How it Works

What Is Green Investing: How It Works

When you make an environmentally responsible investment, you act with both your principles and pocketbook in mind.

By investing with Green Century, you are supporting environmentally responsible companies and using shareholder advocacy to challenge corporations to act on your values. And investing in a greener future may have its advantages: we believe that companies which mitigate environmental risks and develop innovative sustainability practices may perform better in the long haul.

Each of our Funds takes a distinct approach to sustainable investing. Click on these links to learn more about the specific strategies of the Balanced Fund and the Equity Fund.

How the Green Century Funds implement our green investing strategy:

Invest in Leaders, Reject Laggards: We look for companies in industries – such as green technology – that are leading the way towards a more sustainable future, while avoiding those – like nuclear power – which hold us back.

Screen for Sustainable Companies: We believe a company doesn't necessarily need to make solar panels to contribute to a greener future; that is why we also invest in companies that meet our rigorous sustainability standards.

Act on Your Values: Green Century uses the clout of your investment dollars to encourage companies to be more environmentally responsible. Learn more.

Support Advocacy: By investing with Green Century, you are supporting the non-profit advocacy groups that founded and own Green Century Capital Management, the investment advisor of the Green Century Funds. These organizations have a long history of winning battles to clean up our environment, improve public health and protect consumer rights. Learn more.

Learn more about investing in the Green Century Funds.

Read about the history of Socially Responsible Investing (SRI).

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This web site is intended for residents of the United States only. Information contained within this site is not an offer to sell or a solicitation or offer to buy any security, nor shall any security be offered to any person, in any state, country, or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation, purchase, or sale would be unlawful under the securities laws of any such state, country, or other jurisdiction.

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.

©2013 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar; (2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

For each fund with at least a three-year history, Morningstar calculates a Morningstar Rating™ based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a fund’s monthly performance (including the effects of sales charges, loads, and redemption fees), placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The top 10% of funds in each category receive 5 stars, the next 22.5% receive 4 stars, the next 35% receive 3 stars, the next 22.5% receive 2 stars and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. (Each share class is counted as a fraction of one fund within this scale and rated separately, which may cause slight variations in the distribution percentages.) The Overall Morningstar Rating for a fund is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its three-, five- and ten-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. As of 3/31/13, the Green Century Balanced Fund was rated against the following numbers of U.S.-domiciled moderate allocation funds over the following time periods: 802 funds in the last three years, 697 funds in the last five years, and 414 funds in the last ten years. With respect to these moderate allocation funds, the Green Century Balanced Fund received a Morningstar Rating of 3 stars, 3 stars and 4 stars for the three-, five- and ten-year periods, respectively. As of 3/31/13, the Green Century Equity Fund was rated against the following numbers of U.S.-domiciled large growth funds over the following time periods: 1482 funds in the last three years, 1278 funds in the last five years, and 856 funds in the last ten years. With respect to these large growth funds, the Green Century Equity Fund received a Morningstar Rating of 3 stars, 3 stars and 3 stars for the three-, five- and ten-year periods, respectively. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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 for more information, email info@greencentury.com or call 1-800-93-GREEN. Please read the Prospectus carefully before investing. Investments are not FDIC insured, nor are they deposits of or guaranteed by a bank or any other entity, so they may lose value.

Stocks will fluctuate in response to factors that may affect a single company, industry, sector, or the market as a whole and may perform worse than the market. Bonds are subject to risks including interest rate, credit, and inflation.

The MSCI KLD 400 Social Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization index designed to provide exposure to U.S. companies that have positive Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) characteristics and consists of 400 companies selected from the MSCI USA Investable Market Index. It is not possible to invest directly in an index.

The Green Century Equity Fund (the “Fund”) is not sponsored, endorsed, or promoted by MSCI, its affiliates, information providers or any other third party involved in, or related to, compiling, computing or creating the MSCI indices (the “MSCI Parties”), and the MSCI Parties bear no liability with respect to the Fund or any index on which the Fund is based. The MSCI Parties are not sponsors of the Fund and are not affiliated with the Fund in any way. The Statement of Additional Information contains a more detailed description of the limited relationship the MSCI Parties have with Green Century Capital Management and the Fund.

The Green Century Funds are distributed by UMB Distribution Services, LLC.

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What Is Green Investing: How It Works