According to Morningstar, over $4.1 billion of assets flowed into U.S. sustainable open-end and exchange-traded funds during the first quarter of 2019 – far surpassing the previous quarterly record inflows of $1.9 billion and on track to exceed 2018’s record-breaking net inflow of approximately $5.5 billion.1
These strengthening inflows continue to prove the trend toward investors looking to do well and do good by investing responsibly and sustainable. Last year marked the third straight year of record annual net flows to U.S. sustainable funds – despite the rest of the U.S. funds lowest overall asset flow since 2008.2 The first quarter number is proof that more managers and investors are adding sustainable investments to their portfolios and are recognizing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors as drivers of value.
Like the rest of the industry, we saw one of our highest inflows at CCM in the first quarter of 2019. We are not surprised to see these numbers given the increase and demand for impact/ESG investments. We look forward to seeing this number continue to increase as more and more investors see integrating ESG factors in their investment process and portfolios is critical to investing effectively.
We wish you all a happy Memorial Day weekend.
1 https://finance.yahoo.com/news/u-esg-funds-gather-record-110000211.html