One big change in the markets has been the shift from conventional investing to sustainable investing. Sustainable or ESG (environment, social, and governance) investing has grown rapidly.
Total assets invested in sustainable strategies in the US grew to $17 trillion in 2020, up 42% from 2018. Investors added a record $51 billion to sustainable funds and ETFs in 2020 alone, a massive increase from 2018 when sustainable funds took in $5 billion.
The FundX approach to sustainable investing
FundX has been managing sustainable fund portfolios for our wealth management clients for more than 20 years, and in 2017, we packaged one of our sustainable portfolios into a mutual fund that’s available to everyone: the FundX Sustainable Impact Fund (SRIFX).
SRIFX is designed to capitalize on the growth of sustainable investing by owning funds and ETFs that have strong environmental, social and governance (ESG) ratings and strong recent returns.
ESG fund ratings offer an independent analysis of thousands of funds and ETFs and help us identify funds that are effectively managing ESG risks and opportunities.
SRIFX can invest in a wide array of sustainable investment strategies, targeting those that we believe are in favor now. These may include:
- Funds that seek out best-in-class ESG companies.
- Funds that engage with companies and address ESG issues that could improve companies’ bottom line.
- Funds that invest in sustainable companies, but don’t self-identify as sustainable or socially responsible funds.
Investors who owned SRIFX since its 2017 inception weren’t stuck with owning conventional funds while sustainable investing took off. They owned a sustainable portfolio of funds that actively capitalized on the strength of sustainable investing.
“We are on the front end of a profound, long-term structural shift in global investor preferences toward sustainability that is not fully priced into the market today and may therefore drive outperformance during a long transition period.”
BlackRock, May 2020 Outlook
Invest in SRIFX
You can invest in SRIFX at most major brokers, including Charles Schwab and Fidelity, often without transaction fees. You can also invest directly through our shareholder services: call 1-866-455-3863 to get started.