{"title":"Which investors support the transition toward a low-carbon economy? Exit and Voice in mutual funds","authors":"Jonas Zink","doi":"10.1057/s41260-023-00345-w","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>Reducing portfolio carbon footprints (Exit) and voting in favor of climate-related shareholder proposals (Voice) are among the main actions that investors can take to promote an accelerated transition toward a low-carbon economy. This paper studies three important investor groups that can be instrumental in driving the transition and evaluates their Exit and Voice behavior. I find that the five largest asset managers perform poorly on Exit and Voice over the full sample period but improved on both in more recent years. Only a small fraction of signatories to sustainable investor initiatives are supportive of the transition. Counterintuitively, investors who perform poorly on Exit, perform well on Voice. Finally, I examine the financial consequences of employing Exit and Voice and find that Exit is positively related to risk-adjusted fund returns; however, this is not necessarily attributable to superior skill of fund managers.</p>","PeriodicalId":45953,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asset Management","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5000,"publicationDate":"2024-03-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Asset Management","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1057/s41260-023-00345-w","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"BUSINESS, FINANCE","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Reducing portfolio carbon footprints (Exit) and voting in favor of climate-related shareholder proposals (Voice) are among the main actions that investors can take to promote an accelerated transition toward a low-carbon economy. This paper studies three important investor groups that can be instrumental in driving the transition and evaluates their Exit and Voice behavior. I find that the five largest asset managers perform poorly on Exit and Voice over the full sample period but improved on both in more recent years. Only a small fraction of signatories to sustainable investor initiatives are supportive of the transition. Counterintuitively, investors who perform poorly on Exit, perform well on Voice. Finally, I examine the financial consequences of employing Exit and Voice and find that Exit is positively related to risk-adjusted fund returns; however, this is not necessarily attributable to superior skill of fund managers.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Asset Management covers:new investment strategies, methodologies and techniquesnew products and trading developmentsimportant regulatory and legal developmentsemerging trends in asset managementUnder the guidance of its expert Editors and an eminent international Editorial Board, Journal of Asset Management has developed to provide an international forum for latest thinking, techniques and developments for the Fund Management Industry, from high-growth investment strategies to modelling and managing risk, from active management to index tracking. The Journal has established itself as a key bridge between applied academic research, commercial best practice and regulatory interests, globally.Each issue of Journal of Asset Management publishes detailed, authoritative briefings, analysis, research and reviews by leading experts in the field, to keep subscribers up to date with the latest developments and thinking in asset management.Journal of Asset Management covers:asset allocation hedge fund strategies risk definition and management index tracking performance measurement stock selection investment methodologies and techniques portfolio management and weighting product development and innovation active asset management style analysis strategies to match client profiles time horizons emerging markets alternative investments derivatives and hedging instruments pensions economics