Earth Day comes around once a year, but investors can put their money to work to combat climate change year-round.
As more individuals come to terms with the existential threat of climate change, sustainable investing is no longer niche. It's gone mainstream, and it's a growing force in the capital markets.
An often cited 2019 survey from Morgan Stanley found that 85 percent of investors with at least $100,000 in investable assets were interested in sustainable investing.
Some 48 percent of investors with $10,000 or more invested said they were "very or somewhat" interested in sustainable investment funds, according to a 2022 Gallup poll. But only 25 percent said they'd heard "a lot or fair amount" about it, and only 10 percent said they were currently invested in sustainable funds.
Not only is familiarity with sustainable investing low, concepts like ESG can be confusing. ESG refers to "environmental, social, and governance." It's a set of standards used to evaluate companies through a social lens, but a study from Stanford University found ESG ratings can be unreliable because there isn't a standardized criteria for evaluation, information gathering is expensive, and data can be incomplete or unreliable.
Peter Krull, a partner and director of sustainable investing at Prime Capital Investment Advisors company Earth Equity Advisors, echoed those concerns.
"An ESG portfolio that reduces its exposure to ExxonMobil is less bad. One that eliminates it entirely is better. But one that replaces it with First Solar is actually sustainable," Krull told Cheddar News.
Krull recommended sustainable investors eliminate fossil fuel companies or funds that contain them from their portfolios altogether, but other sectors aren't so cut and dried. Mining operations, for example, can mine fossil fuels, but they can also mine minerals for electric vehicle batteries. As for what goes into a green portfolio, Krull recommended alternative energy companies that focus on solar, wind, and geothermal power, as well as less obvious choices like insurance companies that consider climate risk and biotech that improves health outcomes.
"I like to call traditional index investing rearview mirror investing because it's really about investing in where we've been or where the economy has been. Whereas sustainable investing is where the economy is going," Krull said.
Being a smart and sustainable investor can require a great deal of critical thinking and research, and Krull recommended tools like Fossil Free Funds and Invest Your Values to help sort through the noise.
Ultimately, investing is about generating a return. When it comes to sustainable investing, Krull also suggested that investors think long term.
"Because sustainable investing is about investing for the future, [investments are] not always going to be up, especially when value investing is in style," he said. "Over the long term, it should play out. But in short terms, just like we're dealing with right now over the last 12 to 18 months, that value has been in style, you probably will underperform a little bit."
Rainmaker Games bills itself as a blockchain-based organization founded in the metaverse, built on a new type of gaming ecosystem called play-to-earn. The company announced a $6.5 million seed round after it was founded just this year. Rainmaker Games CEO and founder Will Deane joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Analysts are all-in on tech giant Apple, issuing bullish ratings this week and calling it a 'safety blanket' and one of the best assets for investors in 2022. This comes as Apple edges closer to a $3 trillion market cap. Mario Stefanidis, Vice President at Roundhill Investments, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss why analysts are bullish on the tech giant, how close the company is to hitting a $3 trillion market cap, and more.
Planet made its public debut on December 8, ringing the opening bell at the NYSE in honor of the occasion. With more than 200 satellites in orbit, the company operates the world's largest constellation of satellites, providing daily scans of the entire earth. This helps with everything from agriculture companies monitoring fields and crop health, to FEMA's disaster response, to marine protection programs. Will Marshall, co-founder and CEO of Planet, explains how this milestone will allow the company fulfill its mission of using space to help life here on Earth.
Lindsey Roeschke, travel and hospitality analyst at Morning Consult, breaks down how COVID-19 is impacting the travel sector and what the future of the industry looks like.
North Carolina is transitioning into an electric vehicle manufacturing hub, as Toyota plans to build its first North American lithium-ion battery plant. Machelle Baker Sanders, secretary of commerce for North Carolina, joined Cheddar to discuss the influx of tech-heavy businesses and what Toyota's 1,750 jobs mean for North Carolina's economy. Sanders said the carmaking giant's $1.29 billion project was contingent on it committing to align with the state's own climate goals for a greener future.
Just weeks after launching its IPO, Embark Trucks is looking to take trucking to the next level by establishing an autonomous truck lane between Houston and San Antonio, Texas. CEO Alex Rodrigues joined Cheddar's "Closing Bell" to talk about the company's expansion into the Lone Star State and the efforts taken to make the driverless vehicles safe for the shipping corridor. "I think the biggest thing you'll notice as a person driving on the road is that they're going to be a little bit more patient, a little bit more law-abiding because they don't have to get there under the same kind of time pressure," he said. "They don't have the hours of service limitations." He also explained that the lane itself isn't a segregated road but a digital route on an existing roadway for the vehicles to follow.
A judge has granted Britney Spears the right to begin executing documents on her own behalf. For the last 14 years, Spears was unable to sign off on her own paperwork due to her recently terminated conservatorship.
Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri faced a bipartisan Congressional grilling this week as the Senate inquired about safety practices for protecting the mental wellbeing of young people on the platform. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) joined Cheddar to talk about the hearing and how she was disappointed in Instagram coming unprepared with relevant information or documents. Blackburn also offered concern that the platform could continue with building a kids-only version despite having drawn significant opposition from the public.
