Stockholm (NordSIP) – U.S. President Donald Trump’s climate policies are predictably riling a good chunk of the civilized world, but ETF’s dedicated to environmentally friendly strategies and sectors are set to benefit from Mr Trump’s abstruse approach to the issue. Environmental ETFs have seen a surge of adoption since Mr Trump’s inauguration, reports MarketWatch’s Ryan Vlastelica, a trend that seems certain to continue following Mr Trump’s announcement last week that the U.S. would be leaving the Paris Climate Accord.
Where the rest of the global economy is moving away fossil fuel technologies and towards clean energy sources, increasing inflows into ETFs investing in alternative energy sectors suggest a ‘return of the repressed’ with political considerations once more subtending financial decisions.
“If we see Washington step back on an issue like climate change, that makes the actions of each of us, as investors, matter a great deal more,” Andrei Cherny, Chief Executive of Aspiration, which runs the environmentally themed Aspiration Redwood Fund, told MarketWatch. “If Washington isn’t going to lead, we need to use every lever at our disposal to make sure companies do the right and smart thing with their environmental policies.”
Aspiration Redwood’s AUM has risen to $23.2 million from $5.5 million last November, while individual investors have crowded to over 10,600 from less than 1,900. The fund is up 12.5% this year. “A great majority of our new investors are people who never invested in anything before, not just people who are new to ESG investing,” Cherny said.
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