Your portfolio: Driving the energy transition

Challenge

Our growing energy needs are the main contributors to climate change. Energy comes mainly from fossil sources that generate nearly 60% of the world's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissionsfootnote1.


In addition to the environmental impacts they create, climate change disrupts markets, our economies and the companies in which we invest.


To combat climate change, companies and businesses must turn to greater electrification of activities—such as transportation—and decarbonization of electricity production (coal still represents about 40% of global electricity production today)footnote1.


Given the importance of the energy transition, our Desjardins Sustainable funds and portfolios exclude the traditional energy sector. We don't invest in oil, and we don't invest in pipelines. Instead, our portfolio managers look for companies whose products or services offer solutions to energy sector issues by:

  1. Generating energy from renewable sources
  2. Focusing on energy efficiency and better use of existing resources
  3. Developing sustainable passenger and freight mobility

A well-energized portfolio

Desjardins Sustainable responsible investment (RI) funds are made up of multiple companiesfootnote2 whose products and services are related to energy issues. We've included a few examples below.

Generating energy from renewable sources

Company: Ormat Technologies Inc.footnote2

Ormat Technologies specializes in the production of geothermal energy and operation of geothermal plants.

Geothermal energy is renewable and does not pollute; this technology plays an important role in supplying alternate energy to reduce GHGs. The company has built over 150 plants and installed over 2,100 megawatts of geothermal energy over the years.

This company is part of:

Desjardins Sustainable Cleantech Fund

Focusing on energy efficiency

Company: WEG SAfootnote2

WEG SA develops technologies aimed at reducing the power consumption of its electric motors and transformers.

The company is also involved in the development of technologies for producing clean energy from wind and solar power.

This company is part of:

Desjardins Sustainable Emerging Markets Equity Fund

Developing sustainable mobility

Company: Tesla Inc.footnote2

Tesla makes electric vehicles, solar panels and batteries. Tesla's electric vehicles are helping transform the transportation system by reducing dependence on fossil fuels and improving air quality.

To date, Tesla estimates that the sale of its electric vehicles has contributed to saving over 3.6 million tonnes of C‍O2.

This company is part of:

Desjardins Sustainable Positive Change Fund

Notes

This information should not be construed as a recommendation to buy or sell the securities, products or services referred to or as the sole basis for an investment decision.

  1. International Energy Agency. Coal 2019 : Analysis and Forecasts to 2024 : Fuel report – December 2019. - External link. This link will open in a new window IEA, December 17, 2019. [cited February 28, 2021].
  2. This company is in the fund’s portfolio as at December 31, 2022.
  3. FundGrade A+® is used with permission from Fundata Canada Inc., all rights reserved. The FundGrade A+® Awards are presented annually by Fundata Canada Inc. to Canadian investment funds that achieve consistently high FundGrade scores through an entire calendar year. The FundGrade A+® calculation is supplemental to the monthly FundGrade ratings and is calculated at the end of each calendar year. The FundGrade rating system evaluates funds based on their risk-adjusted performance, measured by Sharpe Ratio, Sortino Ratio and Information Ratio. The score for each ratio is calculated individually, covering all time periods from 2 to 10 years. The scores are then equally weighted in calculating a monthly FundGrade rating. The FundGrade ratings are divided between five tranches from “A Grade” (superior performance) to “E Grade” (lower performance). The top 10% of funds earn an A Grade; the next 20% of funds earn a B Grade; the next 40% of funds earn a C Grade; the next 20% of funds receive a D Grade; and the lowest 10% of funds receive an E Grade. To be eligible, a fund must have received a FundGrade rating every month in the previous year. The FundGrade A+® uses a GPA (Grade Point Average)-style calculation, where each monthly FundGrade rating from “A” to “E” receives a score from 4 to 0, respectively. A fund's average score for the year determines its GPA. Any fund with a GPA of 3.5 or greater is awarded a FundGrade A+® Award. The FundGrade grades are subject to change each month. For more information, please see the web site www.FundGradeAwards.com. Although Fundata makes every effort to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the data contained herein, the accuracy is not guaranteed by Fundata.

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