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The Cupertino, California-based maker of the iPhone, the world's biggest public company by market capitalization, has adopted a slew of green policies such as expanded product recycling and using solar power at its data centers. For managers who have made it a favorite of the largest "green" mutual funds tracked by Thomson Reuters' Lipper unit, the improvements bolster the appeal of a stock that's risen 15 percent this year, 19th best among the Standard & Poor’s 100 index.
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The confluence of a rising price and improving environmental performance make Apple "the one stock you just can't ignore," said Anthony Tursich, senior portfolio manager of the $498 million Portfolio 21 Global Equity Fund, a green fund that bought Apple in 2011 after the company began providing more emissions data.
Apple is the top holding of the Parnassus fund, which bought most of the shares in 2013, the year the fund rose 34 percent and beat 72 percent of peers, according to Morningstar. Through June 13 the fund was up about 7 percent in 2014, beating 87 percent of peers.
Apple is also the top holding of the $2.9 billion Calvert Equity Portfolio and the $118 million Green Century Balanced Fund, and is the third-largest stock in the $2 billion Pax World Balanced Fund, according to the funds' latest filings.
Fund managers cited a mix of reasons for warming up to Apple, including reforms pushed by Chief Executive Tim Cook and the stock's outlook. It is up 15 percent in 2014 through Monday on enthusiasm for its iPhones and other pending products, as well as a stock split and a dividend increase.