The CSR Minute: Socially Responsible Investing Gets a Trump Bump

Socially Responsible Investing Gets a Trump Bump

The socially responsible investment sector is recording unprecedented growth since the Trump administration took office. Since January, Morningstar, a fund-tracking firm, has logged a four-times increase in the use of ESG data in its cloud platform, a base for research by asset managers, advisory firms, and independent wealth managers.

In response to this rise in investor interest, fund companies have opened a dozen new open-end sustainable mutual funds and ETFs, adding to a total of nearly 200 such funds identified by Morningstar as sustainable financial products. The bottom line is rising, too, according to Barron’s.

Morningstar reports that 45% of ESG-focused large-cap blend funds beat the S&P 500 through June 30, compared with 28% percent of US large-cap blend funds overall. It seems that the responsible investment sector is taking its cues from bottom line results rather than from the Trump administration’s retrograde environmental policies. I’m John Howell for 3BL Media.