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Is Impact Investor Behavior Different ?

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Abstract

In this paper, we examine the determinants of investor money flows in sustainable mutual funds. Owing to differences in preferences, we posit that ESG investors are more sensitive to mutual fund financial attributes than impact investors are. Using a dataset of 840 actively managed European sustainable equity funds for the period 2018–2025, we find that fund flows are significantly more sensitive to past performance for ESG funds than for impact funds. Our empirical results are in line with impact investor specificity among sustainable investors: the first invest for ESG values, whereas the latter invest with ESG values. Our findings are robust to alternative sustainable classifications, geographical investment areas, investor types and time sampling.

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  • Ali Hassan & Jean-Baptiste Hasse & Christelle Lecourt, 2025. "Is Impact Investor Behavior Different ?," AMSE Working Papers 2521, Aix-Marseille School of Economics, France.
    • Handle: RePEc:aim:wpaimx:2521
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