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Risk and Performance of European Green and Conventional Funds

Author

Listed:
  • Tiago Gonçalves

    (Advance/CSG, ISEG—Lisbon School of Economics & Management, Universidade de Lisboa, 1200-781 Lisboa, Portugal)

  • Diego Pimentel

    (ISEG—Lisbon School of Economics & Management, Universidade de Lisboa, 1200-781 Lisboa, Portugal)

  • Cristina Gaio

    (Advance/CSG, ISEG—Lisbon School of Economics & Management, Universidade de Lisboa, 1200-781 Lisboa, Portugal)

Abstract

This paper analyzes how the risk-adjusted returns of green funds compare to those of conventional funds, between the years 2005 and 2020 for the European Union countries. Additionally, we tested how the performance of green funds correlates to the business cycle, subdividing their performance through expansionary and recessionary times. The findings are summarized as follows: our regression results demonstrated green and conventional funds exhibiting negative abnormal adjusted-returns against the developed world market benchmark for the single-factor and multifactor models. For the European market benchmark, we found environmental mutual funds presenting a positive performance for both models and conventional funds displaying negative results for the single-factor model and positive results for the multifactor model. The factor loadings for green funds indicated a negative load on momentum, book-to-market (HML) and size (SMB) factors, revealing a higher exposure to big and value companies. Subsampling per business cycle exhibited green mutual funds providing higher risk-adjusted returns to investors during crisis periods and mixed results for the non-crisis periods.

Suggested Citation

  • Tiago Gonçalves & Diego Pimentel & Cristina Gaio, 2021. "Risk and Performance of European Green and Conventional Funds," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-17, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:8:p:4226-:d:533762
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Tiago Gonçalves & Cristina Gaio & André Ferro, 2021. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Earnings Management: Moderating Impact of Economic Cycles and Financial Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-14, September.
    2. Gonçalves, Tiago Cruz & Gaio, Cristina, 2023. "Corporate sustainability disclosure and media visibility: Mixed method evidence from the tourism sector," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 155(PB).
    3. Tiago Cruz Gonçalves & Victor Barros & José Vicente Avelar, 2023. "Environmental, social and governance scores in Europe: what drives financial performance for larger firms?," Economics and Business Letters, Oviedo University Press, vol. 12(2), pages 121-131.
    4. Jekaterina Kuzmina & Dzintra Atstaja & Maris Purvins & Guram Baakashvili & Vakhtang Chkareuli, 2023. "In Search of Sustainability and Financial Returns: The Case of ESG Energy Funds," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-16, February.
    5. Pengcheng Wang & Shanyue Jin, 2025. "Can Green Funds Improve Corporate Carbon Performance? Firm-Level Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(12), pages 1-19, June.

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