AAPL: Green Mutual Funds Are Eating Up AAPL

Advertisement

Apple (AAPL) is trying to improve its “green” image and in doing so is bringing favorability from the top “green” mutual funds.

Reuters reports that “for managers who have made it a favorite of the largest ‘green’ mutual funds tracked by Thomson Reuters’ Lipper unit, the improvements bolster the appeal of a stock that’s risen 15 percent this year, 19th best among the Standard & Poor’s 100 index.” 

The confluence of a rising price and improving environmental performance make Apple “the one stock you just can’t ignore,” said Anthony Tursich, senior portfolio manager of the $498 million Portfolio 21 Global Equity Fund, a green fund that bought Apple in 2011 after the company began providing more emissions data.

The company has in the past few years increased recycling and begun using solar energy at its data centers.

In the past year, investors added nearly $2 billion to the 72 funds that use environmental criteria as part of the investment decisions. The bulk amount of that new money, while small in comparison to total equity investments, flowed via the $9.5 billion Parnassus Core Equity Fund — of which Apple is the top holding.

Just in 2010, Apple had been widely panned for its environmental record. Environmental group Greenpeace trashed its record of greenhouse gas emissions and its record on using hazardous materials in its products.

Apple stepped up to meet these criticisms, even last year hiring ormer U.S. Environmental Protection Agency head Lisa Jackson to spearhead the movement in cutting out the hazardous materials from AAPL products.

At the same time, it appears Apple has a ways to go.

Sustainability group Ceres previously gave AAPL a low  score of “4” in relation to its carbon footprint.

Ceres Senior Manager Kristen Lang told Reuters that Apple still has not released information on reducing its carbon footprint for an improved score.

More Apple (AAPL) News


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2014/06/aapl-green-mutual-funds-aapl/.

©2024 InvestorPlace Media, LLC