One of the early "trends" I got caught up in early on in my investing journey was ESG. ESG was popular in the media I was consuming in the summer of 2020, and I particularly remember some podcasts explaining ESG and some positive ESG companies.
I fell so hard for ESG that I tried to add ESG score as a KPI to my Scorecard. I was using CNBC to dig into company profiles to find their ESG score, if any. After a few months, I realized that ESG was incredibly subjective and difficult to get a standardized numeric value.
Nonetheless, during this time period I added a few ESG-focused holdings (based off recommendations from newsletters & podcasts I was consuming as well as CNBC ESG scores).
Here are the 4 companies I purchased in my Taxable account on 7/29/20, and how they have performed in just over 2 years:
Purchase Price: $34.97
Current Price: $37.13
Gain: +6.18%
Current Scorecard Score: 3/6
$BAM
Purchase Price: $33.68
Current Price: $48.98
Gain: +45.43%
Current Scorecard Score: 4/6
Purchase Price: $56.70
Current Price: $51.74
Gain: -8.75%
Current Scorecard Score: 1.5/6
Purchase Price: $34.17
Current Price: $39.94
Gain: 16.89%
Current Scorecard Score: 3.5/6
The only position I have added to (other than dividend reinvestment) is
$CNA.
Additionally, I added
$HASI to my Roth IRA when I started it, as it was one of the strongest holdings in my Taxable account at the time.
All 4 of these holdings are less than 1% of my portfolio, and if they remain this low when my 3 year holding period is up this time next year, I will be liquidating these positions. It will be interesting to check back in a year to see if I add any more to these positions or if they fizzle out.
Are there any investing trends you got caught up in? This exercise was definitely a learning experience for me!