Deforestation Free Funds sources financial data on equities and mutual funds from Morningstar. Our database contains information on thousands of U.S. open-end and exchange traded mutual funds, some of the most common funds held in 401(k)s, 403(b)s, and other retirement plans.
Search for mutual funds using name, ticker symbol, or asset manager. Use the search page to filter funds by investing style, fund family, and more. When you find a fund you're looking for, click on it to see the full results.
Looking for your favorite fund and can’t find it? We don't have everything in our database — we only screen mutual funds that own direct stock investments, and can only display up to 3,000.
For each mutual fund in our database, we examine every holding and determine if it is a stock issued by one of the companies on our three deforestation-risk lists: agricultural commodity producers and traders, banks and lenders, and major consumer brands.
We only look for direct stock holdings in deforestation-risk companies. That means that holdings that are not stocks, like cash holdings or bonds, are not rated. In the fund's investment profile, we show a Percent Rated metric, equivalent to the percent of the fund that is invested in stocks. The higher a fund’s Percent Rated value, the more holdings we were able to examine. A fund with a lower Percent Rated value may have hidden deforestation-related investments that our tool cannot account for, in the form of bond holdings or other asset types.
Three screens are applied to each fund – a list of agricultural commodity producers, a list of banks and lenders that finance those producers, and a list of major consumer brands that use processed materials in their products.
Mutual funds can have a varying number of holdings, from less than one hundred to several thousand. We calculate the total number of flagged holdings in the fund, and the total amount and percentage of the fund’s assets that are invested in those companies.
If a fund doesn't invest in any of the deforestation-risk companies we look for, that means it earns an A grade. You'll see a chart like this:
However, if a fund does have stock investments in deforestation-risk companies, you'll see a chart like this, showing the overall exposure.
The breakdown of exposure is listed for each of the three deforestation-risk categories.
The list of holdings flagged for each different type of deforestation-risk is also displayed.
Based on whether a fund has direct stock investments in these companies, we assign one of four grades. Only funds that own stocks are scored - bond funds and other asset classes are excluded.
Does not invest in deforestation-risk producers and traders, banks and lenders, or major consumer brands. If the fund doesn’t invest in any of the companies we screen for, it earns a grade of A.
Does not invest in deforestation-risk producers and traders, but does invest in banks and lenders or major consumer brands. If a fund doesn’t invest in any of the producer/trader companies we screen for, but does invest in banks and lenders or major consumer brands, it earns a B.
Invested in deforestation-risk producers and traders. If a fund has investments in any of the producer/trader companies we screen for, it earns an F. The fund may also have investments in banks and lenders or major consumer brands
“Known sustainability engager” grade. Offered by an asset manager that frequently engages companies it invests in to push for better behavior using the shareholder resolution process.
If a fund owns some of the companies we screen for, but has a proven track record of engaging the companyanies it owns by taking actions such as filing shareholder resolutions on deforestation or similar environmental issues, it earns a special acknowledgement as a “known sustainability engager”, instead of a letter grade.
Read more about how fund managers engage companies on deforestation.
Funds with sustainability mandates make investment decisions based on issues like environmental responsibility, human rights, or religious views. A sustainability-mandated fund may take a proactive stance by selectively investing in, for example, environmentally-friendly companies, or firms with good employee relations. They may also avoid investing in companies involved in promoting alcohol, tobacco, or gambling, or in the defense industry.
If you see this symbol, it means that fund has a sustainability mandate:
The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment (known as US-SIF) is a group advancing sustainable, responsible, and impact investing. Asset managers who are members of US-SIF often have policies to exclude or restrict investments in companies with environmental or social risk.
If you see this symbol, it means that fund is a member of US-SIF:
Some sustainability-mandated funds go further, actively engaging the companies they own. Indeed, efforts by sustainability-focused investors whose funds are found on this site have been crucial to driving positive change in the palm oil sector. A number of fund families are known sustainability engagers, and have taken actions such as filing shareholder resolutions asking for policy changes. Those families deserve special acknowledgement - often, they’re using their investments to make sure they have a voice at the table to call for real improvements in company behavior. We used data collected by Ceres to identify fund families that have filed shareholder resolutions on deforestation, climate change, or other environmental issues. If a fund owns companies we screen for but the family is a known filer of deforestation or environmental-related shareholder resolutions, it earns a special engagement score. Read more about our deforestation grades.
If you see this symbol, it means that fund is a known sustainability engager:
