Summary

• The three sustainable model portfolios, which throughout 2017 were composed of only two funds that tracked the domestic equity and bond markets, have been reconstituted to include a third fund to capture the performance of international developed markets. The aggressive, moderate and conservative sustainable model portfolios generated gains of 5.34%, 3.79% and 1.07%, respectively.
• The S&P 500 Index recorded a strong start to the year, posting a 5.73% gain during the month of January, the best since March 2016, even after stocks tumbled on the next to last trading day of the month and giving up some 1.01%.
• Against this backdrop, the SUSTAIN Large Cap Equity Fund Index posted a strong 5.47% total return in January but lagged the S&P 500 Index by 26 bps while the universe of 778 sustainable equity and bond funds posted an average gain of 3.95%.
• Sustainable funds, including mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and exchange-traded notes (ETNs) gained $14.4 billion in net assets in January to reach $264.8 billion, or an increase of 5.7%. This gain was largely driven by strong capital appreciation/depreciation experienced during the month of January, notwithstanding the month-end pull back, net new money as well as the repurposing of existing funds.

Even as Stocks Tumbled on January 30, the S&P 500 Index Recorded a Strong Start to the Year, Posting a Gain of 5.73%