6 Alternative Green Investment Strategies for 2009
by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden 
on 12.30.08
Photo Unhindered by Talent @ flickr
The question of where to put your money in 2009 is something even the biggies like Warren Buffet are definitely grappling with. The problems of the economy - astounding debt and an uncertain dollar - are such that not even geniuses know exactly which way the money winds will blow.
Unfortunately, so-called green or socially responsible stock funds as a whole didn't do remarkably better (and sometimes they did worse) than the S&P 500 or other stock indexes. That might be in part because, as Paul Hawken presciently noted way back in 2004, many SRI funds can be indistinguishable from regular run-of-the-mill mutual funds -- they nearly all own many of the same large-cap companies. And the picture's been grim for clean energy stocks--the Nex tracking index of these clean energy stocks shows a 66% drop in 2008! So, while we emphatically don't pretend to be giving any investment advice, here are some alternatives worth your further research and consideration:
1) Invest in Björk and nearly-bankrupt Iceland
Well, there's no time like the present to become sustainable, is there? At least that's what Björk thinks, and we gotta give that girl a hand. Björk has joined forces with two female Icelandic founders of the wealth management company Audur to create the Björk fund.The Björk fund will invest around 100 million Icelandic crowns ($820,000 on 12/30) in companies that are, as the fund puts it: "sustainable, both in terms of financial returns as well as being socially and environmentally responsible...Björk is particularly interested in companies that exploit our well educated human capital and vibrant culture..." This is by no means without big risks, and Audur says that it is both risk aware and dedicated to promoting female values in business ventures. The fund won't make any decisions about which ventures it will invest in until after it is closed around March 2009. Expect a wild ride!
Photo of rat roulette Brett L. @ flickr.
2) Try Your Luck on a New SRI Fund
It may seem a dire time to launch a new mutual fund. The Dreyfus Global Sustainability Fund plans to include those companies comprising the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI). A minimum investment of $750 for an IRA or $1,000 for a regular account is required. How well have the DJSI companies done, however?Well, if you look through the end of 2007, DSJI did about 7 to 10 points better than the S&P 500. If you focus on 2008, the DSJI World Index is down 36.47 percent. And the S&P 500? Well, it's down 48.76% in 2008 (thus far). So while both are in the red, there's still a slight advantage for the green-hearted investor.
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Why on earth US companies in Renewable Energy don't look at overseas markets is something that I'll never understand. For 2008, the Exim Bank offered ex-port financing of $ 2 billion for renewable energy product exports to India alone. I doubt that even $ 100 million of that money was accessed by US businesses - and they all gripe about the difficulties of finding money afterwards. And, there is a huge world beyond this country's shores. India is just one country that the Federal Government offers export incentives for.
Now, if only companies in green architectural design, renewable energy based powerplants and energy conserving technologies were to make a push into the world's manufacturing and service centers like India and China, both of which use huge amounts of power to run their economies, and to show them how they could save on both energy costs as well as in reducing pollution and possibly make additional profits from selling carbon offsets (I know, the last suggestion is a controversial one but it would help as a selling pitch for renewable energy equipment) then they would have overseas business funded with money that the Federal Government offered long before it had to look for bailouts to the dirty sectors, it would create more jobs to help fill the export orders and enjoy better profits on higher sales. For buyers there would be better pricing due to economies of scale.
It can't be all that difficult to make money for companies that try - ask the car manufacturers. Both GM and Ford make huge profits in India and China while they lose money here. There's no reason why other industries also couldn't emulate the Detroit dinosaurs if not blow them away with superior performance.