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Category: Chart of The Week

Published on a regular basis, the Chart of the Week offers timely proprietary insights and information on sustainable investing topics and trends, sustainable investment products and issues impacting the sustainable investing sphere, regulatory developments, and other topics of interest for asset owners, investment managers and investors.

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Chart of the Week – October 14, 2024: Actively managed sustainable ETFs on the rise

Colorful financial charts and graphs on a digital screen.

The Bottom Line: Actively managed sustainable ETFs have also been gaining, even as higher priced active management fail, in most cases, to beat the market. Notes of explanation: The decline in the number of passive and actively managed ETFs funds is due to fund liquidations, most typically because funds fail to achieve scale to break… Continue reading about Chart of the Week – October 14, 2024: Actively managed sustainable ETFs on the rise

Chart of the Week – October 7, 2024: Largest sustainable municipal bond funds

Digital stock market graph showing volatile price movements and percentage changes.

The Bottom Line: Returns of sustainable municipal bond funds, a small $1.7 billion category with room to grow, rebounded from a poor 2024 first half. Notes of explanation: Notes of explanation: Top 10 municipal bond funds as of August 31, 2024. Returns are to August 31, 2024. Sources Morningstar Direct, fund prospectuses, Sustainable Research and… Continue reading about Chart of the Week – October 7, 2024: Largest sustainable municipal bond funds

Chart of the Week – September 30, 2024: High yield sustainable bond funds

Close-up of a screen displaying various percentage values in white text.

The Bottom Line: Sustainable high yield bonds funds have been a rewarding option for investors over the last twelve months on a risk adjusted basis. Notes of explanation: Taxable bond funds exclude municipal bond funds. Returns are to August 31, 2024. Average performance listed in order of 12-month returns to August 31, 2024. Sources Morningstar… Continue reading about Chart of the Week – September 30, 2024: High yield sustainable bond funds

Chart of the Week – September 23, 2024: Sustainable funds cash allocation

Cash dollar line icon on black background

The Bottom Line: Actively managed sustainable US equity and international mutual funds and ETFs had been increasing their cash allocations during the last 18 months. Notes of explanation: All funds exclude money market mutual funds but include passively managed funds. Sustainable actively managed US equity and international mutual funds and ETFs, based on Morningstar classifications,… Continue reading about Chart of the Week – September 23, 2024: Sustainable funds cash allocation

Chart of the Week – September 16, 2024: Sustainability still valued

Silhouetted factory smokestacks emitting smoke against an orange sky.

The Bottom Line: While prioritization of sustainability shifted, sustainability remains important according to Bain & Company research findings that may be extrapolated to sustainable investing. Notes of explanation: Source: Bain & Company. Surveys based on separate CEO surveys conducted by IBM, Gartner, PwC, KPMG and Bain Analysis. Observations: A just released Bain & Company research… Continue reading about Chart of the Week – September 16, 2024: Sustainability still valued

Chart of the Week – September 9, 2024: Top performing funds in August

Trending Graph Across number Matrix

The Bottom Line: Top 10 performing funds in August were led by real estate funds that could further benefit from lower interest rates and inflation. Notes of explanation: Funds arrayed in order of August 2024 total return performance results. PPGIM Jennison Beter Future ETF and Impax Global Social Leaders Institutional Fund were launched within the… Continue reading about Chart of the Week – September 9, 2024: Top performing funds in August

Chart of the Week – September 2, 2024: Sustainable funds’ turnover ratios

Digital blue financial chart with bars and lines over a world map.

The Bottom Line: Turnover ratios for focused sustainable funds, recently averaged 70.8%, can vary considerably and helps investors make more informed decisions about their investments. Notes of explanation: Notes of explanation: Turnover ratios over twelve-month intervals and are expressed in percentage terms as of July 31, 2024. Sources: Morningstar Direct and Sustainable Research and Analysis… Continue reading about Chart of the Week – September 2, 2024: Sustainable funds’ turnover ratios

Chart of the Week – August 26, 2024: Focused sustainable fund assets modest Y-T-D gains

Colorful financial graph showing market fluctuations on a digital screen.

The Bottom Line: Sustainable equity investment funds experienced a modest increase in assets Y-T-D due to market, but no run of inflows to bond funds. Notes of explanation:Notes of explanation: Source: Other includes Money Market, Miscellaneous and Commodities funds categories. Morningstar Direct and Sustainable Research and Analysis LLC. Observations: Focused sustainable assets under management attributable… Continue reading about Chart of the Week – August 26, 2024: Focused sustainable fund assets modest Y-T-D gains

Research

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.

Getting started

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.

Inesting ideas

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. 

Independent source for sustainable investment management company research, analysis, opinions and sustainable fund disclosure assessments