Adrian Lowcock: ESG funds no longer 'nice to have' but core part of portfolios

Investors ignoring this trend will miss out

Sustainable and ESG funds are no longer a "nice to have" and must become a core part of investors' portfolios if they want to preserve long-term returns, according to Willis Owen's Adrian Lowcock.

Lowcock, head of personal investing at Willis Owen, said that while ESG products were originally being used as satellite funds within an asset allocation, they have now earned their place at the core of investors' portfolios. He pointed to the strong performance of funds with an ESG investment approach over one, three and five years, with the MSCI ACWI ESG Leaders index beating its traditional MSCI ACWI counterpart with a five-year return of 94.6% versus 91.3%, in sterling terms to the end of September. ESG funds to hold most AUM by 2025 - reports "The Covid pandemic has certainly ...