Expectations for the real-world impact of sustainable investing are unrealistic

The asset management industry has shown support for sustainable investing, but do they follow sustainability principles in their investment decisions? Together with two colleagues, Dirk Jenter surveyed 509 equity portfolio managers on how much firms’ environmental and social performance feature in their investment decisions. He writes that most investors wouldn’t sacrifice profitability only to advance environmental and social goals. And funds marketed as sustainable aren’t that different from traditional ones.