UK investors put £37bn into environmental, social and governance funds during 2021, continuing the trend of these funds attracting huge amounts of money.
But at the start of 2022, rising inflation and interest rates meant the growth stocks which tend to populate ESG funds underperformed. Indeed the MSCI ACWI ESG Universal index has outperformed the MSCI World index in each of the past five years but so far in 2022 it is lagging behind.
This week FTAdviser reporter Sally Hickey is joined by Ben Yearsley of Fairview Investing and Ryan Hughes, head of investment research at AJ Bell, to discuss whether this is just a bump in the road for ESG or whether it's something more severe.
They also discuss what it tells us that ESG inflows have not slowed down despite the recent underperformance, whether ESG and growth are necessarily intertwined, and what advisers and clients can learn from this period.
The FTAdviser Podcast is the weekly podcast for financial advisers, brought to you by FTAdviser. Each week, FTAdviser is joined by guests from the industry to discuss the week in news and pressing industry issues.
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