Eaton Vance: Women, Young Advisors Receive Bulk Of ESG Inquiries

"These sustainable investment strategies allow investors a direct way to invest in ESG strategies without needing to undertake the type of analysis required to understand the ESG profile of an individual company,” said Jean-Philippe Hecquet, product specialist with the investment risk and performance team at BNP Paribas. “This is particularly true for fixed income, which is more difficult to measure from an ESG perspective.”

Calvert’s thematic mutual funds include a focus on global clean water and global energy solutions.

“We invest in labeled green bonds including ones issued by the World Bank,” Eames says. "We also invest in asset-backed securities and structured securities that support environmentally friendly projects, such as Toyota’s asset backed security, which is financed by loans to hybrid electric cars.”

Investor tendency toward passive, low-cost investing options and the proliferation of ETFs, index funds and smart-beta funds have also influenced responsible investing product offerings.

For example, Calvert introduced a line of low-cost, socially responsible indexes.  “Socially responsible Calvert ETFs are definitely something we are considering in terms of future product development because that's where the demand is and that's what investors and advisors are asking for,” says Eames. “Our suite of low-cost, socially responsible index funds currently addresses advisor and investor needs, but there is also a desire for ETFs and the additional flexibility to manage tax liabilities.”

Until Calvert launches their ESG ETF options, the Oppenheimer ESG Revenue ETF and the Oppenheimer Global ESG Revenue ETF are two relatively new ways to invest in ESG through ETFs.

“ESG has become a very big topic for investors and for companies around the world due to a combination of factors including societal awareness and governmental and regulatory pressure,” says Hecquet. “It is also now widely recognized that incorporating these factors into investment analysis can boost returns and so is becoming part of mainstream asset management.”