The S&P 500 Fossil Fuel Free Index is designed to measure the performance of companies in the S&P 500 that do not own fossil fuel reserves. Fossil fuel reserves are defined as economically and technically recoverable sources of crude oil, natural gas and thermal coal.
It is called the SPDR S&P 500 Fossil Fuel Free ETF (or SPYX). It is available through Vanguard and Fidelity.
It’s inception date is cited at 11/30/2015. It is very much in its earliest stages.
Standard & Poor’s has an S&P 500 Fossil Fuel Free Index in existence with a launch date cited on August 28, 2015.
The SPDR® S&P® 500 Fossil Fuel Reserves Free ETF seeks to provide investment results that, before fees and expenses, correspond generally to the total return performance of the S&P® 500 Fossil Fuel Free Index.
This low-cost fund seeks to track a benchmark of large- and mid-capitalization stocks that have been screened for certain social, human rights, and environmental criteria.
Proxy voting records released Thursday by Vanguard Group revealed that for the first time it voted against Exxon Mobil management to require a climate report of the oil and gas giant.
In recent years, Vanguard had been a laggard compared to BlackRock and State Street Global Advisors in supporting shareholder resolutions on climate change.
Vanguard came under attack last month by Walden Asset Management for its own disclosure policy on climate, a battle it headed off by advancing several proactive measures.
What if you are invested in a low fee passive index fund and would like to switch to a fossil fuel free mutual fund but are uncomfortable with the higher fee? The active (higher fee) vs. passive (lower fee) fund question is one that should take performance into account. For example, Vanguard’s highly rated Balanced Index Fund does have low embedded fees of 0.24 percent. Nonetheless, the Green Century Balanced Fund (with fees up to 1.48) has outperformed the Vanguard Balanced Index Fund over the past year, three years, five years and ten years, including fees. The bottom line is that investors who had chosen Green Century Balanced Fund instead of Vanguard Balanced a decade ago have had superior performance after fees. The long-term ability of a fund manager to outperform its peers to recoup any fee differential is a relevant consideration when evaluating investments.