This study examines the diversification and hedging benefits of green investments for conventional stock portfolios in the context of the recent COVID-19 pandemic. While the findings confirm the status of gold as a strong hedge against stock market downturns, we find that clean energy investments, green bonds, in particular, have the potential to serve as a safe haven as well. In fact, compared to the other alternative and sustainable investments in our sample, green bonds are found to be the only asset that serves as a safe haven against large stock market fluctuations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Portfolio analysis further shows that supplementing conventional stock portfolios with green bonds during the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the highest risk-adjusted returns, compared to those supplemented with other alternative assets in the sample. Our findings support the emergence of green investments not as a luxury good, but a necessity for improved financial stability and performance, particularly during the turbulent market states driven by the recent pandemic.

本研究考察了在最近的 COVID-19 大流行背景下，绿色投资对传统股票投资组合的多元化和对冲收益。虽然调查结果证实了黄金作为抵御股市低迷的有力对冲工具的地位，但我们发现清洁能源投资，尤其是绿色债券，也有可能成为避风港。事实上，与我们样本中的其他替代性和可持续投资相比，发现绿色债券是唯一可以作为避风港的资产，可以抵御 COVID-19 大流行导致的股市大幅波动。投资组合分析进一步表明，与样本中补充有其他替代资产的投资组合相比，在 COVID-19 大流行期间用绿色债券补充传统股票投资组合的风险调整后回报最高。