Investing Tips Information

You’ve embraced recycling, you’ve got your own compost pile and you’ve taught your kids to turn out the lights. Now you’re wondering what else can become green?

Your investments, of course! For those investors seeking to place their bets on the growth on “green” companies, you will soon have more options. Markit last week announced that it will offer a family of investment tracking indices for the performance of companies with stringent carbon emissions management strategies. NASDAQ also announced a new “green” index to track leaders in sustainability reporting. So, whatever your environmental focus, there is likely to be a green investment index to suit your needs.

The creation of these green indices is not that new. Dow Jones and HSBC also offer green indices and S&P launched a carbon efficiency index. Returns on companies in the energy management sector have typically outperformed the global equities market in recent years. Noone can guarantee that will continue but The NASDAQ Global Sustainability 50 Index will include companies that voluntarily report information for their organizations such as carbon footprint, energy and water consumption, waste and community investment.

When researching a company for possible investment in the category, you should also check their website for the sustainability report. A good report will not only show a large number of environmental metrics but will tell you what the future goals are for items like reducing the carbon footprint, using less energy, using less raw materials, etc.

It is an interesting green world and definitely a complex one. For the company it’s a balance. There are so many environmental factors to consider because what’s at the forefront for one investor may not be top of the list for all.
May your green investments be as good to you as they make you feel when you choose to invest in them.