This fund has the second-lowest Morningstar Sustainability Rating of 2 globes, indicating it holds securities with relatively high ESG risk compared to that of its peers in the Energy Sector Equity category. Funds with 4 or 5 globes tend to hold securities that are less exposed to ESG risk. ESG risk measures the degree to which material environmental, social, and governance issues, such as climate change, biodiversity, human capital, as well as bribery and corruption, could affect valuations. ESG risk differs from impact, which is about driving positive environmental and social outcomes for society’s benefit.
One potential issue for a sustainability-focused investor is that Fidelity Select Energy Portfolio doesn’t have an ESG-focused mandate. A fund with an ESG-focused mandate would have a higher probability to drive positive ESG outcomes. An ESG issue worthy of special attention is Fidelity Select Energy Portfolio's carbon risk exposure. The fund’s asset-weighted Carbon Risk Score of 41.0 is classed as high. Investee companies of this portfolio are therefore positioned to fare poorly in the transition to a low-carbon economy. Investments with high carbon risk classification will likely be disadvantaged in the transition to net zero, while those with low or negligible carbon risk may fare better. Currently, the fund has 99.3% involvement in fossil fuels, which is high in both absolute and relative terms. The average peer in the same Equity Energy category has 87.0% exposure to fossil fuel-related businesses. Companies are considered involved in fossil fuels if they derive at least 5% of their revenue from thermal coal, oil, and gas.
The fund has a modest level of exposure (2.27%) to companies with high or severe controversies. Companies with controversies are involved in incidents such as corruption, employee abuses, and that pose some degree of business risks to the company. Severe and high controversies can have significant financial repercussions, ranging from legal penalties to consumer boycotts. In addition, they controversies can damage the reputation of both companies themselves and their shareholders.