Renaming with purpose: Investor response and fund manager behaviour after fund ESG renaming

IF 2.8 2区经济学 Q2 BUSINESS, FINANCE

Journal of International Money and Finance Pub Date : 2025-01-03 DOI:10.1016/j.jimonfin.2024.103263

Kayshani Gibbon , Jeroen Derwall , Dirk Gerritsen , Kees Koedijk

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Motivated by concerns that mutual funds' stated integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria in investing is cosmetic, we study the widespread phenomenon that mutual funds change their name to include ESG terms. Using a unique global sample of ESG-related name changes by 740 retail and 317 institutional share classes between July 2016 and September 2022, we investigate investors' response and fund managers' behaviour in terms of fund flows, portfolio-level ESG metrics and fees. Using difference-in-differences analyses and accounting for heterogeneous treatment effects, we provide mixed evidence on whether funds increase flows by renaming, although effects appear significant for funds domiciled in Europe. We subsequently document that fund managers do appear to improve the ESG performance, reduce exposure to controversial businesses, decrease the carbon intensity, and lower the overall ESG risks of their portfolios after ESG renaming. Renaming has no material impact on funds' expenses. The results alleviate concerns that funds use ESG-oriented name changes cosmetically and imply that they are renaming with purpose.

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有目的的更名：基金ESG更名后的投资者反应和基金经理行为

出于对共同基金在投资中所陈述的环境、社会和治理（ESG）标准整合的担忧，我们研究了共同基金更改名称以包含ESG条款的普遍现象。我们利用2016年7月至2022年9月期间740家零售和317家机构股票类别的ESG相关名称变更的独特全球样本，调查了投资者在资金流动、投资组合层面的ESG指标和费用方面的反应和基金经理的行为。使用差异中的差异分析和对异质处理效应的考虑，我们提供了关于基金是否通过重命名增加流量的混合证据，尽管对在欧洲注册的基金来说，效果似乎很显著。我们随后证明，在ESG更名后，基金经理确实改善了ESG绩效，减少了对有争议业务的敞口，降低了碳强度，并降低了其投资组合的整体ESG风险。更名对基金费用没有重大影响。研究结果减轻了人们的担忧，即基金在表面上以esg为导向进行更名，并暗示它们是有目的的更名。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of International Money and Finance BUSINESS, FINANCE-

CiteScore

4.20

自引率

4.00%

发文量

141

期刊介绍： Since its launch in 1982, Journal of International Money and Finance has built up a solid reputation as a high quality scholarly journal devoted to theoretical and empirical research in the fields of international monetary economics, international finance, and the rapidly developing overlap area between the two. Researchers in these areas, and financial market professionals too, pay attention to the articles that the journal publishes. Authors published in the journal are in the forefront of scholarly research on exchange rate behaviour, foreign exchange options, international capital markets, international monetary and fiscal policy, international transmission and related questions.