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Sustainable Investing Monitor-May 1, 2024

The Bottom Line: Sustainable funds gave up assets again in April while green bonds flourished. Relative performance results were mixed, and fund launches remained muted. Sources:  Morningstar Direct, Bloomberg, MSCI, SIFMA/Dealogic and Sustainable Research and Analysis LLC

Sustainable Investing Monitor-April 1, 2024

The Bottom Line:  Sustainable funds gave up assets in March while green bonds flourished. Relative performance results lagged, and fund launches continue to cool off. Sources:  Morningstar Direct, Bloomberg, MSCI, Bank of America and Sustainable Research and Analysis.

Sustainable Investing Monitor-March 1, 2024

The Bottom Line:  Sustainable funds added net assets in February while green bonds flourished. Relative performance results lagged, and fund launches were missing in action. Sources:  Morningstar Direct, Bloomberg, MSCI, Bank of America and Sustainable Research and Analysis.

Sustainable Investing Monitor-January 1, 2024

The Bottom Line:  Long-term fund assets gained due to market appreciation, new fund formations decelerated, sustainable bonds and the performance of selected ESG indices lagged. Sources:  Morningstar Direct, Bloomberg, MSCI, Bank of America and Sustainable Research and Analysis.

Sustainable Investing Monitor-December 2023

The Bottom Line:  Fund assets added $22 billion in November from market appreciation, relative ESG performance was mixed and fund launches continued to trend lower. Sources:  Morningstar Direct, Bloomberg, MSCI and Sustainable Research and Analysis.

Sustainable Investing Monitor-November 2023

The Bottom Line:  Sustainable fund assets declined by $9.3 billion in October, relative ESG performance was positive, but fund launches and sustainable bond issuances lagged.     Sources:  Morningstar Direct, Bloomberg, MSCI and Sustainable Research and Analysis.

Sustainable Investing Monitor-October 2023

The Bottom Line:  Assets attributable to sustainable mutual funds and ETFs declined to $315.6 billion in September, during which time performance and fund launches lagged. Sources:  Morningstar Direct, Bloomberg, MSCI and Sustainable Research and Analysis

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