There’s a constellation of companies working on innovations in areas such as eco-friendly transportation, sustainable agriculture, waste management systems, clean energy generation and resource conservation.
Sustainable technology companies are growing rapidly, and many are now earning significant revenue from major customers, including our own federal government.
Sustainable transformation at Gagetown
Over the next few years, more than $75 million will be invested in two projects at Canada’s second-largest military base in Gagetown, NB.
The first project will use heat and energy recovery systems, geothermal energy, high-efficiency boilers, fixtures, and power generators and other green technologies to reduce Gagetown’s energy costs by $3 million per year while cutting annual greenhouse gas emissions by more than 8,700 tonnes.
The second project is a 40-acre solar farm that will produce enough energy to power 2,000 homes while reducing greenhouse gasses by a further 3,200 tonnes per year.
The financial and environmental impact of these projects will be obvious. What might not be as obvious is that you can actually invest in a diversified cross-section of the innovative companies behind the scenes that are enabling projects like these.
Sustainable investments in your portfolio
SISIP Financial Planner Bonnie Naccarato has been helping CAF members invest in sustainable technologies for the past decade.
“When I first got involved in sustainable investing, most of the people who wanted to invest were professors from Royal Military College here in Kingston. Over the years, the investment opportunities in this space have expanded a lot and we see CAF members from all walks of life putting these types of companies their portfolios,” she says.
One of the primary methods of sustainable investing that Bonnie recommends is through mutual funds that specialize in the sustainable technology.
“We offer funds that focus on companies that are creating a positive and measurable difference on society and the environment. We call this thematic or impact investing. These funds have teams of portfolio managers and analysts who assess each company based on their impact as well as their expected profitability and growth potential,” she says.
“In terms of how sustainable investments can fit into your financial plan, the answer is they can provide long-term capital growth and potentially help reduce risk. A fund like this doesn’t look anything like the mainstream stock market, so if you have some money in the conventional market and some money in this niche, you end up with a nicely diversified portfolio.”
Bonnie says that investors can think of sustainable technology much as they would any other industry, albeit with more upside opportunity and government backing than you’d find with many other industries.
“Gagetown is just a hint of the size and scale of this opportunity. I think seeing this investment in our own CAF community is a strong indication of just how much further these companies have to grow.”
Interesting in sustainable investing?
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