9.2.20
One of the long-lasting impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the financial services world has been the new interest generated in stakeholder capitalism and ESG investing. Last Wednesday, research firm Morningstar released a report highlighting that global ESG index funds have doubled over the past three years and that sustainable index funds within the US have quadrupled to around $250 billion or around 20% of all index funds. “There’s a great realization today that ESG issues are investment issues. They’re issues that can affect the bottom line, and that may not always be something that comes to bear immediately,” said Morningstar’s North American director of passive strategies Alex Bryan. Bryan also notes that regarding ESG, there is still “a lot of runway for growth” and that he expects ESG investing in continuing to grow.