Still green about eco investments in Singapore

Demand for such funds in Singapore low, while availability is lacking
Esther Fung, Today Online 5 Jun 09;

THE “green” retail investor is still a rarity in Singapore.

In spite of the growing awareness of the dangers of climate change, there is not much demand here for such niche funds, analysts told Today.

They say there are few funds and stocks with an environment-friendly theme here, reflecting the low level of comfort that investors and businesses have in placing their money with Captain Planet.

On Fundsupermart, an online distributor of unit trusts, only four funds have a green agenda out of about 400 funds on its platform.

“They haven’t really taken off here. Our investment climate is still less sophisticated than some of the developed markets. The investors may not fully understand these funds, which deal with carbon credits and so forth,” said Fundsupermart analyst Terence Lin.

“Investors here prefer to invest in simpler, main market funds,” he added, citing certain equity funds that have consistently clocked high sales on the platform. Fundsupermart declined to disclose the number of investors in different funds.

Analysts said Singapore lags behind the more developed markets of the United States and Britain in terms of the availability of funds, co-operatives and stocks that have an eco-friendly theme.

Generally, earth-loving investors tend to go for companies that directly reduce the effects of climate change - such as solar energy companies - or for companies that have sustainable practices even though they are not directly selling green services.

In the first category, brokers cited eco-friendly listed companies such as Anwell, a Singapore-listed China firm which produces thin film solar cells, and waste management and recycling companies.

But their view is that such counters are rarely traded for their green agenda.

As for investments in listed companies with sustainable business practices, investors may need to rely on the companies’ disclosure of environmental, social and sustainability information.

Unfortunately, opined CSR Asia director Marie Morice, firms rarely disclose enough information about their green efforts, based on the organisation’s CSR Asia Business Barometer 2008 results.

She said the scores for environment efforts “demonstrate a lack of significant efforts in responding to the need to proactively manage and report on environmental indicators”, according to the study of companies listed in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

However, Ms Morice said, one notable exception in Singapore is City Developments Limited, a property developer that publicly discloses figures on its energy and fresh water consumption, and its construction waste.

It has taken years for the green movement to gain traction among corporations.

It will also take time for its take-up to grow among investors, said Ms Morice. In Britain, for instance, the first “ethical” fund was launched in 1984, she said, and it has taken some 25 years for the number to grow to about 400 right now.

Where green lovers can park their money
Today Online 5 Jun 09;

Some unit trusts with a ‘climate change’ agenda

- DWS Global Climate Change fund

- DWS Invest New Resources Fund, which invests in solar and agricultural stocks

- HSBC Global Investment Funds - Climate Change

- Schroder International Selection Fund Global Climate Change Equity

Some S’pore-listed firms dealing in waste management, recycling

- Anwell

- Centillion Environment and Recycling

- Colex Holdings

- Ecowise Holdings

Others

- ABN Amro Climate Change & Environment Index, which investors here can access via Zero-Certs on SGX

- Exchange-traded funds that track the Dow Jones Sustainability indices, but they are currently not widely available here