USXF

RussellUresti

It becomes more difficult, but not impossible. The biggest issue is that avoiding these companies means the best-known diversified, broad market funds basically become a no-go. And while there are certain indexes that may work for you, it's unlikely that you'll find something tailored to your exact beliefs. For example, ESGV would be an S&P 500 substitute that excludes companies based on certain moral principles: >• Specifically excludes stocks of certain companies related to the following: adult entertainment, alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, gambling, chemical and biological weapons, cluster munitions, anti-personnel landmines, nuclear weapons, conventional military weapons, civilian firearms, nuclear power, and coal, oil, or gas. >• Excludes stocks of companies that do not meet certain labor, human rights, environmental, and anti-corruption standards. >• Excludes companies that do not meet certain diversity criteria. There are a number of funds like this - so maybe you can find something that works for you there. Though you'll need to consider your exact criteria carefully - you mentioned surveillance and weapons/war, but what about for-profit prisons? Or companies that engage in union-busting? Or what about palm oil (which is an actual thing some funds, like USXF, filter for due to its association with deforestation, habitat destruction, etc)? If not, your next best option is direct indexing while excluding the specific companies that bother you. This means you buy just buy all the individual companies that make up the index at the appropriate percentage for the index after factoring in your exclusions. This can be significantly more difficult as (1) it's tough to manage that many stocks, (2) you'd actually have to research each individual company to figure out if they're acceptable to you, and (3) gaining access to international companies that aren't traded on US exchanges is much more costly without a fund/ETF (and without international stocks, you're limiting your diversification by only investing in 1 country - the US). So you'll need to determine if there's a fund that's "Good Enough" or if you're willing to take on the task of investigating companies and maintaining a portfolio with limited diversification.

IronyElSupremo

Easiest is buy an “ESG” fund. Calvert funds have the longest track record since the 1980s for [iirc] religious objectors but probably “active” management with their “non-vice” approach. Still Calvert are the long term players, but there’s various ESG-screen index ETFs at mostly iShares (too many to list here, but XVV, USXF, and DMXF are relatively low cost) .. but Vanguard released 2 recently. Thing with ESG is the companies have responded to them, so you get big oil companies but not a small solar company that can’t afford the HR. Another idea is direct indexing (Fidelity) where you hold the individual stocks .. screening the holdings of a top 50 (XLG) ETF or even top 100 global (ishares IOO) ETF against the top ESG large cap holdings (use VXX, USXF, DMXF). The late Jack Bogle theorized buying and holding such a DIY index could slightly beat the S&P 500 over time. Another idea is go with momentum index ETFs (Invesco’s SPMO is has the best returns) and rebalance annually. You can say you’re “selling” any problematic stocks; probably pair with something like low cost Vanguard or iShares core bonds for stability (iShares even has an ESG bond index .. basically big bank and Treasury bonds). May even be some green lending. Could combine the last 2 approaches too.

lektern

Look into the iShares advanced products. USXF has a much more strict inclusion criteria and omits companies like coca cola and nestle. It's not perfect but way closer to what I think people worried about esg are looking for than the typical esg fund.

ShapeUnusual3762

I myself DCA monthly in 40% USXF 40% DMXF 20% DMXF

Shauncore

I guess I'm not sure of your point? I'm guessing you are referring to the headline of Tesla being removed from an ESG index and Exxon not, but that was the S&P Dow Jones ESG index, not Sustainalytics. Unfortunately Sustainalytics doesn't really have a public index or ETF that tracks one of their indices, so I can't compare that to the SPDJ index. However, MSCI has a ton of indices that are public and have ETFs as well that track it. TSLA and XOM aren't in here https://www.ishares.com/us/products/314365/ishares-esg-advanced-msci-usa-etf Tesla is in here, Exxon isn't https://www.ishares.com/us/products/315917/ishares-esg-screened-s-p-500-etf Both Tesla and Exxon are in here but Exxon is very underweight relative to it's market cap weight index https://www.ishares.com/us/products/318215/blackrock-u-s-carbon-transition-readiness-etf Tesla is in here, Exxon isn't https://www.blackrock.com/us/individual/products/325725/ishares-paris-aligned-climate-msci-usa-etf I will point out this ETF specifically and it is arguably the most popular ESG ETF (ESGU) https://www.ishares.com/us/products/286007/ishares-esg-aware-msci-usa-etf The name/idea is misleading, since this isn't an ESG screened index and instead, as it's name implies, it is "aware" of a company's ESG score but that's only a factor of it being included in the index. A true ESG ETF by iShares is the ESG Advanced (USXF) or ESG Screened (XVV)

indie_hedgehog

I chose to avoid tobacco in my investments. I'm currently invested in DSI, USXF, QQQM, QQQJ, DMXF, and ESML for my broad index funds. You can check other funds on whether they're tobacco free through the MSCI esg fund ratings search tool

metallitterscoop

In theory, ETFs like ESGE, ESGU, ESGV, USXF. Expense ratios on those vary between 0.10% and 0.25%.

sustainfi

You have a lot of choices. If you want to do it yourself, you can buy ETFs. There are several types of ESG (environmental, social, governance) etfs: \- **Broad market ESG ETFs (including fossil free)** \- track overall market but have higher ESG scores. Many of these invest in fossil fuels but a new series of iShares ETFs (USXF, DMXF, EMXF) are fossil free. These can cover U.S., international, emerging market stocks. More info on fossil free funds [here](https://sustainfi.com/articles/investing/fossil-free-funds/) \- **Low-carbon ETFs** \- there are funds like CRBN and LCTU that also invest in the overall market but have much lower carbon intensity vs. S&P 500. These ETFs own fossil fuels, though. More detail [here](https://sustainfi.com/articles/investing/low-carbon-funds/) \- **Clean energy ETFs like ICLN and QCLN.** These ETFs invest in renewables, but they own few stocks and trade at high valuations. So you can't put all your money in them. Also, all of these ETFs own a lot of fossil fuels (because fossil fuel companies are often big investors in renewables) \- **Robo-advisors.** Betterment has a Climate Impact portfolio (more info [here](https://sustainfi.com/reviews/betterment/)), which invests in CRBN and other funds. Not 100% fossil fuel free, but lower carbon intensity vs. the market. You can also check out Socially Responsible Investing Pies from M1 Finance, that don't own a lot of energy. \- **Mutual fund / Aspiration** \- Aspiration is a green bank that doesn't fund fossil fuels. They offer a mutual fund, the Redwood Fund, that doesn't own fossil fuel stocks. You can check how much each fund invests in energy on [fossilfreefunds.org](https://fossilfreefunds.org) \- but would be careful because a lot of companies that are investing in green energy have legacy fossil fuel businesses. So if you just use a screen like that to choose your funds, you are forgoing a lot of businesses that are "solving" climate change

TotallyTooMuchTuna

DSI, ESGU, ESML, USXF, DMXF, ESGD, ESGE. Basically, some proposed a model for me and my other option is VTSAX and then start to slowly diversify through VT funds. I already have international exposure in part through my 401k

entertainman

I would look towards what’s not overbought. Small cap: SVAL, AVUV, OMFS Then there’s other screeners. Large cap with a factor screening: OMFL, XOUT, USXF Finally, if there’s a tech play to make (besides TQQQ, SOXL, UBOT all on red gambles) it’s XT.