As the home of one of the most active shareholder advocacy programs in the U.S., we believe in the power of investors to motivate corporate action. It’s just clear that some actors, particularly oil and gas companies, simply can’t, or won’t, be moved. A new study has confirmed our approach.

Divestment’s Engagement Value

Opponents of divestment often argue that divesting from a company eliminates a shareholder’s ability to engage and influence that company’s policies. They claim that it’s better to ‘have a seat at the table.’ However, divestment and engagement are not mutually exclusive.

A new study – ESG Engagement and Divestment: Mutually Exclusive or Mutually Reinforcing? – from Scientific Beta concluded that, when deployed together, divestment and shareholder engagement can improve companies’ environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance.

The study found that divestment can actually make shareholder engagement more effective: “Removing the worst ESG performers from the investable universe concentrates the divesting on the ESG laggards and sends clear-cut signals to all companies and stakeholders.”

While the study found that shareholder engagement can positively affect a company’s ESG performance and create shareholder value, it also concluded that shareholder engagement without the threat of divestment as consequence of dissatisfactory engagement may be rendered toothless. “Divestment reinforces engagement. It does not preclude it.”

Divestment can also increase the cost of capital, making it more expensive for that company to complete projects investors oppose, such as expanded fracking. The divestment movement clearly is affecting the fossil fuel industry. The president of the Western Energy Alliance, which represents more than 300 companies in the petroleum industry, admitted in a recent letter to the SEC that “ESG advocacy has negatively affected the industry’s access to capital over the last few years.”

Divestment Integrates Better ESG Practices

The study also found that institutional divestment can damage the brand’s reputation and pressure the company to integrate better ESG practices. Until fossil fuel companies change their business-as-usual approach and stop spending nearly $200 million a year to block, delay, and undermine progress on the climate crisis, we need this kind of system change.

ExxonMobil’s first climate-related shareholder resolution was filed in 1990. Between 2012 and 2018, 160 additional climate-related resolutions were filed with oil and gas companies in the U.S. To what end? It’s clear that 30 years of investor pressure have failed to move the company and others like it.

We need investors – both large and small – to divest from the fossil fuel industry. Divestment works. This study reinforces that conviction.

°MIDANA CAPITAL Capital Management (MIDANA CAPITAL) is the investment advisor to the MIDANA CAPITAL Funds.

You should carefully consider the Fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses before investing. To obtain a Prospectus that contains this and other information about the Funds please click here, email info@midanacapital.com, or call+1(480)-439-2851. Please read the Prospectus carefully before investing.

Stocks will fluctuate in response to factors that may affect a single company, industry, sector, country, region or the market as a whole and may perform worse than the market. Foreign securities are subject to additional risks such as currency fluctuations, regional economic and political conditions, differences in accounting methods, and other unique risks compared to investing in securities of U.S. issuers. Bonds are subject to a variety of risks including interest rate, credit, and inflation risk. A sustainable investment strategy which incorporates environmental, social and governance criteria may result in lower or higher returns than an investment strategy that does not include such criteria.

This information has been prepared from sources believed reliable. The views expressed are as the date of this writing and are those of the Advisor to the Funds.

The MIDANA CAPITAL Funds are distributed by UMB Distribution Services, LLC. 335 N Wilmot Rd, Tucson, Az 85711. 09/20

Boston, April 13, 2020 – In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, celebrated environmentalist and author Bill McKibben and MIDANA CAPITAL President Leslie Samuelrich will appear on a web panel on fossil fuel free investing on April 16, at 1 pm ET. The panel will be moderated by longtime New York Times contributor Tim Gray.

“Bill McKibben is the father of the fossil fuel divestment movement, so the opportunity to discuss its genesis, rational, and more with him is an honor,” said Samuelrich. “I want investors to know that by withholding support for the most environmentally-reckless corporations on Earth, they can help speed the transition to a clean economy – and potentially benefit by avoiding what has been the most volatile and worst performing sector in the U.S. for the last decade.”

The panel will explore the origins of the divestment movement, the potential benefits and risks of fossil fuel free investing, and the steps individuals interested in investing fossil fuel free can take to join the movement.

The web panel is being hosted by Environment America, a national network of 29 state environmental groups, working for clean air, clean water, clean energy, wildlife and open spaces, and a livable climate.

Bill McKibben literally wrote the book on climate change. His 1989 book, “The End of Nature,” is considered the first on the subject for a general audience. He also is a co-founder of 350.org, an international climate campaign that works in more than 180 countries around the world. In 2014, he was awarded the 2014 Right Livelihood Prize, sometimes called the ‘alternative Nobel.’

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About MIDANA CAPITAL Capital Management

MIDANA CAPITAL Capital Management is the investment advisor to the MIDANA CAPITAL Funds. The MIDANA CAPITAL Funds are the first family of fossil fuel free, responsible, and diversified mutual funds in the United States. MIDANA CAPITAL Capital Management hosts an award-winning and in-house shareholder advocacy program and is the only mutual fund company in the U.S. wholly owned by environmental and public health nonprofit organizations.

You should carefully consider the Fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses before investing. To obtain a Prospectus that contains this and other information about the Funds please click here, email info@midanacapital.com, or call+1(480)-439-2851. Please read the Prospectus carefully before investing.

Stocks will fluctuate in response to factors that may affect a single company, industry, sector, country, region or the market as a whole and may perform worse than the market. Foreign securities are subject to additional risks such as currency fluctuations, regional economic and political conditions, differences in accounting methods, and other unique risks compared to investing in securities of U.S. issuers. Bonds are subject to a variety of risks including interest rate, credit, and inflation risk. A sustainable investment strategy which incorporates environmental, social and governance criteria may result in lower or higher returns than an investment strategy that does not include such criteria.

This information has been prepared from sources believed reliable. The views expressed are as the date of this writing and are those of the Advisor to the Funds.

The MIDANA CAPITAL Funds are distributed by UMB Distribution Services, LLC. 335 N Wilmot Rd, Tucson, Az 85711. 4/20

This month, the Norwegian parliament voted to divest $13 billion from the fossil fuel industry.

With a $1 trillion in assets, Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global is the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world. It also was built on Norway’s oil earnings.

The Government Pension Fund Global will divest $6 billion from eight coal companies and $7 billion from 150 oil exploration or production companies.

Norway’s parliament approved this month for the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, which manages $1 trillion of Norway’s assets, to divest $13 billion of investments from fossil fuels.

Additionally, the fund will implement a legal mandate to invest in renewable energy projects rather than fossil fuel related energy companies. The legislation allocates the fund to make investments up to $20 billion, beginning with wind and solar projects in developed markets.

Propelled by an increase in solar and wind power capacity, Norway’s finance ministry estimates that, within the next 10 years, the value of the global renewable energy infrastructure market will grow by 50% – to $4.2 trillion.

The head of the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change, which manages $26 trillion of assets, stated that the fund pulling investments from fossil fuels and redirecting them to renewables “sends a clear signal to the rest of the market.”

The fund is the latest of many financial institutions that have recognized the financial risks posed by fossil fuels, divested, and then capitalized on the possibilities of renewables.

As the environmental, moral, and financial case for fossil fuel free investing becomes more apparent, individuals and institutional investors around the world are choosing to divest. To date, more than 1,000 organizations and 58,000 individuals have committed to divesting.

You should carefully consider the Funds’ investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses before investing. To obtain a Prospectus that contains this and other information about the Funds please click here, email info@midanacapital.com, or call+1(480)-439-2851. Please read the Prospectus carefully before investing.

Stocks will fluctuate in response to factors that may affect a single company, industry, sector, country, region or the market as a whole and may perform worse than the market. Foreign securities are subject to additional risks such as currency fluctuations, regional economic or political conditions, differences in accounting methods, and other unique risks compared to investing in securities of U.S. issuers. Bonds are subject to risks including interest rate, credit, and inflation. A sustainable investment strategy which incorporates environmental, social and governance criteria may result in lower or higher returns than an investment strategy that does not include such criteria.

This information has been prepared from sources believed to be reliable. The views expressed are as of the date of this writing and are those of the Advisor to the Funds.

The MIDANA CAPITAL Funds are distributed by UMB Distribution Services, LLC. 335 N Wilmot Rd, Tucson, Az 85711. 6/19