Balanced Fund Investor Share Class

Fund Overview

Net Assets (9/30/2024)

Fund: $286.34 million

Daily Price (NAV)

$37.81

Daily NAV Change

-$0.13

NAV as of

12/09/2024

Adviser

Green Century Capital Management°

Subadviser

Trillium Asset Management

Key Facts

Launch Date:
March 1992

Symbol:
GCBLX

CUSIP:
392768107

Minimum Investment/Fund
IRA Account: $1,000
Regular Account: $2,500

Sales Charge
None, No 12b-1

Expense Ratio:
1.46%

Why Invest

The Green Century Balanced Fund provides individuals with a way to invest in stocks and bonds in one mutual fund. The Green Century Balanced Fund keeps your dollars out of fossil fuel companies and other environmentally harmful companies so your investment can align with your environmental values.

The Balanced Fund is actively managed and has the majority of its fixed income portion in green and renewable bonds, which finance environmental protection projects around the globe.

Objective

The Green Century Balanced Fund seeks capital growth and income from a portfolio of stocks and bonds which meet Green Century Fund standards for corporate environmental responsibility.

Investment Strategy

The Balanced Fund is an actively managed fund comprised of equities and fixed-income securities. It typically holds 60% to 70% of its net assets in multi-cap stocks and 30% to 40% in investment-grade quality bonds. The Green Century Balanced Fund seeks to invest in well-managed companies.

The Balanced Fund was an early investor in green bonds and now has more than 74% of its fixed-income portfolio in green and sustainable bonds.[1]

The Balanced Fund also gives retail investors access to an institutional quality investment process from Trillium Asset Management, a leader in socially responsible investing since 1982.

Values-aligned exclusions:

  • Coal, oil, and or gas companies (no exploration, extraction, processing, refining, or transmission)
  • Tobacco
  • Nuclear energy and nuclear weapons
  • Producers of GMOs (genetically modified organisms), guns and other civilian weapons, military weapons
  • Factory Farming
  • Alcohol, gambling, and adult entertainment

Fundamental Analysis and ESG Integration:

  • The Fund’s Subadviser uses quantitative measurements in combination with in-house and third-party research to analyze the stocks of companies identified using Green Century’s environmental criteria, and the Subadviser’s own proprietary ESG integrated investment process, and includes in the Fund’s portfolio those companies that appear to possess superior earnings growth prospects and whose stock prices, in the Subadviser’s opinion, do not accurately reflect the companies’ value. The Subadviser’s ESG-integrated investment process includes both industry benchmarking and in-depth company analyses that covers both quantitative and qualitative considerations.
  • Bonds are included in the Fund’s portfolio to balance or offset risks associated with the Fund’s investment in stocks.

A sustainable investment strategy that incorporates environmental, social, and governance criteria may result in lower or higher returns than an investment strategy that does not include such criteria.

[1] As of September 30, 2024, green and sustainable bonds comprised 74.38% of total bonds held in the Green Century Balanced Fund.

Performance

Cumulative Returns as of 9/30/24 Average Annual Total Returns as of 9/30/24
Latest Quarter Year to Date One Year Three Years Five Years Ten Years Since Inception
Green Century Balanced Fund Individual Investor Share Class (GCBLX) 3.67% 12.04% 22.27% 3.62% 8.03% 7.40% 7.15%
Custom Balanced Index [2] 5.28% 14.51% 24.63% 7.12% 10.01% 8.82% 7.28%

Performance is calculated after fees.

The total annual operating expense ratio of the Balanced Fund Individual Investor Share Class is 1.46% respectively, as of the most recent prospectus.

The performance information provided on this website is past performance, and past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor’s shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance may be higher or lower than the performance quoted. To obtain performance current to the most recent month-end, please call 1-800-93-GREEN. Performance includes the reinvestment of income dividends and capital gains distributions. Performance shown does not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder might pay on Fund distributions or the redemption of Fund shares. A redemption fee of 2.00% may be imposed on redemptions or exchanges of shares you have owned for 60 days or less. Please see the prospectus for more information.

Portfolio Characteristics

Top 10 Holdings

As of 9/30/24: (23.73% of net assets)

NVIDIA Corp 4.57%
Microsoft Corporation 4.34%
Alphabet, Inc. 3.73%
Alphabet, Inc., Class A 2.49%
Mastercard, Inc., Class A 1.77%
TJX Companies, Inc. 1.41%
AstraZeneca PLC 1.38%
Costco Wholesale Corp 1.37%
Visa, Inc. 1.34%
Salesforce, Inc. 1.33%

You can also view the complete holdings of the Balanced Fund here.

Sector Allocation

As of 9/30/24:

 

Asset Allocation

As of 9/30/24:

Common Stocks: 62.10%
Bonds: 36.15%
Cash and Equivalents: 1.75%
Individual Investor Net Asset Value per Share: $37.27

Portfolio Managers

Investment Advisor:
Green Century Capital Management

Investment Sub-advisor and Portfolio Manager:
Trillium Asset Management

Green Century provides the investment advisory services to the Balanced Fund, including overseeing the daily portfolio management of the Fund by Trillium Asset Management. Green Century also coordinates the operations and the compliance functions for the Fund, as well as the shareholder advocacy efforts.

Trillium Asset Management is the sub-advisor to the Balanced Fund providing day-to-day portfolio management of the Fund since 2005. Trillium has been a leader in responsible and sustainable investing for over 40 years. A team of four portfolio managers at Trillium has responsibility for the day-to-day management of the Balanced Fund.

Matt Patsky

CEO and Portfolio Manager, Trillium Asset Management

Matt Patsky is CEO and Lead Portfolio Manager of the Trillium ESG Global Equity strategy and Portfolio Manager of the Trillium Sustainable Opportunities strategy. Matt has over three decades of experience in investment research and investment management. He began his career at Lehman Brothers as a technology analyst, where he began to incorporate environmental, social, and governance factors into his research. As Director of Equity Research for Adams, Harkness & Hill, he built the firm’s powerful research capabilities in socially and environmentally responsible areas such as renewable energy, resource optimization, and organic and natural products. Before Trillium, Matt worked at Winslow Management Company in Boston, where he served as director of research, chair of the investment committee, and portfolio manager for the Green Growth and Green Solutions Strategies.

Matt is also a member of the Social Venture Circle (SVC), is a member of the CFA Society Boston, and is a Chartered Financial Analyst charter holder.

Cheryl Smith

Economist, Portfolio Manager

Cheryl leads the fixed income management process and serves as co-manager of the Green Century Balanced Fund, for which Trillium is the sub-advisor. She began her investment management career at Trillium in 1987. In 1992 she joined Boston Trust & Investment Management Company (now known as Walden Asset Management) as Vice President and Portfolio Manager, before rejoining Trillium in the fall of 1997.

She is a Chartered Financial Analyst charterholder and a member of the CFA Institute and the American Economic Association. Cheryl holds a B.S.F.S. degree from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, and earned M.A., M. Phil., and Ph.D. degrees in Economics from Yale University.

Cyrus McMillan

Portfolio Manager

Cyrus McMillan provides support in the areas of macroeconomic analysis, fixed income portfolio management, and community investment due diligence, Prior to joining Trillium, Cy worked as a Research Associate on the ESG team of Glass, Lewis & Company, analyzing shareholder proposals and developing voting recommendations for institutional investors.

He was also previously a Research Analyst at Amplifier Strategies, supporting the development and implementation of impact investing strategies for philanthropic family offices. Cy is a Chartered Financial Analyst charterholder and a member of the CFA Institute and CFA Society San Francisco. He earned his B.A. in Economics from Dartmouth College.