Sustainable pandemic portfolios exhibit many options. They include companies in industries such as renewable energy, infrastructure, pharmaceuticals, biotech, information technology, etc. Read this post for ideas. Also, discover the companies that have failed to disclose climate data. Do you invest in them? Plus, an ETF that invests in companies promoting minority empowerment. And much more

PODCAST: Sustainable Pandemic Portfolios

Transcript & Links, Episode 34, June 19, 2020

Hello, Ron Robins here. Welcome to podcast episode 34 published on June 19 titled “Sustainable Pandemic Portfolios”— and presented by Investing for the Soul. investingforthesoul.com is your site for vital global ethical and sustainable investing news, commentary, information, and resources.

Remember that you can find a full transcript, links to content – including stock symbols and bonus material – at this episode’s podcast page located at investingforthesoul.com/podcasts.

And Google any terms that are unfamiliar to you.

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1) Sustainable Pandemic Portfolios

Zacks is one of our favourite research groups in these podcasts. Recently viewed on Yahoo! Finance is a new article by them titled ESG Investing Trend to Stay Strong Post Pandemic: 5 Top Picks. Here are the five, quoting first their names, and then Zacks comments on each one. Incidentally, a Zacks Rank #1 is a strong buy and a 2 rank is a buy.

Quote, “1. Eli Lilly and Company (LLY) discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets pharmaceutical products. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 12.8% compared with the Zacks Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry’s projected earnings growth of 7.9%… Eli Lilly and Company flaunts a Zacks Rank #1.

2. AbbVie Inc. (ABBV) discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells pharmaceuticals. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 19.8% compared with the Zacks Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry’s projected earnings growth of 7.9%… AbbVie sports a Zacks Rank #1.

3. NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) operates as a visual computing company. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 36.4% against the Zacks Semiconductor – General industry’s projected earnings decline of 14.3%… NVIDIA holds a Zacks Rank #2.

4. Fortinet, Inc. (FTNT) provides security solutions [in] all parts of IT infrastructure. The company has an expected earnings growth rate of 12.6% for the current year against the Zacks Security industry’s estimated decline of 15.3%… Fortinet carries a Zacks Rank #2.

5. Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMY) discovers, develops, and sells biopharmaceutical products world. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 30.9% compared with the Zacks Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry’s projected earnings growth of 7.9%… Bristol-Myers Squibb holds a Zacks Rank #2.” End quotes.

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2) Sustainable Pandemic Portfolios

Also from Zacks, Nitish Marwah has written a piece titled Make Beaucoup Money With These 4 Socially Responsible Funds, I found it on Nasdaq.com. (Bow Koo). Again, I’ll mention the fund followed by brief quotes on that fund from the article.

Quote, “1. New Alternatives Fund Class A (NALFX) invests in companies that contribute to a sustainable environment. The fund seeks long-term capital growth with income as its secondary objective… New Alternatives Fund Class A has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1 and an annual expense ratio of 1.08%.

2. Fidelity Select Environment and Alternative Energy Portfolio (FSLEX). The fund invests the majority of its assets in securities of companies that provide business services related to alternative and renewable energy, energy efficiency, pollution control, water infrastructure, waste and recycling technologies or other environmental support etc.… Fidelity Select Environment and Alternative Energy Portfolio has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #2 and an annual expense ratio of 0.85%.

3. Parnassus Core Equity Fund – Investor Shares (PRBLX) [It] invests in large-cap companies which have long-term competitive advantage and positive performance on ESG criteria… Parnassus Core Equity Fund – Investor Shares has an annual expense ratio of 0.86%.

4. Parnassus Mid Cap Growth Fund – Investor (PARNX) seeks appreciation of capital by investing the lion’s share of its assets in mid-sized growth companies. The Parnassus Mid Cap Growth Fund – Investor has an annual expense ratio of 0.84%.” End quotes.

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3) Sustainable Pandemic Portfolios

Continuing with a big theme in this podcast is that of renewable energy. A post titled 6 Alternative Energy Stocks Still Have Significant Upside Potential and written by someone new to these podcasts, Jon C. Ogg. It appeared on the 24/7wallstreet.com site. Following the same procedure, I’ll first mention the company and then quotes related to that company from the article.

Solar Related

2. Enphase Energy (NASDAQ: ENPH) Shares of Enphase Energy Inc. saw a sixfold rise from the start of 2019 into late summer, and after pulling back it ran even higher up to $70 or so… Enphase… offers semiconductor-based microinverters for solar panels AC battery storage systems… earnings growth is expected to be almost 40% from 2020 to 2021.

5. Vivint Solar Inc. (NYSE: VSLR) offers distributed solar energy to residential customers by owning and installing solar energy systems in long-term contracts… The company recently closed on $545 million in new financing from two combined packages, and its revenues are expected to grow in 2020 and in 2021. It is expected to reach profitability again in the next two years.

Other

“1. Bloom Energy (NYSE: BE) After coming public in late 2018 just in time to catch the market crater in the fourth quarter of that year, Bloom Energy Corp. has struggled… A clean stationary platform of solid oxide fuel cell technology for reliable and uninterruptible power is the driving force. Bloom Energy cannot only blame circumstances for its lack of enthusiasm, but this was always considered one of the future cleantech leaders prior to its initial public offering.

3. Green Plains (NASDAQ: GPRE) is one of the independent leaders in ethanol. It also has been using the alcohol to make hand sanitizers… Again, this is not the primary thought that might come to mind in alternative or renewable energy with other aspects of its business, but it has a primary role when it comes to ethanol.

4. Plug Power (NASDAQ: PLUG) Despite a weaker overall market, Plug Power Inc. stock managed to rise during the first half of the week of June 12. The maker of hydrogen fuel cell systems that replace conventional batteries saw some rekindled interest after it was started as Overweight and assigned a $7 price target at Barclays.

6. Capstone Turbine (NASDAQ: CPST) [This one] is extremely speculative. Capstone Turbine Corp. develops and sells microturbine technology solutions for stationary distributed power generation. With a mere $25 million market capitalization, there have been no recognizable analyst calls in quite some time here… Capstone has been a chronic disappointment in its 20-year history as a stock. Again, this one is speculative even for the speculative sector.” End quotes.

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4) Sustainable Pandemic Portfolios

Now, this is important for all ethical and sustainable investors. The article is titled Top investors publish list of companies that have failed to disclose climate data and appear on the Business Green site. It’s written by James Murray. So why do companies not disclose such data? Do they have something to hide? To see the list go to this page.

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5) Sustainable Pandemic Portfolios

Another new analyst to these podcasts is Reuben Gregg Brewer. He’s written a piece with the title 3 Infrastructure Stocks to Buy Right Now. These stocks are often mentioned in these podcasts.

Quoting Mr. Brewer, “Companies that own infrastructure often pay generous dividends from the reliable cash flows their assets generate. If that sounds like something you’d like to have in your portfolio, then you should take a close look at diversified Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE: BIP), midstream-focused Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE: EPD), and utility NextEra Energy (NYSE: NEE) right now.” End quote.

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6) Sustainable Pandemic Portfolios

Our friend Tim Nash over at Corporate Knights has another insightful post titled Pandemic Portfolio: Spotlight on the NAACP Minority Empowerment ETF.

He writes that,

“Protests have erupted across the world calling for racial equality and police reform. Although these protests have had little impact on the market, they’ve raised a good question: can investors support companies that promote minority empowerment while earning market-rate financial returns?

The NAACP Minority Empowerment ETF (NACP) is an exchange-traded fund (ETF) from Dallas-based Impact Shares, which specializes in socially conscious ETFs. According to its fact sheet, the NAACP ETF ‘is designed to provide exposure to U.S. companies with strong racial- and ethnic-diversity policies in place, empowering employees irrespective of their race or nationality.’

… Since its inception in July 2018, the NAACP Minority Empowerment ETF has closely tracked and actually outperformed the S&P 500 by about 4%… [though with] only about US$4 million in assets under management, liquidity issues could arise… the fund has a high management-expense ratio (MER) of 0.75%… “ End quotes.

Lastly, Mr. Nash says, “I’m happy there’s an option for investors to support companies that are leading on diversity policies and minority empowerment.” End quote.

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End Comment

Well, these are my top news stories and tips for this podcast: Sustainable Pandemic Portfolios.

And to get all the links, stock symbols, and more, or to read the transcript of this podcast and with additional information too, please go to investingforthesoul.com/podcasts and scroll down to this episode.

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Thank you for listening.

Talk to you again on July 3. Bye for now.

© 2020 Ron Robins, Investing for the Soul.