For the large fund companies, the newly inflamed climate love of more and more investors is one thing above all: a huge business. With a manageable effort, often with the sorting out of individual values, it is possible to turn conventional funds into sustainability funds. Of course, the large shift from one vehicle to the other brings you brilliant commissions. If you look at the largest positions in the broad-based ESG funds, you will usually find the same names there again and again, sometimes with slightly different weighting. Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and the other tech companies also dominate the picture here.
Those who invest in this ETF do not necessarily invest their money in the biggest pioneers in climate protection, but rather in large companies that do not obviously stand in the way of climate protection. From an investor’s point of view, this is not bad. In terms of returns, the sustainability ETFs remain so competitive and a look at the carbon intensity shows that the ESG filters can sort out a whole range of climate sinners from the initial index.
But the extent to which the climate is helped by such investments is another matter. Especially companies that currently have poor climate values urgently need money to set up their business in a more environmentally friendly way. However, such investments would be much riskier for investors.
