Insight Investment Funds Report May 2023—The March of the ESG Funds

While the category was not new to the Canadian market, ESG product development and sales picked up steam during the pandemic. Most fund sponsors currently have a suite of ESG products, and some of the largest asset managers offer strategies across multiple products structures, including ETFs, mutual, asset allocation and segregated funds. For many of them, ESG is paying off: since industry sales weakened in early 2022, ESG has been one of very few categories that continued to bring in new money.

The Insight research feature focuses on recent trends in ESG investing. Asset growth and sales are examined from multiple lenses, including product types, distribution channels and the recently introduced CIFSC RI framework. The Trendlines article looks at the growth in deposit products during the first quarter of 2023.