This doesn’t surprise me at all - but like I said in a previous post - just about everything has made money in the past 18 months.....sustainable.....unsustainable......everything.
So the Sustainable funds aren’t really being tested are they? The rising tide has lifted all boats so it’s easy to be a principled and smug ‘sustainable investor’.... the funds keep flowing in there.....and while the returns are good they will continue to flow in there.
I see two possible developments that will reverse the flow of funds back towards the likes of Magellan.
1. When markets level off or go backwards and take ‘sustainable investments’ down disproportionately will the ESG warriors accept this ? Say regular funds are returning 7% and the ‘sustainables’ are minus 10% - will they stick to their principles and cop the losses ?- I suspect not - the majority will jump.
2. Related to the above and increasing the likelihood of substandard returns in the ‘sustainable’ space is that there are many opportunists out there ready to take advantage of this ESG phenomenon.
Slap an ESG badge on something and watch the rivers of cash flow in is their thinking....coz they’re generally not a very financially savvy bunch the ESG crowd.
The multitudes of shonky investments will become evident in a few years time and be reflected in negative returns for ‘sustainable investments’
.....and Magellan will be there ready to start picking up the defectors.
MFG Price at posting:
$40.18 Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
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