LONDON & GENEVA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Responsible investing just got easier, with the creation of a new stock index that screens US Large Cap stocks for vegan and environmental criteria.
The US Vegan Climate Index is constructed primarily by excluding from the universe of the Solactive US Large Cap index any stocks whose activities are incompatible with a vegan and climate-conscious approach to investing.
Criteria for exclusion include:
- Animal testing
- Animal-derived products
- Animals in sport and entertainment
- Fossil fuel
- Energy production from fossil fuel
- Other environmental concerns
- Military and defence
The exclusions remove approximately 41% of the market capitalization of the Solactive US Large Cap index.
The index was created by Beyond Advisors, the research arm of impact investing platform Beyond Investing, spearheaded by investment analyst Claire Smith in Geneva.
“For the first time that proportion of the US stock market whose business models harm animals and the environment can be identified,” says Smith. “With reports suggesting 6% of the US population identify as vegan, Beyond Advisors anticipates demand for financial products based on this index to serve the requirements of vegans and environmentalists who do not want their money supporting businesses whose activities they oppose.”
The rules-based US Vegan Climate Index will be calculated by index provider Solactive and published on a real-time basis under the Bloomberg ticker ‘VEGAN’.
The average market capitalisation of the 308 companies currently listed on the US Vegan Climate Index – which include Google, Facebook and Microsoft – is $255bn, slightly higher than the Solactive US Large Cap Index.
The US Vegan Climate Index is the first of a suite of vegan and environmentally-friendly indices to be launched by Beyond Advisors.
About Beyond Advisors
Beyond Advisors IC is a Jersey-based company owned by three experienced investment professionals who follow a vegan lifestyle. It was created to promote the development of vegan investment products for the masses. Beyond Advisors is part of the Beyond Investing vegan investment platform. Visit www.beyondfundadvisors.com.
