Dialling down carbon intensity in portfolios could have less of an impact on risk and return than some might think, but the impact will vary depending on the sectors, styles and regions investors are weighted towards.
Globally oriented investors can potentially reduce carbon intensity with a small addition of tracking error, but those wanting to address carbon intensity with a high exposure to Australian stocks might find it more difficult.
Meanwhile, portfolios with value-style tilts should expect to encounter more portfolio implications when addressing carbon intensity than investors with a growth-style bias.
Selling down positions in companies in the highest carbon intensive sectors – utilities, materials, energy and transport are the top four – can get investors the biggest carbon intensity reductions, but can also introduce the most portfolio risk.
Investors able to address carbon intensity without changing sector weightings could have the best chance of keeping tracking error in portfolios to a minimum.
With net zero emissions top of mind for investors, the risk and reward implications of decisions to pivot from higher to lower carbon intensive stocks will be increasingly scrutinised.
The new study entitled: Reducing carbon intensity in portfolios: Better news than you think , measures carbon intensity by considering emissions output (Scope 1 and 2) for every million dollars of sales, to come up with a carbon intensity score for each company.
The study finds that small moves towards lower carbon stocks in well diversified portfolios can result in carbon intensity reductions with minimal addition of tracking error.
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