Insurance companies feed climate change with fossil fuel investments

It is impossible to resist. A friend of mine is invested in pipelines with yields of 8%. Prices are low and hard to knock down in a market pullback.

The K-1’s involved with MLP’s are a pain. I can easily resist.

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No K-1s if you hold the MLP in an IRA, but watch out, because there is a limit to the amount of tax-free distributions you can receive.

Steve

Yep $1000 good luck.

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Which is their weight in the S&P 500 index.

As the energy sector percentage has decreased from 6% to 4%. Index flows have gone to, for example, information technology which has more than doubled in the 10 years (11% to 27%).

DB2

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If the insurance companies boycotted oil companies, states, and, now, the federal government, may sanction them for the thought crime of “woke”, the same way some companies have been sanctioned for having ESG policies.

https://www.spglobal.com/market-intelligence/en/news-insights/articles/2025/1/dozens-of-new-state-antiesg-bills-introduced-federal-legislation-expected-87342102

Steve

I don’t know about insurance companies, but Vanguard and all the index ETFs would be out of compliance.

DB2

They do so at their risk.

Speaking of climate change:

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Maybe it would be clearer to look at the overall trend of the past 25 years. Wasn’t the range during the first half of that about 10-15% of insurers’ portfolios? Isn’t the range of the past 10 years in the 4-6%?

Also, renewables are about double that size now (8-12% range), right?

Pete

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This is how we lose our freedom of speech and the facts of science. Climate Change is a scientific fact.

Climate Change is accelerating and causing stronger storms and hurricanes, larger rainfalls or no rainfalls, more flooding, more forest fires, accelerating melting of the polar ice and glaciers and many other climate changes due mostly to the burning of fossil fuels (oil, gas and coal) which are heating up the earth’s temperature.

Jaak

Climate change will not wait for these small steps in decreasing use of fossil fuels. The world is on a dangerous path to massive destruction of life on earth due the increasing temperatures on earth.

There aren’t many renewable energy stocks in the S&P500. The largest would be GEV in the utility sector.

In general, renewable stocks have been terrible holdings over the last five years. For example, FAN is down 3% and TAN lost 10% while SPY is up about 85%. The XLE gained 78%.

DB2

Hopefully the insurance companies didn’t invest much in Orsted.

Orsted replaces CEO as offshore wind industry struggles
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/orsted-ousts-ceo-appoints-company-insider-new-boss-2025-01-31/
Orsted Chief Executive Mads Nipper will step down to be replaced by company insider Rasmus Errboe, the world’s biggest offshore wind developer said on Friday, as it seeks to arrest an 83% slump in its share price since its 2021 peak.

DB2

You forgot Tesla, NextEra Energy, Iberdrola, Vestas, Brookfield Renewable, and First Solar in the renewable stocks.

Most renewable energy stocks are divisions of major companies like GE Vernova, Southern Company, NRG Energy, Constellation Energy, etc.

https://www.morningstar.com/stocks/investment-opportunities-us-renewable-energy

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