ESG names and claims in the EU fund industry. (original) (raw)

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Finance plays a key role in supporting the transition to a more sustainable economy. To achieve this, investor confidence and trust in the accuracy of ESG disclosures is necessary. With this in mind, greenwashing has become a major concern for policymakers around the world. Focussing on EU investment funds, we construct and exploit several unique datasets to examine the basis for these concerns. Using a novel dataset with historical information on 36,000 funds managing EUR 16 trillion of assets, we find that funds increasingly use ESG-related language in their names, and that investors consistently prefer funds with ESG words in their name. We then analyse the extent of ESG language across funds’ regulatory documentation and marketing material, using a dataset of more than 100,000 documents available at the end of 2022. We find evidence of the fund industry adapting its ESG communication depending on the type of document – regulated or unregulated. Our findings support recent efforts by policymakers to ensure that EU funds’ names and disclosures accurately reflect their activities.

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ISBN 978-92-95202-86-3

DOI 10.2856/885324

Catalogue number EK-09-23-372-EN-N

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ISSN ISBN 978-92-95202-86-3 DOI 10.2856/885324 Catalogue number EK-09-23-372-EN-N