8th December 2008

New research by Cary Krosinsky shows that sustainable investment funds outperformed mainstream indices between December 2002 and December 2007. The findings, revealed in a new book Sustainable Investing: The Art of Long-Term Performance published today, show that sustainability funds returned +18.7%, on average, versus returns of +17.0 for the MSCI World, +13.2% for the S&P 500 and +13.0% for the FTSE 100 indices.

The "sustainability" funds, which integrate environmental factors into management strategies or use best in class or sustainability themed approaches, generated superior returns as part of long-term value creation.

The findings are particularly significant for long- term investors who need to address the carbon risks and opportunities in their portfolios now more than ever, as Governments strive to agree future limits on greenhouse gas emissions at the milestone UN climate change talks in Poland.

Sustainable Investing, co-edited by Cary Krosinsky and Nick Robins, head of the HSBC Climate Change Centre of Excellence, highlights how an approach to investing driven by long-term environmental, economic and social factors could help finance a resurgent and more resilient global economy.

Cary Krosinsky said: "Incorporating long-term environmental, social and economic trends into investment decision-making is the best way to generate risk-adjusted returns in the 21st century. Sustainable investing offers an approach for investors eager to mitigate risk and benefit from upside opportunities, who appreciate the growing financial materiality of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors. Analysis and tools provided by environmental research companies such as Trucost can help investors to create sustainable, long-term value."

Nick Robins said: "Whether they are huge pension funds or individual savers, investors are looking for strategies that offer long-term security - and sustainable investing provides the answer. As the world seeks to stimulate an economic recovery, sustainable investing in clean technologies, microfinance and social enterprise offers proven routes to generating wealth and resolving pressing problems such as climate change and global poverty."

Sustainable Investing: The Art of Long-Term Performance is published by Earthscan. To order a copy, please visit http://www.earthscan.co.uk/?tabid=4833

For more information contact:
Cary Krosinsky, Vice President, Business Development
Trucost Inc, New York
00 1 (203) 671-1342
cary.krosinsky@trucost.com

About Trucost

Trucost Plc is a world-leading environmental research organisation which helps companies and investors understand the environmental impacts of business activities. Trucost provides data and analysis on company emissions and natural resource usage in financial as well as quantity terms to help investors, fund managers and analysts understand how environmental issues could affect companies' future earnings.

Institutional investors use the information to assess the carbon or environmental footprints of their portfolios, to identify differences in performance, to address environmental risks and create structured products with lower carbon or environmental impacts.

Trucost tracks data on the environmental impacts and disclosures of over 4,500 companies and has the world's largest record of greenhouse gas emissions. Coverage includes the FTSE All-Share, S&P 500, Russell 1000, Nikkei 225, DJ STOXX 600, MSCI World Developed, MSCI Europe, MSCI Asia ex-Japan and ASX 200 indices. To find out more visit www.trucost.com.

About Cary Krosinsky

Cary joined Trucost as Vice President in 2008 to help represent Trucost in North America. He was previously a member of CapitalBridge's Operations Committee, providing leadership on data and analytics. He maintained many of the largest banking and corporate relationships for the company in the US, Europe and Asia. He has also been a member of the 70 person Expert Group that led the creation of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI).

He worked in collaboration with Trucost on the award winning 2006 Carbon Counts: Trucost Carbon Footprint Ranking of UK Investment Funds, and the IFC-sponsored Carbon Counts Asia 2007 report, released at the UN climate change conference in Bali in December 2007. Cary also built and managed the world's first truly global equity ownership database for Technimetrics, and provided strategic advice regarding global databases to Citywatch.

Specialties: Sustainable Investing, Emissions Data, Environmental Subadvisory, Sustainability & Institutional Ownership, Writing, Editing, Data Management and SQL.