ESG Outperforms for World’s Biggest Pension Fund as Stocks Slump

The world’s largest pension fund said its equity investments based on environmental, social and governance criteria have outperformed as global stocks slump on concerns over inflation and monetary tightening.

Seven of eight ESG index funds in which Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund is invested beat benchmarks during the fiscal year ended March. All of the ESG vehicles have outperformed over a five-year period, according to the fund’s latest report.

The GPIF, which helped pioneer sustainable investing in Japan, reported total passive ESG index investments of 12.1 trillion yen ($88 billion) as of March 31. That’s up about 14% from ...