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."
Stephen Smith, Founder and CEO of Kitman Labs, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he explains how his company's intelligence platform is engineering change in how athletes and sports teams prepare for games.
Sportswear giant Adidas is giving student-athletes the opportunity to become partners as affiliate brand ambassadors to help grow their networks as professional athletes. Attorney Darren Heitner, the founder of Heitner Legal, joined Cheddar News to talk about the legalities of the process. "It is absolutely a game-changer because we see a major brand make a big splash, nine months into name image and likeness rights for college athletes," he said. "While it is a paid brand affiliate type of partnership, it will open the door for 50,000-plus athletes across the country to start making some money, even if it's just through other people clicking their links and making purchases."
The U.S. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is warning retail investors that they may be getting in over their heads as the meme stock roller coaster continues. Dave Nadig, a financial futurist at ETF Trends, joined Cheddar News to give his thoughts on a proposal to create a kind of test to mitigate risky retail trading behavior and how it differs from existing qualifications for certain types of trading. "What FINRA was proposing is very different. They're actually talking about potentially testing investors to see whether they understand more complex products," he said. "And so this is a very new and I think slightly dangerous proposition from regulators."
Streaming giant Netflix has thrown its hat into the ring with some video game offerings of its own so far, but the hurdles to gaining market share in the space might be daunting despite recently acquiring its third game development studio. Kenny Rosenblatt, the president and co-founder of casual game maker Arkadium, joined Cheddar to offer his view of where things are headed for Netflix. "Microsoft entered the video game market in 1990, years ago with 'Windows Solitaire. It has taken them that long to become the player that they are today," he said. "So I like what Netflix is doing. Slow and steady wins the race."
U.S. stocks closed Tuesday's session near session highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 350 points, after rising more than 400 points at its session high. Shares were also impacted positively by optimism around peace talks in Ukraine. Nancy Prial, Co-Chief Executive Officer & Senior Portfolio Manager of Essex Investment Management, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Food, paper, and plastic are known to be major factors when it comes to America's trash; but furniture is high on that list, as well. According to the EPA, furniture makes up twelve million tons of waste in landfills every year. It's a problem that one online furniture store is trying to solve. Alpay Koralturk, Founder & CEO of Kaiyo, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Sylvia Jablonski, CIO at Defiance ETFs, breaks down the factors leading to the market's strong start to the week and discusses what investors should be focusing on when it comes to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and inflation.
Bitcoin surged to its highest level on Monday since January 2nd. The gains also come after a late Sunday rally for the cryptocurrency, when it surpassed the key price of $45,000, and also turned positive for 2022. Matt Hougan, CIO of Bitwise Asset Fund, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss what is behind the recent rallies for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Founder and CEO of Capital Postal & Mail Box Service, Takisha Clark, joined Cheddar News to talk about being the first black woman to own a postal franchise, the obstacles she faced when launching her business, and how she overcame them. “I ran into just dealing with lack of resources, dealing with just being a black woman, just trying to become this entrepreneur and be inspiring to others, so it's been a journey," she said. "It's been hard, and I've just been maneuvering through the cracks."
