Research and analysis to keep sustainable investors up to-date on a broad range of topics that include trends and developments in sustainable investing and sustainable finance regulatory updates, performance results and considerations, investing through Index funde and actively managed portfolios, asset allocation updates, expenses, ESG ratings and data, company and product news, green, social and sustainable bonds, green bond funds as well as reporting and disclosure practices, to name just a few.
Research and analysis to keep sustainable investors up to-date on a broad range of topics that include trends and developments in sustainable investing and sustainable finance, regulatory updates, performance results and considerations, investing through index funds and actively managed portfolios, asset allocation updates, expenses, ESG ratings and data, company and product news, green, social and sustainable bonds, green bond funds as well as reporting and disclosure practices, to name just a few.
A continuously updated Funds Directory is also available to investors. This is intended to become a comprehensive listing of sustainable mutual funds, ETFs and other investment products along with a description of their sustainable investing approaches as set out in fund prospectuses and related regulatory filings.
The Bottom Line: Focused sustainable Intermediate Core-Plus Bond funds, the second-best performing bond funds category, offer a higher Sharpe ratio and can enhance portfolio returns. Notes of Explanation: Funds/share classes listed in descending order based on February 2025 performance results.
The Bottom Line: A majority of actively managed equity funds underperformed their assigned benchmarks in 2024 while fixed income fund managers had a mixed year. Notes of Explanation: Sources: SP Global SPIVA US Scorecard, Sustainable Research and Analysis LLC.
The Bottom Line: During the month of February, there were closures or re-brandings of 25 focused sustainable fund/share classes managed by ten investment management firms.
The Bottom Line: Focused long-term sustainable funds gained $6.7 billion in net assets but experienced outflows, no fund launches were recorded, while ESG indices trailed.
The Bottom Line: Focused sustainable high yield bond funds, diminishing in number, offer diversified investors the opportunity to improve their overall risk-adjusted returns over time. Notes of Explanation: Funds are ordered based on total return performance results in January 2025.
The Bottom Line: Investors seeking to hire a financial advisor should interview multiple advisors before deciding and prepare a set of core questions in advance.
Free access to regularly updated original research and analysis focused exclusively on sustainable finance and investing, providing investors with the guidance needed to make informed investment decisions that align with their personal values and financial goals while also contributing to the advancement of positive long-term environmental and social outcomes.
By offering financial support for our current work, either in the form of a one-time or regular contributions, you help to defray some of the costs associated with conducting our research and analysis as well as to maintain the www.sustainableinvest.com website.
Helping us to expand our research capabilities and offerings over time to cover additional relevant topics geared to sustainable investors.
The Bottom Line: Nine active and passively managed thematic water funds offer investors options, but the segment’s performance has lagged over the last five years. Notes of Explanation: Funds listed in order of 12-Month performance to January 31, 2025.
The Bottom Line: Vanguard reduced fees charged by 87 funds, including two focused sustainable funds, one of which now carries a 7 bps expense ratio. Notes of Explanation: Data as of year-end 2024.
Research and analysis to keep sustainable investors up to-date on a broad range of topics that include trends and developments in sustainable investing and sustainable finance, regulatory updates, performance results and considerations, investing through index funds and actively managed portfolios, asset allocation updates, expenses, ESG ratings and data, company and product news, green, social and sustainable bonds, green bond funds as well as reporting and disclosure practices, to name just a few.
A continuously updated Funds Directory is also available to investors. This is intended to become a comprehensive listing of sustainable mutual funds, ETFs and other investment products along with a description of their sustainable investing approaches as set out in fund prospectuses and related regulatory filings.
Many questions have surfaced in recent years regarding sustainable and ESG investing. Here, investors and financial intermediaries will find materials that describe the various approaches to sustainable investing and their implementation. While sustainable investing approaches vary and they have thus far defied universally accepted definitions, many practitioners agree that they fall into the following broad categories: Values-based investing, investing via exclusions, impact investing, thematic investments and ESG integration. In conjunction with each of these approaches, investors may also adopt various issuer engagement procedures and proxy voting practices. That said, sustainable investing approaches will continue to evolve.
In addition to periodic updates regarding sustainable investing and how this form of investing is evolving, investors and financial intermediaries interested in implementing a sustainable investing approach will also find source materials that cover basic investing themes as well as asset allocation tactics.
Thoughts and ideas targeting sustainable investing strategies executed through various registered and non-registered sustainable investment funds and products such as mutual funds, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), Exchange Traded Notes (ETNs), closed-end funds, Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and Unit Investment Trusts (UITs). Coverage extends to investment management firms as well as fund groups.
