Expanding on the debate around the performance of SRI Funds

Résumé

With the growth of SRI funds concerns on doubts about their relative performance have increased. In our systematic literature review, we conclude that the vast majority (67%) of the empirical studies show no difference in the relative financial performance of SRI funds vs their conventional counterparts. From there we move the debate to perform a comparative analysis between the ESG scores of SRI funds and Conventional Funds of the same Mutual Fund. The results show that being a “self-declared” SRI Fund is a significant variable that affects positively the fund's ESG performance score. Finally, we wish to test the effect of the SFDR regulation on self-labeled SRI funds vs Conventional Funds of the same Mutual Fund Company. The results find evidence and reveal a clear reduction of ESG risk after SFDR for all the samples and observe a positive spill-over effect on conventional funds after the entry of the regulation.