U.S. ESG Funds Notch First Year of Outflows (P&I)

https://www.pionline.com/esg/us-esg-funds-notch-first-year-outflows-2023?utm_campaign=smartbrief

U.S. sustainable funds had their worst calendar year in 2023, according to Morningstar, which has been tracking them for more than a decade.

Investors pulled $13 billion from U.S. sustainable funds in 2023, including $5 billion in the fourth quarter alone, due to a combination of lagging performance, politics and one iShares fund’s bad year.

Author: Christopher K. Merker, Ph.D., CFA

Christopher K. Merker, PhD, CFA, is a director with Private Asset Management at Robert W. Baird & Co. He holds a PhD in investment governance and fiduciary effectiveness from Marquette University, where he has taught the course “Sustainable Finance” since 2009. Executive director of Fund Governance Analytics (FGA), an ESG research partnership with Marquette University, he is a member of the CFA Institute ESG Working Group, an international committee currently exploring ESG standards, publishes the blog, Sustainable Finance, which covers current topics around governance and sustainability in investing, and is co-author of the book, The Trustee Governance Guide: The Five Imperatives of 21st Century Investing.