No Load Funds

Many people have elevated their investment thinking to a level of the socially conscious. Social responsibility in a company has come more to the forefront as each of us takes a serious look at what we are actually doing with our money. Investing in a corporation that takes pride in where they get their products, how they hire and treat staff and has a high level of concern for the environment and their carbon footprint is now a key concern.

Billions of dollars are involved in the no-load mutual fund arena, but not all companies are alike. As we move into a more elevated and global society, investors are not just looking at the bottom line, but how a company achieved their margins. No one wants to be associated with investment in a company that turns out to outsource their labor in a foreign country sweatshop. The media has uncovered a number of well known celebrities that were supposedly unknowingly doing just that. Children were employed in factory environments and dangerous conditions, just to give us some of the luxuries and clothes that we wear.
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No-load mutual funds have become not only more popular in the last few years but are close to reaching the ‘darling’ title of the investment world. While they can be risky and often carry their own hidden costs, it seems more people are looking to no-load mutual funds for their portfolio. The internet is filled with recommendations on the best no-load mutual funds, the top twenty five favorite no-load mutual funds, the best performing no-load mutual funds, etc. So whose advice is the best advice?

The first thing you will need to know is that the best no-load mutual funds are those that have a long term positive impact. Short spurts of growth should be viewed carefully. The major investment houses have their own favorites, based on a variety of factors. Some do include the fast-and-furious rise-to-the-top companies; but most of the favorite no-load mutual fund companies that they prefer are those with a longer term positive history.
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In an era when we want to make sure that every investment move we make is a wise one, many people are interested in ecological decisions for no-load investments. Surprisingly, there is very little information on the net to use for research, but it you dig deep enough you can find no-load mutual fund investments with ecologically friendly companies.

Selecting from a number of ecology topics for your investment is the first key direction. There are many ecological topics to choose from: home building materials, zero waste, climate action, alternate fuels, anti-toxins (alternative chemicals), environmentally safe packaging, organic food products; and the list goes on. You might want to investigate to see which companies work with organizations that contribute towards an ecology based system. Many companies are partnered with ‘green banks’ as well as ‘fair trade’ organizations. The green banks focus their investment dollars into earth friendly ventures with better than competitive rates, green-lines-of-credit and green-cash. Fair trade works with local farmers and co-ops to give the profit margins to the farmers and co-ops themselves instead of the ‘middle man’. Products that are produced will have the ‘fair trade’ branding and are increasing in popularity as we progress in a green and fair economy.
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Clean or alternative energy is the direction that the entire world is going in. While there may still be a few nay-sayers on the topic of global warming, it is painfully obvious to the rest of us that are realists that we cannot continue to dump on our land, sea and air without Mother Nature retaliating back. Companies that have moved in the direction of alternative energy are cropping up everywhere, from existing (and formerly polluting) companies to start ups. It’s a hot topic – but can be a bit of a tricky description.

Believe it or not, we are still in the beginning stages of definition specific criteria that apply to alternative energy. Technologies are abounding but there remains a bit of a hazy line when it comes to the name alternative energy. A rule of thumb for your no-load mutual investment decisions should be those companies that are creating products or services that offer more than just energy efficiency, but clean energy alternatives. This means that the results not only offer earth friendly agents, but drastically reduce the use of existing pollutant based energies.
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