Vanguard “green” fund invests in oil and gas-related stocks

A US$ 500m ETF run by Vanguard that claims in its marketing material to specifically exclude “fossil fuel” stocks invest in several companies in the oil and gas industry, including oil services company Schlumberger, pipeline company Kinder Morgan and crude oil refiner Marathon Petroleum, as of May 31, 2019.

The article quotes the comment released by Hester Peirce, a commissioner at the US Securities and Exchange Commission, who was speaking generally, without reference to any particular fund: “I feel investors are getting misled — and I think it’s a sign of our times where we get all fired up about stuff without really thinking about what’s behind it.”

Total assets invested in US stock ETF that claims to abide to ESG criteria amount to US$ 11.5bn. The amount has doubled in the past year according to EPFR Global.

For further information, see the articles listed below:

https://www.ft.com/content/fbdb36d0-a293-11e9-974c-ad1c6ab5efd1 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddawkins/2019/07/19/why-oil-and-gas-stocks-keep-leaking-into-green-investments/#190526861034