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Environmental, Social and Governance investing: Does rating matter?

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  • Vincenzo Pacelli
  • Francesca Pampurini
  • Anna Grazia Quaranta

Abstract

In the last decade, the demand for sustainable and social investments has improved. The mutual funds industry has responded to market needs by offering a number of investment products focused on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) companies. The aim of this article is to understand if an ESG score can actually be considered a valid criterion that portfolio managers could adopt, along with traditional risk–return optimisation, in selecting asset portfolios. The paper analyses the link between the performance and the ESG score of different sectoral portfolios (one for each sector of the Global Industry Classification Standard), entirely composed of ESG assets, in the search for a clear and strong positive correlation that could suggest an overall advantage to focus on an ex ante choice of assets with high ESG scores.

Suggested Citation

  • Vincenzo Pacelli & Francesca Pampurini & Anna Grazia Quaranta, 2023. "Environmental, Social and Governance investing: Does rating matter?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 30-41, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:32:y:2023:i:1:p:30-41
    DOI: 10.1002/bse.3116
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    3. Adil Haniev & Viktoriya V. Suhih, 2025. "Analysis of the Impact of ESG Initiatives on the Financial Performance of Shareholders in Russian Companies," Journal of Applied Economic Research, Graduate School of Economics and Management, Ural Federal University, vol. 24(1), pages 319-343.
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    5. Li, Yue & Zhao, Xiaoxia & Yang, Xinfang, 2025. "ESG performance and corporate environmental investment: Incentive or inhibition?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    6. Giovanni Baldissarro & Maria Elena Bruni & Gianpaolo Iazzolino & Donato Morea & Stefania Veltri, 2024. "Does It Pay Off to Integrate ESG Performance into Bank Investment Portfolio Selection? Empirical Evidence in the European Energy Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(23), pages 1-20, December.
    7. Ngalim, Lawrence, 2024. "ESG ratings and female corporate leadership: Evidence from African firms," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 69(PB).
    8. Aamir Azeem & Muhammad Akram Naseem & Rizwan Ali & Shahid Ali, 2025. "How Does Environmental Performance Contribute to Firm Financial Performance in a Multi-country Study? Mediating Role of Competitive Advantage and Moderating Role of Voluntary Environmental Initiatives," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 16(2), pages 7688-7721, June.
    9. Pacelli, Vincenzo & Foglia, Matteo & Mariano, Dayana, 2025. "The link between climate and systemic risk: A bibliometric and systematic literature review," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    10. Islam, Nazrul & Rakshit, Sandip & Paul, Tripti, 2025. "Antecedents and consequences of social robots adoption for SMEs - Reimaging emerging technologies in the context of the new normal," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 210(C).
    11. Wang, Jianli & Xiao, Xiao & Dong, Minghua & Li, Jingyuan, 2025. "Does ESG rating disagreement discourage corporate green innovation? Evidence from China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    12. Victoria Bogdan & Luminita Rus & Dana Simona Gherai & Adrian Gheorghe Florea & Nicoleta Georgeta Bugnar, 2023. "A Streamline Sustainable Business Performance Reporting Model by an Integrated FinESG Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-26, December.

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