ESG Investing

Gulpiyuri

I found two additional pieces useful to understand the possibilities of sustainable investment:

Why Are Sustainable Stocks Outperforming Markets

ESG defies naysayers as ‘sustainable’ investments become mainstream

richardsmith911

Thanks, @Gulpiyuri for sharing the articles. Interesting read, especially the finance monthly article, I really liked the brilliant data provided. I had a snoop on LinkedIn, the CIO has a strong record in investment banking and now working for what it seems like a FinTech specialising in sustainable investing - anyone heard of these guys before Clim8 Invest?

In short given the pandemic, ESG investing has become increasingly popular and I'm keen to profit from this - anyone comfortable to share their ROI on this? 

bowlhead99

richardsmith911 said:

Thanks, @Gulpiyuri for sharing the articles. Interesting read, especially the finance monthly article, I really liked the brilliant data provided. I had a snoop on LinkedIn, the CIO has a strong record in investment banking and now working for what it seems like a FinTech specialising in sustainable investing - anyone heard of these guys before Clim8 Invest?

Written like a true shill for Clim8  - were you an investor when they were fundraising on Crowdcube a few months back perhaps?  I have only heard of them from that rather than for anything they are currently doing - they don't yet have an investment product, though have probably raised enough to get one off the ground. They will likely need deep pockets until they can get a real amount of AUM, as charging a competitive management fee on a small fund is not going to be enough to keep the lights on without going back to their backers for more money.

Obviously part of the pitch to sound credible is to get some soundbites or articles into the online magazines to try to get their name out there, but they don't yet have a product you can invest in, and don't seem to be saying anything too groundbreaking as yet.

richardsmith911

bowlhead99 said:

Written like a true shill for Clim8  - were you an investor when they were fundraising on Crowdcube a few months back perhaps? 

Ha!  I just heard of them today and signed up to their waiting list just now. I'm looking to invest in ESG funds - hence starting this thread. 

bowlhead99 said:

They will likely need deep pockets until they can get a real amount of AUM, as charging a competitive management fee on a small fund is not going to be enough to keep the lights on without going back to their backers for more money.

Sounds like your in their industry - a competitor? 

bowlhead99

richardsmith911 said:

bowlhead99 said:

Written like a true shill for Clim8  - were you an investor when they were fundraising on Crowdcube a few months back perhaps? 

Ha!  I just heard of them today and signed up to their waiting list just now. I'm looking to invest in ESG funds - hence starting this thread. 

bowlhead99 said:

They will likely need deep pockets until they can get a real amount of AUM, as charging a competitive management fee on a small fund is not going to be enough to keep the lights on without going back to their backers for more money.

Sounds like your in their industry - a competitor? 

I'm not a competitor but am in financial services so I can guesstimate how much it costs to run an investment business, and it will be a lot more than the management fees they can get away with charging on a small amount of capital.

So they will need to charge more than all their established rivals (difficult to pull off), or offer something truly groundbreaking for the same overall cost of investment as the bigger players who have massive economies of scale.

There are no shortage of niche investment businesses or fintech firms who can get some backing to launch but don't eventually get enough assets under management to realise their dreams, and ultimately fail.

richardsmith911

Thanks, @bowlhead99, interesting perspective something to think about. Have there been any FinTech firms out there that have managed to make a profit yet?

it_doesnt_work

I started decarbonising my portfolio at the start of the year. My stance is middle-green: screen out fossils, avoid backers of fossils, and promote sustainability where possible. If no good options, I try to find find funds with limited fossil exposures.

This is what i've come up with so far, none of which are recommendations:

BG Positive Change

RLum Sustainable Wrld

Schroeder global energy transition

INRG

IEM

Rathbone ethical bond

I have some EM funds that are not ESG focused and will look to replace when I can find better options, plus some gold, gilts and cash.

I did have a global tracker ETF -- SUSW -- but after reflection came down on the side of active management considering the advantages in sticking to my themes and possibly avoiding the hit from the k-shape recovery as companies run out of cash.

Portfolio has done quite well through the covid shock. Renewables look to be a decent bet despite energy stocks generally suffering from the collapse of oil prices. ESG focused funds can lead to concentration particularly in tech and healthcare stocks, but both sectors stand to do well in a post-covid world. Still, valuations look pretty frothy right now.

I'll rebalance at year end to increase diversification and am open to any suggestions.

Moe_The_Bartender

Ninety One Global Environment is an interesting recent launch.

https://www.fundslibrary.co.uk/FundsLibrary.DataRetrieval/Documents.aspx/?type=packet_fund_class_doc_factsheet_private&id=4cf92102-fdc5-4736-ae45-430ba34860ad&user=6MNHc80pE1nfybEh6tQJMpdFc7Lt01lNJ5GPI7SawThEZZYw6YN0BLPd0pZi2%2bsh&r=1