ESG investment survives last year's market turmoil; new funds flow in

Recently CNN.co.jp reported the following:

ＥＳＧ投資、昨年の混乱の市場乗り切る　新たな資金も流入

2023.03.01 Wed posted at 16:20 JST

ニューヨーク（ＣＮＮ） 企業評価に当たって環境、社会、ガバナンスの要因を重視する「ＥＳＧ投資」を行うファンドは変動の激しかった２０２２年を乗り切った。市場全体と同様のパフォーマンスを見せたほか、新たな資金も呼び込み、責任ある投資の明るい将来の兆しを示した。

投資家はロシアによるウクライナ侵攻を受け、一部のエネルギーや武器関連株への投資の再考を迫られる状況にあった。そうした中でＥＳＧ投資を巡る政治的な違いが表面化し、批判の声が上がる場面もみられた。

ＥＳＧファンドは経済の厳しい逆風にも直面した。こうしたファンドはＩＴ企業への投資規模が大きい一方、エネルギー株への投資は少ない状況で、全体として昨年は損失が目立った。昨年最も高いパフォーマンスを示したのがエネルギー株で、ＩＴ株は不調だった。

それでもＥＳＧ投資はマーケット全体と同様のリターンを確保した。モーニングスター・ＵＳ・サステナビリティー・インデックスは昨年１８．９％下落したが、Ｓ＆Ｐ５００も１９．４％下落した。

世界に目を移せば、ファンド全体から資金が引き上げられる中、ＥＳＧファンドは新たな投資を呼び込んだ。ＣＮＮに提供されたリフィニティブ・リッパーのデータからはそうした姿が明らかになっている。

ヘッジファンドや他の機関投資家は株式を売って、現金を保有する動きを見せた。米金融大手ゴールドマン・サックスは昨年秋、現金の比率をポートフォリオ全体の約２．５％にまで引き上げた。

それでもＥＳＧへの資金流入は強く、特に米国以外でその動きが際立った。モーニングスターのデータによれば、欧州ＥＴＦ（上場投資信託）への資金流入のうち６５％はＥＳＧ投資関連だった。

リッパーのグローバル・リサーチ部門トップは「２２年の全体的なポイントは、ＥＳＧ商品がより一貫した流入を引きつけ、流入がある状況で年を終えたことだ。より広いファンドのマーケットでは、２２年は全体的に資金が流出する状況だった。ＥＳＧを巡る疑問や議論がいくつか出たものの、世代で最も厳しい投資市場の一つと言える状況の中、その基調は無傷だったことは良い兆候だ」と指摘した。

Translation

New York (CNN) - ESG investing funds, which focus on environmental, social and governance factors in enterprises had weathered a volatile 2022. In addition to performing in line with the overall market, it also attracted new capital, signaling a bright future for responsible investment.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine had forced investors to rethink their investments in some energy and arms stocks. Under such circumstances, political differences surrounding ESG investment surfaced, and there were scenes where voices of criticism were raised.

ESG funds also faced severe economic headwinds. These funds had invested heavily in tech companies and less in energy stocks, and as a whole, they lost a lot of money last year. Energy stocks had the best performers last year, while tech stocks were in poor shape.

Still, ESG investment secured returns similar to the overall market. The Morningstar US Sustainability Index was down 18.9% last year, while the S&P 500 was down 19.4%.

Looking around the world, while all funds were seeing withdrawn, ESG funds attracted new investment. Refinitiv Ripper data provided to CNN made that clear.

Hedge funds and other institutional investors sold stocks and moved to hold cash. Goldman Sachs Inc. increased cash to about 2.5% of its portfolio last fall.

Still, ESG inflows were strong, such movement was especially outside the United States. According to Morningstar data, sixty-five percent of inflows into European exchange-traded funds were related to ESG investments.

Head of Global Research at Lipper pointed out that "The overall takeaway for 2022 is that ESG products have drawn more consistent inflows and ended the year with inflows. Although there were some questions and discussions regarding ESG, in what could be one of the toughest investment markets in a generation, that underlying tone remained intact is a good sign."

              So, ESG investing funds, which focus on environmental, social and governance factors in enterprises have weathered a volatile 2022, yet they continue to attract new capital in 2023, signaling the fact that investors care about which companies will improve the environment and society etc. when doing investments.

Note:

The Morningstar Sustainability Rating is thought to be a reliable and objective way for investors to see how approximately 20,000 mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are meeting environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) challenges. (https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/morningstar-sustainability-rating.asp#:~:text)