Sustainable investing is set to surge in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic
Melodie Warner
The coronavirus pandemic may well prove to be a major turning point for environmental,
social and governance investing as the outbreak alters society’s values.
The ESG investing approach, which evaluates a company’s environmental, social and
governance ratings alongside traditional financial metrics, was already coming off a
banner year, reports CNBC’s Pippa Stevens.
So far this year, U.S.-listed sustainable funds are seeing record inflows, despite the market
turmoil. And analysts and investors say that the pandemic will further prioritize investing
with a conscience.
Conscience aside, these funds are also attracting record levels of cash because they’re
proving that they can offer comparable, if not market-beating, returns.
The Nuveen ESG Large-Cap Growth ETF ( NULG) has returned 10% this year, for
example, while the iShares ESG MSCI USA ETF ( ESGU) — the largest of its kind
with more than $7.1 billion in assets under management — has returned 0.6% year
to date. The S&P 500, by comparison, is down roughly 1% for the year.
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