Sophie Kennedy, head of investment at EQ Investors, has shared concerns that many ESG funds do not actually positively impact the environment or society.
She said there has been a plethora of launches in the space in recent years, with the number of impact funds up by 20% between March 2017 and December 2018. "But whether some funds actually have a positive impact is up for debate," she added. Performance has also been weak in some cases, which has given the space a bad name." "Every firm is launching these mandates now, which can make it harder to find the actual impact funds. But we are big advocates against impact-washing and engage with a huge amount of fund managers pre-launch to ensure this does not happen. "Often there have ...
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