Owning Green: Evaluating the Effects of Actively Managed Sustainability Fund Ownership on ESG Scores
Graduation Year
2024
Date of Submission
4-2024
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Environment, Economics, and Politics (EEP)
Reader 1
Joshua Rosett
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© 2024 Caleb C Young
Abstract
The growing trend of acknowledging ESG performance as a material concern when conducting due diligence on investment opportunities has exacerbated the number of assets being managed by investors with sustainability-oriented goals. At the same time, as social and climate-related issues have become more intense, investors want to use their agency as shareholders to influence companies to act in ways that align with their values. Frequently, this can be most effectively achieved through proxy voting and corporate engagement, particularly if the fund is an active manager. This thesis explores the interaction between ESG-focused ETFs and mutual funds and their management style to build upon the literature surrounding the effectiveness of corporate engagement efforts from managers with these characteristics. Ultimately, this work would help to better inform investment decision-makers on the viability of using ESG fund managers as a primary vehicle for accelerating the green transition. Despite finding highly significant and positive relationships between the proportion of stock ownership by active, ESG-focused managers and firm ESG scores, future studies with more robust data may be able to point more clearly to a causal relationship between the variables.
Recommended Citation
Young, Caleb, "Owning Green: Evaluating the Effects of Actively Managed Sustainability Fund Ownership on ESG Scores" (2024). CMC Senior Theses. 3689.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/3689
