Green Investing: The Way to Go
Green investing is a great way to not only find some healthy investment returns but also make sure your money is funding socially responsible companies. Green investing means your money is earning you an investment return while you’re helping to back the companies who are doing the right thing by the environment or by the community.
With green investing you could be making money while you’re helping the environment. An example of green investing could be to invest your money into companies researching and developing alternative energy sources or by investing into companies that make a positive impact on the environment.
Socially responsible investing began by appealing to investors who preferred not to have their money funding companies involved with things like tobacco, gambling or alcohol.
In more recent times green investing now screens out companies who are abusive or irresponsible toward the environment or their communities, companies who might practice poor labor relations or lack corporate integrity. This also means their green investments advocate companies that are making a positive impact on the environment or the community.
So how do you get started in Green Investing?
The simplest way to put your money to work in green investing is to invest it into an SRI mutual fund. A Socially Responsible Investment mutual fund does all the management of choosing green companies with decent returns for you.
A side effect of green investing is that over time as more people pour money into socially responsible companies, this action is sending a message to those companies who are guilty of extreme environmental pollution or poor labor practices that the community has become less tolerant of their corporate practices.
Are Green Companies a Good Investment?
Many governments around the world have begun legislating greener practices relating to a lot of industries in response to public feedback and concerns for environmental damage. As more companies scramble to find ways to comply with legislations and also find ways to meet public approval, green research and environmentally friendly products are on the rise.
This means many green companies are increasing their market share over time, but it may not necessarily make it a good green investment.
As with any other investment, it’s wise to check the individual company for how they generate revenue and whether the company is performing well in terms of available cash flow and overall profitability.
For example, a new green start-up company specializing in green energy research might be funded by government loans, grants and investor money, but may not be producing any revenue of its own, so trying to calculate investment returns on a green investment like this would be difficult at best.
Overall, green investing is a great way to have your investment money aligned to your personal preferences but it’s still important to consider the total investment package and how your money would be put to work before jumping in.
