Top 100 US ESG companies for 2019 by CR Magazine. Profitably invest in harmony with your spiritual or religious ideals. Solar power breakthrough—but investing in solar has its perils. A valuable investing tip that really works. Confused who’s best, Uber or Lyft? An analyst compares them. Vanguard launches actively managed ESD ETF. And more. PODCAST: Top US ESG Companies, Solar Power Breakthrough, Investing Tip
Transcript & Links May 26, 2019
Hello, Ron Robins here. Welcome to my podcast Ethical & Sustainable Investing News to Profit By! for May 26, 2019. Presented by Investing for the Soul. investingforthesoul.com is your site for vital global ethical and sustainable investment resources.
Now to this podcast. And for any terms that are unfamiliar to you, simply Google them!
Also, you can find a full transcript, live links and often bonus material at my podcast page located at investingforthesoul.com/podcasts
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The first item to discuss is CR Magazine's 100 Best Corporate Citizens of 2019! CR Magazine reviewed 1,000 US companies for their ESG practices. Robbie Lock, a writer for 3BL Association, commenting on the research results wrote that “Owens Corning tops the ranking, followed by Intel, General Mills, Campbell Soup and HP Inc… Twenty-seven companies are new to the ranking in 2019 including Allstate, Delta Airlines and Mondelez International. Biggest gainers include Ball Corp., CBRE, Ford and Xylem, Inc.”
Mr. Lock provides further clarification as to how CR Magazine obtains the rankings. Quoting him again, he says, ”The 100 Best Corporate Citizens ranking uses 134 total corporate disclosure and performance factors in seven categories: climate change, employee relations, environment, finance, governance, human rights, and stakeholders and society.”
Also, that the, “There is no fee for companies to be assessed. To compile this ranking, information is obtained from publicly available resources only, rather than questionnaires or company submissions. Companies have the option to verify data collected for the ranking at no cost.” Close quote.
I like the idea that companies don’t pay to be included in the research and the data compiled is from publicly available sources.
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The 100 Best Corporate Citizens demonstrate various degrees of above average corporate ethics, and ethics is a central theme for those wanting to apply their spiritual or religious beliefs to investing. If you’re interested in applying spiritual or religious values to investing, Meredith Jones just published in MarketWatch a post that could be of interest to you. It’s titled, “Opinion: When your faith guides your investing decisions, can you still beat the stock market?” And she says the answer can be yes.
Ms. Jones reviews the leading ETFs and mutual funds for investors interested in Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, and Christian-Bible related ethics and principles.
For Catholics, she likes the Global X S&P 500 Catholic Values ETF, LKCM Aquinas Catholic Equity Fund, and the Ave Maria group of funds.
For those of Jewish persuasion, she says there’s only one for now and that’s the AMIDEX35 Israel Mutual Fund which invests in Israeli companies.
For Muslims, there’s the Imam Fund IMANX the Amana group of funds and ETFs listed on the London Stock Exchange including iShares MSCI World Islamic ETF ISWD and the iShares MSCI USA Islamic ETF ISUS.
And under the umbrella of Christian-Bible offerings, Ms. Jones reviews the Timothy Plan and Guidestone family of funds.
For links to these funds go to my podcast page for this edition at investingforthesoul.com/podcasts.
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In my last podcast, I introduced the research of Tim Nash at Corporate Knights. Well, he’s produced another research report that compares the pros and cons of investing in Uber or Lyft. You can read his full post under the title of Tim Nash’s sustainable stock showdown: Uber vs. Lyft.
Personally, I’m not keen on either company because I believe competition—not just between them but also other entrants including potentially motor vehicle manufacturers themselves—will force them to keep user prices low which will continue to severely restrict profits. Also, their environmental benefits are overplayed as I mentioned in my podcast of April 12.
Anyhow, this is what Mr. Nash says in conclusion, “I’d put Lyft ahead by a headlight in this week’s Sustainability Stock Showdown, but anyone that’s interested in investing in either stock should be ready to fasten their seat belts and brace for a bumpy ride.”
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One big area that I know might interest you is renewable energy. I have several items of...
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