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.

Learn more

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.

Select a company retirement plan

InvestYourValues.org

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 14 of the largest target date fund series, rated using the 2050 fund.

Vanguard Target Retirement Series

VFIFX - Vanguard Target Retirement 2050 Fund

BlackRock LifePath Index

LIPKX - BlackRock LifePath® Index 2050 Fund

BlackRock LifePath ESG Index Series

LEPKX - BlackRock LifePath ESG Index 2050 Fund

Fidelity Freedom Series

FNSBX - Fidelity Freedom® 2050 Fund

Fidelity Freedom Index Series

FFOPX - Fidelity Freedom® Index 2050 Fund

Fidelity Freedom Blend Series

FFBWX - Fidelity Freedom® Blend 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

TIAA-CREF Lifecycle Index Series

TLLIX - TIAA-CREF Lifecycle Index 2050 Fund

TIAA-CREF Lifecycle Series

TFTIX - TIAA-CREF Lifecycle 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

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.

101 funds analyzed

9% fossil fuel exposure

$432 BILLION in fossil fuel stocks

298 funds analyzed

10% fossil fuel exposure

$172 BILLION in fossil fuel stocks

294 funds analyzed

9% fossil fuel exposure

$167 BILLION in fossil fuel stocks

20 funds analyzed

9% fossil fuel exposure

$149 BILLION in fossil fuel stocks

95 funds analyzed

15% fossil fuel exposure

$118 BILLION in fossil fuel stocks

68 funds analyzed

10% fossil fuel exposure

$38 BILLION in fossil fuel stocks

71 funds analyzed

6% fossil fuel exposure

$30 BILLION in fossil fuel stocks

216 funds analyzed

7% fossil fuel exposure

$35 BILLION in fossil fuel stocks

60 funds analyzed

9% fossil fuel exposure

$13 BILLION in fossil fuel stocks

37 funds analyzed

7% fossil fuel exposure

$18 BILLION in fossil fuel stocks

Recent blog posts

Finance and insurance ratings added to Fossil Free Funds

Sep 13, 2022

Financial companies supporting fossil fuels may be hidden in your retirement portfolio. Our new Fossil Fuel Finance and Insurance ratings score mutual funds and ETFs based on their investments in banks and insurers providing loans and underwriting that support fossil fuel projects - including tar sands, arctic drilling, and coal mining.

Does the BlackRock LifePath ESG Index reduce climate risk?

Aug 30, 2022

Look inside many large U.S. corporate 401(k) plans, and you’ll find the BlackRock LifePath Index. BlackRock has released sustainable versions of their popular LifePath target date funds, but investors question if this new fund series truly reduces climate risk, or if it’s just greenwashing.

Which Vanguard fund is more sustainable, VTSAX or VFTNX?

Jun 21, 2022

In polls with investors broadly, more than 70% say that they would like to invest sustainably and, specifically, not in oil, coal, and deforestation. Given the threat that climate change poses to workers’ life savings, it makes sense that 401(k) and other mutual fund investors would be looking to safeguard financial security over time by mitigating climate change-related financial and economic risks.

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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