The Power of Positive Investing
Earth Equity Advisors’ Signature individual stock portfolio
Earth Equity CEO, Peter Krull with Randy Talley
It all started over a cup of organic coffee…
In 2012, Pete Krull – Earth Equity Founder & CEO – was enjoying a cup of coffee with friend and NC organic foods pioneer, Randy Talley, who many in the community consider to be the “green sage.” Until that moment Earth Equity Advisors had only focused on mutual fund portfolios, but when Randy asked Pete to create a “basket of sustainable stocks” for him, Pete took the request as a challenge.
Over the next several weeks, Pete created the initial investment philosophy, metrics and parameters for the portfolio. He then created a universe of potential stock investments based on those parameters and then went about narrowing the list to determine the best investment possibilities.
Eventually, Pete asked Randy if he could offer this newly created portfolio to other Earth Equity clients. Randy agreed, and in his honor, the Green Sage Sustainability Portfolio was born.
What makes this portfolio special
We focus on positive investing – asking the question, “what do we WANT to own?” Historically, responsible investing has focused on exclusion, and while we do exclude all companies involved in the fossil-fuel industry, that’s where the similarities end.
What do we want to own?
- Alternative energy – solar, wind, geothermal
- Energy efficiency
- Battery technology
- Water distribution, filtration, and efficiency technologies
- Green transportation
- Natural and organic products and services
- Sustainable real estate
- Information technology and the internet of things
- Green finance, insurance, and community investments
- Recycling and circular economy
- Scientific instruments
- Green building technology
- Cutting edge biotechnology
Portfolio Information
- Universe of 500+ global companies
- Benchmarked against the MSCI All Cap World Index
- 50 stocks
- Must have a sustainable product, service or corporate ethic
- No more than 4 stocks per sub-sector
- Minimum 30% of companies domiciled outside of the USA
- Companies cannot be involved in extraction, processing or transportation of fossil fuels
- At least 50% of companies must be profitable
- Stock price of at least $5.00 per share
- At least 20% of companies must pay a dividend
- Stocks must be liquid and trade at least 2000 shares per day
- Approximately 50% of stocks are large-cap, 30% mid-cap and 20% small cap
- Market cap weighted
- Dec 1 rebalance can replace up to 100% of portfolio
- June 1 rebalance can replace up to 30% of portfolio
- We utilize research data from multiple sources, including Morningstar and Sustainalytics
Latest Quarterly Fact Sheet
