Unsustainable
A record number of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) funds have shut in 2023 so far — with JP Morgan becoming the latest money manager to announce the closure of 2 such funds — as investors continue to turn away from sustainable investments.
Compared to the heady days of 2021, when investors were pouring tens of billions every quarter into funds that fronted issues like clean energy and emissions, interest in sustainable investing has dropped off. Indeed, according to data from Morningstar Direct via the WSJ, investors have pulled more than $14 billion from sustainable funds since the end of 2022.
Greenwashing
It’s easy to understand why sustainable investing built up such momentum in recent years, playing on the fundamental premise that investors could make a buck while doing some good in the world.
Criticisms of sustainable investing, which have ranged from calling it everything from “greenwashing” to “woke capitalism”, aren’t new. But, increased scrutiny on vague environmental measures, coupled with interest rate rises hitting clean energy and other sustainable sectors hard, has diminished demand, as mentions of ESG on earnings calls reached a 3-year low.
