Here’s how investors really behave at a ‘woke’ mutual fund firm

ESG strategies not nearly as popular as publicity suggests.

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(Mark Hulbert, an author and longtime investment columnist, is the founder of the Hulbert Financial Digest; his Hulbert Ratings audits investment newsletter returns.)

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (Callaway Climate Insights) — Climate-focused investors have their work cut out for them if they hope the markets can be used to pressure corporations into being more climate friendly. Despite a huge increase in recent years in the number of ESG-focused funds and ETFs, a surprisingly small proportion of investors allocate any of their equity portfolios to them.

This is particularly the case at Vanguard, even though it is one of the largest asset management firms that have been in conservatives’ crosshairs for allegedly being “woke.” Despite this reputation, a new study reports that just 3.5% of the firm’s clients allocate any of their portfolios to ESG mutual funds or ETFs. And even among those who do have such an allocation, it is relatively small: On average across all Vanguard investors, the portfolio allocation to ESG-focused funds is just 0.4%.