Personal Finance

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If you want to invest with a clean conscience, look no further. RBC Capital has just released a report revealing its favorite stocks for sustainable investing. These are stocks that the firm rates Outperform (the equivalent of Buy) according to its traditional fundamental financial analysis - and that score highly on key environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors.

ESG spans a wide array of factors, from being environmentally sustainable and protecting consumers to boasting gender diversity in the boardroom and ensuring equal pay for employees, and many more.

"It is thought that ESG factors can be strong signals for future opportunities as well as potential risks including share price volatility, earnings stability and issues management," write RBC Capital analysts, adding, "incorporating environmental, social and governance factors alongside traditional financial analysis can be additive as indicators of corporate performance."

Indeed, a Morningstar study of its ESG indexes released earlier this year showed that sustainable investing pays off. "We found that 41 of the 56 Morningstar's ESG indexes outperformed their non-ESG equivalents (73%) since inception," it says. "... Morningstar ESG indexes tend to select companies that are less volatile and possess stronger competitive advantages and healthier balance sheets than their non-ESG equivalents."

Here are five of the best ESG stocks on RBC Capital's "Global ESG Best Ideas List." Each of the stocks not only gets RBC's seal of approval, but sports a Moderate Buy or Strong Buy consensus rating from analysts tracked by TipRanks.

Read more: https://www.kiplinger.com/slideshow/investing/T052-S001-5-top-esg-stocks-rbc-capital-best-ideas-list/index.html

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Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B, $198.31) Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett hasn't found much to his liking in 2019.

The Oracle of Omaha bought and sold left and right at the end of 2018. He used the fourth quarter's near-bear market to snap up bargains and exit a few underperforming investments, amassing a total of 17 common-stock trades. But thanks to significantly higher prices across 2019, Buffett has dialed things down, making 10 such moves in Q1 and just six in the three months ended June 30.

Nonetheless, we can gleam a few things from what Buffett is doing, so today we will take a look at the most recent changes to Berkshire Hathaway's equity portfolio.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's own rules require Buffett to open up about these moves. All investment managers with more than $100 million in assets must file a Form 13F every quarter to disclose every change in stock ownership. That's an important level of transparency for anyone well-funded enough to significantly impact a stock with their investment. And in this case, it helps people who appreciate Buffett's insights track what he's doing - some investors view a Berkshire buy as an important seal of approval. (Just remember: A few of Berkshire's holdings are influenced or even outright decided by lieutenants Ted Weschler and Todd Combs.)

Here's what Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway was buying and selling during the second quarter of 2019, based on the most recent 13F that was filed on Aug. 14. The list includes six changes to the equity portfolio, and a notable seventh investment.

Read more: https://www.kiplinger.com/slideshow/investing/T052-S001-7-stocks-warren-buffett-is-buying-or-selling/index.html