insure & invest

Screening Investment Advice

Dark Green Screening

Screening is probably the best known of selection criteria by investors.  It is where fund managers will have a list of specific activities that they will screen and include or exclude.  These are generally known as Dark Green Funds. 

Other, Light Green Funds tend to use 'best of breed', preference techniques. for example, if the fund manager has to invest in oil, he will select the most 'green' of the bunch. 

Exclusion: This is where fund managers have a list of specific activities they exclude for investment purposes, for example:

• Tobacco
• Arms
• Fur Trade
• Alcohol
• Pornography
• Nuclear
• Regimes with human rights issues
• Animal testing
• Genetic food
• Unsustainable timber
• Chemicals
• Pollution

Positive Inclusion: Fund managers may positively discriminate for contributions to society and the environment, for example:

• Energy efficiency technology
• Organic farming
• Local resources use

These lists are by no means complete and different fund managers will have their own screening investment definitions. 

So how green is your fund manager themselves?

Just because the fund manager offers a 'green' fund, it does not mean that the management of the fund is green.  What is the CO2e (carbon emission footprint) of the fund manager?

Request ‘green’ financial advice today or buy your own pack in the Money Shop.