The debate over whether investing with ESG principles in mind makes money is one that’s grown in recent years as the global market for sustainable funds has ballooned to more than $2.2 trillion.
Market data show that the average equity fund adhering to environmental, social and governance factors has lost slightly less money this year than products that track vanilla benchmark indexes such as the S&P 500.
A review of the longer-term record also supports the notion that ESG funds can outperform. About 56% of US sustainable funds beat rival category groups in the three-year period ended Sept. 30, according to researchers ...