While there is no regulated term for sustainable investing and may mean and be defined differently from firm to firm, there is growing public and regulatory pressure to provide clear descriptions so that individuals can decide for themselves if the offered investments meet their criteria.
How to Invest Sustainably
Green Century believes that to invest sustainably then you must avoid environmentally dangerous industries. With that step, you don’t invest in industries that you don’t want to support. For example, if you are concerned about climate change, you don’t have to invest your money in the stocks of oil and gas companies. Or if you care about tobacco addiction or factory farms and animal welfare, you can avoid the companies that make these products or are leaders in these industries. All the Green Century Funds have exclusionary screens to avoid environmentally dangerous companies. The Green Century Balanced Fund also invests in green and sustainable bonds that fund clean energy projects.
What is the Impact of Sustainable Investing
Sustainable investing helps you align your investments with your values, but does it really help the environment or society? Green Century believes that sustainable investing does make an impact when large groups of people decide to avoid certain industries. This was the case in battling apartheid in South Africa when individuals and institutions moved their investments out of companies that were doing business in the country.
In the last 10 years, the fossil fuel divestment movement has helped shape the sustainable investing field and inspired individuals to divest from fossil fuels and influence their institutions – from Harvard University to the New York Pension Fund – to move their money. So far, nearly 1,500 organizations with assets of more than $39.2 trillion have committed to divest from fossil fuels.
This sustainable investing movement has helped the environment by getting investors to question the long-term viability of the fossil fuel industry once they understand the industry’s plans. The concomitant media attention also helped raise awareness for investors and the public.
Invest Sustainably with Green Century Funds
The Green Century Funds have been helping people invest sustainably since 1991. The Green Century Funds are one of the first families of environmentally responsible fossil fuel free mutual funds and has been a champion of the divest-invest movement since the beginning.
While there is no one way for how to invest sustainably, there are many options. If you are looking to invest in mutual funds for yourself or a family member, we encourage you to go beyond the marketing taglines and names of funds and see how each one defines its approach. Green Century Funds lists the industries it avoids in its prospectus and we encourage potential investors to contact us with any questions.
°Green Century Capital Management, Inc. (Green Century) is the investment advisor to the Green Century Funds (the Funds).
The Green Century Funds are a family of fossil fuel-free, environmentally responsible mutual funds. Green Century Capital Management hosts an award-winning and in-house shareholder advocacy program and is the only mutual fund company in the U.S. wholly owned by environmental and public health nonprofit organizations.
You should carefully consider the Fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses before investing. To obtain a Prospectus that contains this and other information about the Funds please visit www.greencentury.com, 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 the 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 methods, and other unique risks compared to investing in securities of U.S. issuers. Bonds are subject to a variety of risks including interest rate, credit, and inflation risk. A sustainable investment strategy which incorporates environmental, social and governance criteria may result in lower or higher returns than an investment strategy that does not include such criteria.
This information has been prepared from sources believed reliable. The views expressed are as the date of this writing and are those of the Advisor to the Funds. The Green Century Funds are distributed by UMB Distribution Services, LLC. 235 W Galena Street, Milwaukee, WI 53212. 8/23. UMB and Green Century are not affiliated.