Investors Say They’re Moving Away From ESG as `Umbrella Concept’

While institutional asset owners such as pension funds and insurers say they remain committed to sustainable investing, they’re less wedded to ESG as “an umbrella concept.”

They now widely treat ESG as three separate parts as opposed to a single strategy, according to a survey by Morningstar Inc. of 25 asset owners across North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. Until recently, the anti-ESG push has been concentrated in the US.

“Mainly, the asset owners seem less concerned about what ESG is called versus how it is implemented across their global portfolios,” according to the Morningstar report released on Tuesday. The ...