Al Gore's Inconvenient Stock Portfolio Exposed; SEC Filing Raises Questions About the "Sustainability" of Generation Investment Management's $438 Million Investment Fund, says JunkScience.com

Washington, DC, October. 30, 2007 – Government filings by Al Gore’s investment management firm, Generation Investment Management (GIM), indicate that the Nobel Peace Prize winner may be “talking the talk” but not “walking the walk” when it comes to investing in so-called “sustainable” businesses.

“Despite its widely publicized rhetoric, the Gore firm’s stock portfolio looks to be that of an ordinary diversified mutual fund,” said JunkScience.com publisher Steve Milloy. “If this is ‘sustainable’ investing, then it is a meaningless term,” Milloy said.

GIM, of which Al Gore is the chairman and founding partner, filed its Form 13F-Holdings report with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on October 23, 2007. The report may be viewed at http://www.junkscience.com/oct07/GIM_Holdings_102307.pdf.

According to the report, GIM has $438 million invested in the following 22 companies: AFLAC, Amdocs, Autodesk, Becton Dickinson, Blackbaud, Donaldson Company, General Electric, Greenhill & Co., HDFC Bank, Johnson Controls, Laboratory Corporation of America, Metabolix, Millipore, Mueller Water Products, Northern Trust, Procter & Gamble, SPDR Trust, Staples, Techne Corp., UBS, Varian Medical Systems and Waters Corp.

GIM’s top five holdings are Johnson Controls, AFLAC, Becton Dickinson, General Electric and Procter & Gamble.

Al Gore says on the GIM web site that, “Integrating issues such as climate change into investment analysis is simply common sense.”

But with the exception of General Electric ─ which actively lobbies for global warming regulation while its stock significantly underperforms the broad stock market ─ GIM’s portfolio doesn’t seem to have anything to do with climate change. Notably absent from GIM’s portfolio are energy and utility companies ─ even those that claim they will benefit from global warming regulation. With the exception of GE, corporate members of the pro-global warming regulation lobbying group called the U.S. Climate Action Partnership are also missing from GIM’s portfolio.

“GIM’s portfolio is a run-of-the-mill mix of financial service, healthcare, consumer products, technology and industrial materials companies that hardly seems to live up to Gore’s rhetoric about social and environmental sustainability allegedly driving GIM’s investment choices,” Milloy said. “There seems to be no particular focus on energy efficiency, alternative energy, reducing pollution and greenhouse gases, or other so-called ‘green’ business ideals” Milloy said.

In any event, GIM has probably purchased the stock of these companies in the secondary markets, meaning that GIM’s capital is not being invested directly in the companies’ operations. GIM can buy or sell its portfolio positions by simply picking up the phone and calling its stockbroker. The companies owned don’t necessarily even know GIM is an investor.

“GIM’s investments do not appear to be reducing anyone’s carbon footprint,” said Milloy. “Before falling for GIM’s ‘sustainability’ pitch, investors may want to check out GIM’s portfolio first,” Milloy added.