Advisers or investors can access tools from Morningstar or advocacy groups like As You Sow to identify holdings in these gun companies. Typically, the exposure is very small, and avoiding these companies does not change the risk and return characteristics of a portfolio in a material way. Read More →
Read MoreAs You Sow is another organization that can help investors find funds that are fossil fuel-free, gender-equal, gun-free, prison-free, weapons-free and tobacco-free, for example. It maintains rankings of the top funds by category. Alternatively, investors can also use As You Sow’s website to gauge how well their current investments align with their values. They can type in a fund’s ticker symbol, which generates a fund score according to different value categories. Read More →
Read MoreAs You Sow is another organization that can help investors find funds that are fossil-fuel-free, gender-equal, gun-free, prison-free, weapons-free and tobacco-free, for example. It maintains rankings of the top funds by category. Alternatively, investors can also use As You Sow’s website to gauge how well their current investments align with their values. They can type in a fund’s ticker symbol, which generates a fund score according to different value categories. Read More →
Read MoreAs You Sow, a nonprofit advocacy group, has created two searchable databases called Gun Free Funds and Weapon Free Funds. Just type in your funds’ name to see if there’s any exposure to gun or weapons companies. The 30-year old activist investing group also offers some alternative investment ideas for those who wish to divest. For those who are not yet invested, As You Sow posts ratings of funds’ exposure to guns for comparison. Read More →
Read MoreTools like Gun Free Funds or Weapons Free Funds are also simple ways of identifying funds that have exposure to guns or other types of weapons, and finding alternative ESG options. Both tools are managed by As You Sow, a 30-year-old nonprofit that encourages shareholder activism. “There’s 100 million people with 401k plans that are profiting from these gun manufacturers, and no one’s even aware of it,” said Andrew Behar CEO of As You Sow. Read More →
Read MoreAndrew Behar runs As You Sow, a nonprofit that promotes corporate responsibility. “They’re included in mutual funds, and in people’s 401(k) plans, and most people are not even aware of that,” he said. Behar’s company runs a website called Weapon Free Funds that helps people look up whether they’re invested in the gun industry. “Which looks at both military weapons, but also civilian weapons. Including assault weapons and ammunition,” he said. Read More →
Read MoreAndrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow, a non-profit that tracks how well companies live up to their environmental and social pledges, isn’t convinced that BlackRock will do anything differently this time. He charges that companies like BlackRock hide behind the “it’s in an index” excuse. Read More →
Read MoreTo quickly find out any fund’s gun exposure, you can consult a website called Gun Free Funds, maintained by As You Sow, a nonprofit shareholder advocacy group, and partially powered by Morningstar. Simply input a fund name and get the fund’s exposure to gun manufacturers and major gun retailers, along with replacement recommendations for those funds with exposure to guns. Read More →
Read More"It’s amazing how much power people have in their money, in their savings, in their 401(k) plans," says Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow, a nonprofit that promotes corporate social responsibility through shareholder advocacy. "It really just comes down to: Do you want to profit off of assault weapons, handguns, and ammunition? If you don’t, you need to know what you own." Read More →
Read MoreThere are now many E.S.G.-based alternatives to popular index funds that screen out gun-related stocks with minimal effects on performance or costs, Mr. Hale said. Online tools like Gun Free Funds, run by the nonprofit foundation As You Sow, give information about gun stocks in funds that appear in many investors’ portfolios and retirement accounts. Read More →
Read MoreWhile the new rules will affect most funds, including index funds, their target is ESG funds which drew a record $649 billion globally through Nov. 30, up from $542 billion and $285 billion in 2020 and 2019, respectively, according to Refinitiv Lipper data. Andrew Behar, president of climate-activist group, As You Sow, said market participants have exploited a loophole in the current rules when naming funds. Read More →
Read MoreFor instance a fund based on the S&P 500 ESG Index, the SPDR S&P 500 ESG ETF, received the low rating "D" by climate activist research group As You Sow, which noted despite its title and sustainability mandate, fossil fuel stocks make up 6.5% of fund assets. Read More →
Read MoreTesla was recently tagged by sustainable investing advocate As You Sow in a report that ranked 55 companies on their “green” progress.
Most major corporations tell customers and shareholders they’re working toward zero greenhouse gas emissions in the coming years and decades, doing their part to slow global warming. But the speed of progress varies. And many still rely on buying permission to pollute through carbon offsets rather than changing how they source energy, the As You Sow investing group charged. Others, even environmental groundbreaker Tesla, earned poor marks for not publicly sharing emissions data at all. Read More →
Read MoreBut while such companies may be low-carbon in the future, they are high-carbon today, said Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow, a Berkeley, Calif.-based non-profit shareholder advocacy organization that promotes environmental and social responsibility. "Many are also expanding fossil fuel operations at the same time as investing in renewables," Mr. Behar said in an email.
Read MoreAs the abortion debate intensifies, some corporate activists are urging companies to take prompt action to adopt more favorable reproductive rights policies ahead of any action by the Supreme Court. “Right now, it’s a ripple, but it will become a wave, and once Roe is overturned, it will become a tsunami,” said Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow, a non-profit shareholder organization. Read More →
Read MoreAs You Sow, a shareholder advocacy nonprofit, raises awareness among the public about this irony, primarily using a suite of online tools to help people find out what their companies are investing their earnings in. It’s especially important when that doesn’t align with citizens’ increasing concerns about social and environmental causes. The organization hopes it can “trigger an emotional response” to get them to effect change in company policies. “People simply don’t know that their money is being invested in companies that are destroying their future,” says CEO Andrew Behar. Read More →
Read MoreA shareholder advocacy group is pushing Comcast and Amazon to examine why they don’t offer more ”sustainable” funds to employees through their 401(k) retirement plans, arguing that the lack of such options is out of sync with the stated climate goals at each company. The proposal would require the board of each company to produce a report on the issue. As You Sow brought the measure and it received a green light from the Securities and Exchange Commission to go up for an investor vote at this year’s annual meetings — Amazon’s on May 25 and Comcast’s on June 1. Read More →
Read MoreWomen are often associated with caring about the environment and fossil fuel free investing. Makes sense, given that we use the term “Mother Nature.” As You Sow’s Fossil Free rating system allows us to incorporate the desire to be fossil fuel free while pursuing your investing goals, such as a carefree retirement. Read More →
Read MoreIt’s likewise complicated for E.S.G. funds that screen out defense contractors. I spoke with Andrew Montes, the director of digital strategies for As You Sow, a nonprofit based in Berkeley, Calif., that focuses on corporate accountability. He said: “We unequivocally condemn the invasion, and the Ukrainians have a right to defend themselves. But it’s a separate question if defense stocks belong in the portfolio.” Read More →
Read MoreIt certainly does to Andrew Behar, the chief executive of As You Sow, an advocacy and research group that frequently files shareholder proxy proposals on E.S.G. issues.
“We don’t think that you should have any weapons systems in an E.S.G. fund,” he said. The group provides an online tool on the web site Weapon Free Funds that enables investors to screen mutual funds and exchange-traded funds on this issue. Read More →
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