Environment Funds May See A Surge

First, your worst nightmare came true. Like other global indices, the BSE Sensex plunged. And then, there was some good news. From its low of 25,381 on March 23, 2020, it recovered 60 per cent of its losses over the next three months. Now, there’s better news. Worldwide, as also in India, certain funds, dubbed ESG or “sustainable” ones, showed “resilience” during the sell-off triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. In terms of both assets and inflows, these funds performed better than the global universe. Towards the end of March 2020, the assets of sustainable funds, which focus on companies that rank high on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) issues, were down 12 per cent from their all-time high at the close of 2019. According to a May 2020 report by Morningstar, this was lower than the 18 per cent decline for the global universe of all the funds....