Incorporating Sustainability into Your Individual Retirement Account (IRA)
Investing with long-term purpose
An Individual Retirement Account (IRA) allows you to save money for your retirement and often offers tax advantages compared to a regular non-retirement investment account and with the deadline to make a 2017 IRA contribution approaching on April 17, many may be considering this type of investment. An IRA is an account or “basket” that can hold different types of investments, including stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and other assets. So, for investors who are concerned about how their investments may impact the environment, it’s important to consider the strategies that are in your IRA. For those investors who are specifically interested in their investments promoting the transition toward a sustainable economy, they can choose low-carbon or fossil fuel free options that avoid the most environmentally dangerous companies while seeking competitive returns.
At Green Century, we believe it is important to consider the long-term with your IRA. To us, this not only means the long-term performance record of our Funds, but also the lasting impact that our investment choices have in building an economy that promotes, and does not threaten, the environmental sustainability of our planet.
Increasingly, there is a growing body of evidence that shows how considering an investments’ environmental, social, and governance (ESG) characteristics and ratings may contribute to long-term performance, lower volatility, and the mitigation of potential risks – all of which we believe can benefit a retirement investor’s long-term objectives. In addition to all of the companies held in the Green Century Funds being subject to an extensive ESG review, we also exclude investing in companies and industries that inherently contradict our firm’s mission and the values of our investors, such as fossil fuel corporations and GMO (genetically modified organism) producers.
For current and prospective investors who wish to make an impact through their investments, our selection of stock with outstanding ESG ratings and values-based exclusions is a very important distinction. Selecting an investment based only on its ESG characteristics could include an oil and gas company that has high ESG ratings relative to its industry sector; the fact that its core business is directly linked to increased carbon emissions that accelerate climate change may not be considered. At Green Century, we view ESG review as a tool to help fulfill our broader sustainable investment approach, not the tool.
If you’re interested in learning how to open an IRA with Green Century, please click here. You can also visit our Why Choose Green Century webpage to learn more about our three-pronged approach of sustainable investing, shareholder advocacy, and support of environmental and public health non-profits, which we believe help our investors create an impact through the power of their investments in a way no other environmentally and socially responsible mutual fund family can.
You should carefully consider the Funds’ investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses before investing. To obtain a Prospectus that contains this and other information about the Funds please click here, email info@greencentury.com, or call 1-800-934-7336. Please read the Prospectus carefully before investing.
Stocks will fluctuate in response to factors that may affect a single company, industry, sector, country, region, or market as a whole and may perform worse than the market. Foreign securities are subject to additional risks such as currency fluctuations, regional economic and political conditions, differences in accounting, and other unique risks compared to investing in securities of U.S. issuers. Bonds are subject to risks including interest rate, credit, and inflation. The Funds’ environmental criteria limit the investments available to the Funds compared to mutual funds that do not use environmental criteria.
This information has been prepared from sources believed reliable. The views expressed are as the date of publication and are those of the Advisor to the Funds.
The Green Century Funds are distributed by UMB Distribution Services, LLC. 2/18
