We have heard a lot about ESG investing lately. ESG stands for Environmental, Social, and Governance. ESG investing is similar to sustainable investing, wherein investments are made in companies adopting a sustainable and holistic approach to business. One way to invest in such companies is through ESG mutual funds.
Such funds normally invest in companies that are ESG compliant and aim at sustainable growth. In other words, they don’t invest in companies that deal in socially and environmentally harmful products or have poor governance practices. Let’s take a look at the 10 biggest ESG funds.
The 10 Biggest ESG Funds
We have used the last three-year return data (from mutualfunds.com) of ESG funds to rank the 10 biggest ESG funds. Here are the 10 biggest ESG funds:
10. Northern U.S. Quality ESG Fund (NUESX, 18%)
Northern U.S. Quality ESG Fund (MUTF:NUESX) usually invests in the equity securities of large and mid?cap U.S. companies. This fund is up by over 2% year-to-date, bringing their one-year return to around -14%.
NUESX has net assets of more than $447 million and an expense ratio of 0.39. The top three holdings of the fund are: Apple, Microsoft and Alphabet Cl. A.
9. TIAA-CREF Social Choice Low Carbon Equity Fund (TNWCX, 18%)
TIAA-CREF Social Choice Low Carbon Equity Fund (MUTF:TNWCX) aims to match the performance of the Russell 3000® Index, while taking into consideration certain ESG criteria. This fund is up by almost 2% year-to-date, bringing their one-year return to almost -12%.
TNWCX has net assets of more than $1 billion and an expense ratio of 0.31. The top three holdings of the fund are: Apple, Microsoft and Future on S&P 500 Dec20.
8. Dana Epiphany ESG Equity Fund (ESGIX, 18%)
Dana Epiphany ESG Equity Fund (MUTF:ESGIX) uses a risk-controlled relative-value equity strategy to achieve its investment objective. This fund is up by almost 5% year-to-date, bringing their one-year return to almost -11%.
ESGIX has net assets of more than $76 million and an expense ratio of 0.85. The top three holdings of the fund are: Microsoft, Apple, and Alphabet Cl. A.
7. Goldman Sachs International Equity ESG Fund (GSIFX, 19%)
Goldman Sachs International Equity ESG Fund (MUTF:GSIFX) normally invests in the equity securities of non-U.S. issuers that meet the fund manager’s ESG criteria. This fund is up by over 5% year-to-date, bringing their one-year return to almost -5%.
GSIFX has net assets of more than $542 million and an expense ratio of 1.18. Nestle SA is the top holding of the fund.
6. Fisher Investments Institutional Group ESG Stock Fund for Retirement Plans (QDVSX, 20%)
Fisher Investments Institutional Group ESG Stock Fund (MUTF:QDVSX) is available only to eligible retirement plans and invests primarily in a portfolio of global equity securities. This fund is up by almost 10% year-to-date, bringing its one-year return to almost -11%.
QDVSX has net assets of more than $189k. The top three holdings of the fund are: Apple, Microsoft and Alphabet Cl. A.
5. Vanguard Global ESG Select Stock Fund (VEIGX, 20%)
Vanguard Global ESG Select Stock Fund (MUTF:VEIGX) invests in the common stocks of companies that meet the fund manager’s ESG guidelines. This fund is up by almost 3% year-to-date, bringing its one-year return to around -5%.
VEIGX has net assets of more than $740 million and an expense ratio of 0.56. The top two holdings of the fund are: Microsoft and Vanguard Market Liquidity Inv.
4. Fidelity® US Sustainability Index Fund (FITLX, 20%)
Fidelity® US Sustainability Index Fund (MUTF:FITLX) normally invests in securities that are part of the MSCI USA ESG Leaders Index. This fund is up by almost 4% year-to-date, bringing its one-year return to almost -13%.
FITLX has net assets of more than $2.3 billion and an expense ratio of 0.11. The top three holdings of the fund are: Microsoft, Tesla and Alphabet Cl. A.
3. Trillium ESG Small/Mid Cap Fund (TSMDX, 21%)
Trillium ESG Small/Mid Cap Fund (MUTF:TSMDX) primarily invests in small and mid-sized companies that meet the fund manager’s ESG criteria. This fund is up by almost 1% year-to-date, bringing its one-year return to over -13%.
TSMDX has net assets of more than $35 million and an expense ratio of 0.98. The top three holdings of the fund are: Quanta Services, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies and LHC Group.
3. Dana Epiphany ESG Small Cap Equity Fund (DSCIX, 21%)
Dana Epiphany ESG Small Cap Equity Fund (MUTF:DSCIX) invests in publicly-traded equity securities using a disciplined, risk-controlled investment process. This fund is up by almost 2% year-to-date, bringing its one-year return to around -18%.
DSCIX has net assets of more than $13 million and an expense ratio of 0.95. The top three holdings of the fund are: Ovintiv, Cactus Class A, and Horizon Therapeutics PLC.
1. Kennedy Capital ESG SMID Cap Fund (KESGX, 23%)
Kennedy Capital ESG SMID Cap Fund (MUTF:KESGX) mainly invests in a diversified portfolio of the common stocks of small and mid cap companies. This fund is down by over 1% year-to-date, capping its 12-month decline at around -14%.
KESGX has net assets of more than $35 million and an expense ratio of 0.82. The top three holdings of the fund are: Teledyne Technologies, Umb Money Mkt Fd and Valmont Industries.
This article originally appeared on ValueWalk
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