Introducing: Fossil Free Funds

From As You Sow

Fossil free investing made easy

Fossil fuel investments carry real financial risks. Over the past years, a growing divestment movement of institutional and individual investors representing trillions in assets under management have responded to this climate risk by divesting all or some of their fossil fuel investments.

Fossil Free Funds analyzes the fossil fuel exposure and carbon footprint of thousands of U.S. mutual funds and ETFs. We make it easy to know what you own, so you can align your investments with your values.

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How to make your investments align with your values

Search for mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) by name, ticker, or asset manager. Our database covers 3,000 stock funds available in the U.S.

See your results. For each fund, we track fossil fuel investments, carbon footprints, and clean energy investments.

Look for aligned options. Sort and compare to find funds that fit your investing needs.

Talk to your financial advisor or retirement plan manager about fossil free investing.

Your retirement plan may be fueling the climate crisis. But it doesn't have to.

See how 401(k)s or similar employee retirement plans of S&P 500 companies are rated on seven environmental and social sustainability issues.

See 401(k) ratings

Index funds

Passive investing, mostly based on indexes from S&P, Russell/FTSE, and MSCI, has grown tremendously in recent years. But when you put your money on autopilot, you may run a higher risk of investing in companies that are not aligned with your values. Below are the fossil fuel grades for 10 common index funds.

S&P 500

IVV - iShares Core S&P 500 ETF More

Russell 1000

IWB - iShares Russell 1000 ETF More

Russell 2000

IWM - iShares Russell 2000 ETF More

Russell 3000

IWV - iShares Russell 3000 ETF More

S&P 100

OEF - iShares S&P 100 ETF More

Russell Top 200

IWL - iShares Russell Top 200 ETF More

MSCI ACWI

ACWI - iShares MSCI ACWI ETF More

MSCI EAFE

EFA - iShares MSCI EAFE ETF More

MSCI Emerging Markets

EEM - iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF More

MSCI ACWI ex U.S.

ACWX - iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF More

More funds

Target date funds

Target date funds are groups of funds, where each fund in the series targets a different mix of stocks and bonds for investors with different retirement time horizons. The default option in employer-offered retirement plans is often a target date fund series. Below are 13 of the largest target date fund series, rated using the 2050 fund.

Vanguard Target Retirement Series

VFIFX - Vanguard Target Retirement 2050 Fund

Fidelity Freedom Series

FNSBX - Fidelity Freedom® 2050 Fund

American Funds Trgt Date Rtrmt Series

RFITX - American Funds 2050 Target Date Retirement Fund®

T. Rowe Price Retirement Series

TRRMX - T. Rowe Price Retirement 2050 Fund

Fidelity Freedom Index Series

FFOPX - Fidelity Freedom® Index 2050 Fund

BlackRock LifePath Index Series

LIPKX - BlackRock LifePath® Index 2050 Fund

TIAA-CREF Lifecycle Series

TFTIX - TIAA-CREF Lifecycle 2050 Fund

TIAA-CREF Lifecycle Index Series

TLLIX - TIAA-CREF Lifecycle Index 2050 Fund

JPMorgan SmartRetirement Series

JTSYX - JPMorgan SmartRetirement® 2050 Fund

JPMorgan SmartRetirement Blend Series

JNYAX - JPMorgan SmartRetirement® Blend 2050 Fund

State Street Target Retirement Series

SSDLX - State Street Target Retirement 2050 Fund

Natixis Sustainable Future Series

NSFKX - Natixis Sustainable Future 2050 Fund

BlackRock LifePath ESG Index Series

LEPKX - BlackRock LifePath ESG Index 2050 Fund

If you care about climate change, your money can help shrink your carbon footprint... Now there is a tool, the website Fossil Free Funds, that helps pinpoint funds and E.T.F.s focused on companies with smaller carbon footprints.
Funds That Can Put Your Investments on a Low-Carbon Diet

Read more about us in:

The Guardian - The carbon bubble: why investors can no longer ignore climate risks

Bloomberg BNA - GE, Microsoft Urged to Offer Fossil-Fuel-Free 401(k)s

FastCompany - How To Convince Your Employer To Divest Your 401(k) From Fossil Fuels

ThinkProgress - There’s Now A Way To Find Out How Much Of Your Retirement Is Invested In Fossil Fuels

Fund managers have trillions of dollars invested in the stocks of fossil fuel companies

Major asset managers handle the retirement savings of millions of Americans. Their mission is to help people save for the future - but they're directing trillions of dollars of capital to the carbon polluters maintaining and expanding the fossil fuel infrastructure that threatens our future.

Are your savings invested with one of these financial giants? Find out just how much they have invested in the top owners of carbon reserves, the largest coal-fired utilities, and other fossil fuel companies. Then, share to spread the word: business as usual is killing the climate.

116 funds analyzed

6% fossil fuel exposure

$362 BILLION in fossil fuel stocks

329 funds analyzed

7% fossil fuel exposure

$141 BILLION in fossil fuel stocks

317 funds analyzed

5% fossil fuel exposure

$128 BILLION in fossil fuel stocks

29 funds analyzed

7% fossil fuel exposure

$155 BILLION in fossil fuel stocks

90 funds analyzed

4% fossil fuel exposure

$33 BILLION in fossil fuel stocks

58 funds analyzed

7% fossil fuel exposure

$29 BILLION in fossil fuel stocks

91 funds analyzed

11% fossil fuel exposure

$87 BILLION in fossil fuel stocks

214 funds analyzed

5% fossil fuel exposure

$30 BILLION in fossil fuel stocks

78 funds analyzed

6% fossil fuel exposure

$20 BILLION in fossil fuel stocks

76 funds analyzed

5% fossil fuel exposure

$13 BILLION in fossil fuel stocks

Recent blog posts

ESG ratings for target date funds

Jul 16, 2021

We’ve added a new group of funds commonly found in company 401(k)s to our database. There are 12 target date fund series rated so far, from major asset managers like Vanguard, BlackRock, Fidelity, and TIAA. These funds represent hundreds of billions in AUM. Now you can see how much of that is invested in fossil fuel companies, arms manufacturers, and private prison companies.

Why is BlackRock’s Carbon Transition fund packed with Big Oil?

Apr 20, 2021

The recently released BlackRock U.S. Carbon Transition Readiness ETF (ticker LCTU) holds major oil and gas companies including Exxon, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Marathon Petroleum, and Devon Energy; fossil-fired utilities including Berkshire Hathaway, Consolidated Edison, and UGI; and oil field services and pipeline companies including Kinder Morgan, Baker Hughes, and Schlumberger.

Updating the Invest Your Values rating methodologies

Jan 21, 2021

Periodically, we review the Invest Your Values rating methodologies and adjust how we're assigning the A, B, C, D, and F letter grades. As the market changes, the distribution of exposure to companies changes, and the distribution of funds across grade groups can get skewed. By regularly measuring the distribution of results and adjusting the grade assignments, we aim to keep everything up to date.

Disclaimer: As You Sow is not an investment adviser

As You Sow is not an investment adviser as that term is defined under federal and state (California) laws and regulations. As You Sow is a tax-exempt, nonprofit organization dedicated to educating and empowering shareholders to change corporations for the good through the collection, analysis and dissemination of relevant information to the public, free of charge. As You Sow does not provide financial planning, legal or tax advice. Nothing on this website shall constitute or be construed as an offering of financial instruments, or as investment advice or investment recommendations.
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