Our report card on “environment and social justice” investing by dozens of major money management firms from State Street to Fidelity with tens of trillions of dollars invested found that most got a D or F grade by putting ESG issues over getting optimal returns for their clients.

But the tide is changing, and here’s a New York Times headline from this weekend that brought a smile to our faces:

Why has ESG suddenly fallen out of favor? The NYTimes says (in part) because of outside pressure from watchdog groups like CTUP. We warned that these climate change and racial justice funds would be lousy investments, and so they have. A Morningstar report calculates that ESG funds underperformed the market by six percentage points, meaning lower returns for everyday investors.

The trend is in our direction, but we aren’t letting up until money management firms and state pension funds follow their fiduciary duty and stop playing politics with Americans’ pensions.
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We will be updating our landmark report from last April in the weeks ahead.