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Who doesn’t love studying statistics? Probably quite a lot of people… but when you work in asset management, there’s no escaping it. The past year has brought a number of prominent topics to the fore in sustainable investing and below we look at some of the statistics behind these topics, and what they might tell us going forwards.
Firstly, exactly how much is invested in sustainable strategies? Data from Morningstar[1] shows that assets in sustainable strategies globally hit $2.5 trillion at the end of 2022. This was slightly down from its peak of around $3.0 trillion a year before, but with markets selling off materially last year, a decline in absolute terms is unsurprising.
Perhaps more informative is the trend in net flows – i.e., removing the effect of market movements and looking solely at how much people are contributing (or taking away) from funds in the space. Happily, the picture is more favourable here, with net flows remaining positive throughout 2022 and picking up in the final quarter. Given the difficult market backdrop, this underlines the enduring demand for sustainable funds and is in stark contrast to the broader market, which saw $200 billion of net outflows in quarter four.
What is really striking about these numbers is the regional bias. Sustainable investing remains very much centred in Europe (83% share of assets). Despite being the world’s largest market, the US lags far behind with an 11% share, and Asia Pacific ex-Japan has just 2%. Despite these regions being home to many fantastic sustainable companies and a good proportion of the stocks held across sustainable portfolios, they remain massively under-penetrated in terms of actual client allocations, which seems a strange paradox.
Surely, in time, these numbers will increase and data on investor preferences seems to back this. For example, a survey by PwC[2] found that 8 out of 10 US investors planned to increase their allocations to ESG strategies over the next two years. Furthermore, the same survey found that 39% of the institutional investors surveyed had decided not to invest with an asset manager or had stopped investing with one due to perceived shortcomings in their ESG products and that a further 50% would consider doing so (although they hadn’t done so yet). Clearly, managers are rightly being held to high standards when it comes to their ESG offerings.
Performance will clearly play a significant role in helping or hindering the future trajectory. On this front, the past year has been tough for sustainable funds, although they have been far from the only group to suffer. Data from RBC[3] shows that the median globally focused sustainable equity fund underperformed its traditional equity counterpart by 2.4 percentage points in 2022. Disappointing, for sure, but this was after a three-year run of sustainable funds outperforming, which means that the sustainable category outperformed by 0.5 and 0.7 percentage points over three and five years, respectively.
That sustainable funds underperformed last year is no surprise, given the shape of markets. The top performing sector in the MSCI ACWI (and the only one to post a gain in absolute dollar terms) was energy, which returned 34.5%[4]. This was 38.4 percentage points ahead of the next best performer, utilities. In general, the sectors that performed best last year are not typical hunting grounds for sustainable investors and once this effect is accounted for by looking on a sector-neutral basis, data by RBC shows that stocks with low ESG risk ratings on Sustainalytics underperformed those with high ratings by a much smaller margin[5].
Finally, regulation is a hot topic, with the EU’s SFDR in particular grabbing the headlines. Several managers found that they had been overly optimistic in categorising funds as ‘Article 9’ (having a sustainable investment objective) and had to row back on this when the regulations became clearer. An incredible 307 funds, with assets of EUR 170.1 billion were downgraded from Article 9 in quarter four alone[6]. In an industry that continues to battle against greenwashing, this has been an unhelpful story.
Overall, these statistics show that sustainable investing remains in good health, despite the performance and regulatory challenges thrown at it in the past year. The coming months are likely to see continued debate around the ‘anti-ESG backlash’ in the US, particularly due to moves by some states to disinvest from and blacklist asset managers whom they see as prioritising ESG issues at the expense of investing in (polluting) industries that form an important part of the economies in those states. Hopefully, this doesn’t derail the positive momentum that genuine sustainable investors have worked so hard to build, and with the Biden administration passing the Inflation Reduction Act and making it easier for retirement plan sponsors to include ESG funds in the line-up of options for employees, these should act as important counterweights to the more short-sighted actions taken by some states.
[1] Morningstar Global Sustainable Fund Flows Report, Q4 2022
[2] PwC, Asset and wealth management revolution 2022: Exponential expectations for ESG
Unless otherwise noted, the information in this document has been derived from sources believed to be accurate at the time of publication.
This material is provided by Aegon Asset Management (Aegon AM) as general information and is intended exclusively for institutional and wholesale investors, as well as professional clients (as defined by local laws and regulation) and other Aegon AM stakeholders.
This document is for informational purposes only in connection with the marketing and advertising of products and services, and is not investment research, advice or a recommendation. It shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation to buy any investment nor shall any offer of products or services be made to any person in any jurisdiction where unlawful or unauthorized. Any opinions, estimates, or forecasts expressed are the current views of the author(s) at the time of publication and are subject to change without notice. The research taken into account in this document may or may not have been used for or be consistent with all Aegon AM investment strategies. References to securities, asset classes and financial markets are included for illustrative purposes only and should not be relied upon to assist or inform the making of any investment decisions. It has not been prepared in accordance with any legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research, and may have been acted upon by Aegon AM and Aegon AM staff for their own purposes.
The information contained in this material does not take into account any investor's investment objectives, particular needs, or financial situation. It should not be considered a comprehensive statement on any matter and should not be relied upon as such. Nothing in this material constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a representation that any investment or strategy is suitable or appropriate to any particular investor. Reliance upon information in this material is at the sole discretion of the recipient. Investors should consult their investment professional prior to making an investment decision. Aegon Asset Management is under no obligation, expressed or implied, to update the information contained herein. Neither Aegon Asset Management nor any of its affiliated entities are undertaking to provide impartial investment advice or give advice in a fiduciary capacity forpurposes of any applicable US federal or state law or regulation. By receiving this communication, you agree with the intended purpose described above.
Past performance is not a guide to future performance. All investments contain risk and may lose value. This document contains "forward-looking statements" which are based on Aegon AM's beliefs, as well as on a number of assumptions concerning future events, based on information currently available. These statements involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions which are difficult to predict. Consequently, such statements cannot be guarantees of future performance, and actual outcomes and returns may differ materially from statements set forth herein.
The following Aegon affiliates are collectively referred to herein as Aegon Asset Management: Aegon USA Investment Management, LLC (Aegon AM US), Aegon USA Realty Advisors, LLC (Aegon RA), Aegon Asset Management UK plc (Aegon AM UK), and Aegon Investment Management B.V. (Aegon AM NL).Each of these Aegon Asset Management entities is a wholly owned subsidiary of Aegon N.V. In addition, Aegon Private Fund Management (Shanghai) Co., a partially owned affiliate, may also conduct certain business activities under the Aegon Asset Management brand.
Aegon AM UK is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN: 144267) and is additionally a registered investment adviser with the United States (US) Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Aegon AM US and Aegon RA are both US SEC registered investment advisers.