didn't do their due diligence or is the problem they're using the wrong framework entire. So that's my kind of I guess I pushed back against it really being valued at all for, from an investment standpoint. But I tend to be cynical.I'm not surprised that's why I ended up on this particular issue. And I think that, I think. The value to taking a cynical approach, especially when it comes to a and investment hypothesis like this where it's tough because like you said, there's money to be made and it's a new place to add value and to make value and it'd be, I think where there is that.That problem that we've been harping on is that the jump from this is about what this company is doing or planning to do, or et cetera, et cetera, according to these kinds of third-party metrics or maybe a company makes its own ESG metrics. And then just provides that whatever jumping from that to a fund or even an individual investor, et cetera. Like we talked about earlier it's difficult to quantify a lot of these things. Certainly there's some situations where companies buying a certain number carbon credits or is hiring a certain number of people from a local areas or different ways that companies try to create metrics around these kinds of ideas.But it's very difficult to cross reference that because there are multiple different. I said there are multiple different, like zero to 100 ESG scores from different providers. And how do you know which provider is the best of the best? And cause you, then you have to trust a third party about what they're doing to then trust the other parties.And I actually, I don't know if standard and Poor's has a ESG, but I feel like the standard report is in the Moody's. I'm sure they have ESG ratings and I'm sure that they're probably like the gold standard. So it almost feels like another, almost an augmentation of accredited. Where's the trustworthiness of a company based on ESG but we know where thelast. The big short. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. That's standard and Poor's was for the long and short is basically standard reports was, and Moody's were not accurately rating a mortgage back securities. I hope everything is cool now, but that's my point. Okay. Those risks are financial risks that you can calculate.Now, clearly you can fudge the numbers on those two, but at least there is somewhere deep in the vault number to back that up. That is exactly correlated to dollar amounts and risk where as with ESG, sometimes that, that can't be fully quantified. Yeah. And so that, that becomes a problem for me. And it's okay how are you?If this is. Unquantifiable or a very difficult to quantify aspect. And we're trying to put numbers to it. Not only do I have to trust that you put the numbers to it correctly, but then I have to trust that you're accurately putting the formula together correctly and you're not fudging any of the process at all.And so it's just a, it's a bridge too far for me personally, it doesn't seem like it would add value. I think just going about it, looking at, okay. Do I line up with what this company is? From I immediates maybe it's you look at it from a stakeholder capitalism sort of mentality or a stakeholder company mentality, where you go, okay what are all the people and entities and situations that this company touches.And do I agree with the way they're interacting in all these scenarios now that's really, that's a lot of work to put in for each holding, right? So I get. Zero to 100 ESG score. I just, I, again, I don't know that it's that valuable and it might be that perceived value, like it might be all about, which is fair. Perceived value is real value, but the perceived value also has to be followed by real value. So for to further explain that, so you can have, let's say out of 10, let's just say there's 10, 10, 0 to 10, right? You could have. I've points of real actual value and then five points of perceived value.That's fine. But I don't think you can have just straight up 10 points of perceived value because then there's no actual tangible value with what you're with, what you're giving, whether it's a product or a service. So I view ESG as not really having any value at all, even if it does have perceived value.I don't see that as being real value to the investor. Again, I see it as being a great management system. Yeah. It could impact the long run of the company itself, but from an investment standpoint, trying to qualify the company on that ESG score, I don't really see it having a enough value to warrant.Okay. That's an interesting point. And I guess, to play a little devil's advocate here if it's, if it is a best use tool as a management strategy, which I think we both we both believe then is the, almost the correct way of scoring. Perhaps, as as an individual investor, let's say you're not buying into a hedge fund or an ETF or anything like that is the correct way to interpret ESG in your portfolio.By listening to earnings calls, to reading reports from management and seeing how they're presenting themselves. Because at the end of the day, if you're going to invest in any company and you have to trust their management, and if you trust the management and you're taking them and what they're saying, and the financials are right, and everything, then you can most likely extrapolate that trust.They're saying any SG. True. Yeah. That goes back to the governance side of the ESG equation. So maybe out of the two, you can weight the G score more more heavily because if the governance is done correctly, then you could be assured that even that they're actually following through on what they're saying from the environmental side on the social side.But if the goal. Is not being accurate, is not being run across the finish line. Then they could just give lip service to the other two. So it makes sense to me. But then again, we're not talking about ESG, we're just pretty much talking about governance at that point, which I think it's, I think that's probably, if you're evaluating individual holdings in your portfolio, I think that's a good way to go about it. But I, for one, I'm just, I'm a lazy investor, so I don'tOh, yeah. I don't really pick individual stocks a lot. I do a little bit, but not a lot. So I view it as I'm letting the indexes do the filtering for me. Now, granted, I'm picking up some stocks that I probably don't agree with ethically, but I, my, my response to that to justify it by justification for that is yes, I'm buying, I'm an owner of that company, but I'm not.Making the decisions day-to-day that are causing those ethical issues from my standpoint. And also, yes, I'm somewhat funding the company, but I'm not really, if I'm buying it on the secondary market, my funds, my purchase of that security didn't go to fund the company directly. It went to the, whoever I made the trade with. So that's my that's my kind of lazy of investing, but. Again, I think there's probably, for me personally, there's more value in focusing on day-to-day tasks that are more meaningful and impactful rather than spending all my time, listening to earnings calls and reading up on the governance of the company. You might be better served with the two hours it takes to research to instead pick up trash in your neighborhood or something like that. Again, it comes back to what's the actual value here? I think it's very hard to pinpoint. And maybe it's different for each person. I don't know. Maybe there is a, an argument there that it's so different for each person. Yes. She might make sense. So I don't know. Really. I really don't know where how to answer that question. Is ESG valuable? I don't know. I guess it depends on who you are. Yeah. How has that affect someone's portfolio?How does that affectdo you think that affects other people. It depends on how much you care to be honest. It, it could be valuable. I think the valuable or the value of it depends on how much you care about ESG. If you really care about USG the underlying components of ESG, then it's probably valuable for you to use it as part of your investment thesis.If you're actively doing. Stocks because I don't think I don't think it would really take too much extra time if you're already researching the company or if you're doing, if you're going to financial research on a company and really looking them up and down, then you probably have the time to just glance over the ESG reports on the company.Maybe look at two different ones to Crawford's cough, reference, cross reference, and a, and you'll be good and move on. But for someone like me, I don't see the value in it. So why use it at all? I use a pretty lazy methodology when it comes to my, the majority of my portfolio. My thought process is it doesn't affect me. So why care too much? I don't, I guess there's my answer to that is how does it affect your portfolio? It affects your portfolio. If you agree with the underlying components of ESG, if not, I wouldn't worry about it. To be honest, if it affects your portfolio, if you want it to affect your book.honest, honest things you could say about our portfolio because that's not normally very true. I guess from a the reason I don't think it affects long returns over the long run is because I don't think that there's very good correlation between a good ESG score and actual good a company being a good citizen and taking good actions.Negative externalities. I don't think there's a F there's very good correlation between the two. Therefore I think it really is more of a a makes the investor feel good, a thing. So I don't think it's going to my personal opinion and you can read all the studies does it affect returns, but personally, I don't think it really affect returns and knows maybe it would actually hurt returns if you're just qualifying some companies.If you get a lower return, but you're philosophically aligned with your portfolio and that's important to you. Great. I think it's, I think it's valuable to you. Yeah. And a touching off of that. I think the it's interesting too, to look at a portfolio as not just a tool to make money or not just a tool to make financial goals achievable or achieved, like not just a retirement account.I think. It's starting to become more of a thought process. And a lot of people is that people aren't necessarily just looking at their 401k or their active portfolio or whatever. They're not just looking at it as I'm trying to make as much money as possible. Now there's always wall street betsbut I think it's becoming more options in your 401k.I think it's becoming more common to talk to people and hear. They're actively interested in aligning. They're they're more philosophical and their overarching goals in a little bit closer alignment than just the financial goals. So I think that like we talked about, I think that ratings firms and consulting firms are catching on to that and understanding that and saying, this is a good opportunity, which leads back right back to my cynicism.not quite as cynical. I will say, I think that there is some real value. But I think that in terms of a portfolio I think, and I'll be transparent about this is that I usually do a moderate amount of research and I'm I'm a individual picker as the opposite of you as well, the two sides of the coin. So I do a moderate amount of research into each company. But I can't say that ESG scores factor. Really more than a very small degree. So I think it's, I think, like you said, I think it depends on if you want it to be a factor. Read, I would say if you're more interested in this stuff, read the reports, read scholarly papers about core possible correlation between ESG scores and profits. Do your due diligence. If you're really interested in this throw money into a ESG ETF or a hedge fund or something like that. But I think that you have to individually ascertain the value, especially in the long run are you interested in this right now? Just as oh, I'm interested in kind of any ESG stuff or are you interested in that in decades?Are you saying over the course of my lifetime, I want to be invested in companies that align with my goals, not just financial. Yeah. And I think that's what. Thing the the efficacy of that is something yet to be determined because we, ESG is pretty young. It hasn't been all around for very long, so that the concepts and underlying arguments behind it have been around for awhile, but actually using it as an investment methodology has not met.So we'll see. Maybe we find out over a 50 year period that ESG investing actually leads to reduced returns, or maybe at least to outside. Compared to a benchmark portfolio we'll find out, but yeah, I think it's on an individual basis. You have to ascertain what's the bad for you from it.Now a metal play over this is even if you don't think ESG is good for the individual stocks, maybe you think that ESG as a niche is going to grow. And so maybe you want to invest in the ratings agencies or the specific environmental consulting agencies. So we don't really have any, I don't necessarily have any tickers, but maybe.Agencies consulting environmental consulting. If you find these companies that are the ones doing a lot of ESG research and you think ESG is going to grow as a trend, maybe you don't even necessarily, you're not necessarily worried about it in your portfolio, but you say, Hey, I think that's going to grow.And I want to make one off of that. Maybe that's a kind of a meta play for ESG investing might be. Yeah that really could be not to be confused with Metta platform thing. Exactly. Totally. But okay we appreciate you entertaining us or excuse me, entertaining our audio this long. Usually our episodes go a little bit shorter, but this is a big topic. There's a lot here to talk about. So we, we appreciate you giving us a listen. If you would drop a five star rating on whatever platform you're on, that's very helpful. Feel free to share this with with a friend, if you found it helpful and definitely take a look at our other episodes out there.Crypto. We talked about Anna NFTs at a certain point as well. And we got really meta with Facebook as well, previous episode. So check those out. This has been the long run show with with Austin Wilson and Michael O'Connor. Thanks for listening.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-long-run-show/donations