Climate Risk, ESG Ratings, and the Flow-Performance Relationship in Mutual Funds

Date
2024-09
Authors
Ali, Sara
Badshah, Ihsan
Demirer, Riza
Hegde, Prasad
Rognone, Lavinia
Supervisor
Item type
Journal Article
Degree name
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Abstract

We extend the burgeoning literature on climate finance by examining the informational role of mutual fund sustainability ratings on the asset allocation decisions by investors when faced with climate risks. Utilizing data on a large sample of equity mutual funds in Australasia (Australia and New Zealand), we find that climate risk plays a significant role on the sensitivity of fund flows to past performance. We find that the sensitivity is stronger for mutual funds that enjoy high sustainability ratings, and we show that the informational value of past performance over subsequent fund flows becomes more important when investors face greater climate risks. We argue that sustainability ratings of managed funds not only complement performance but also help improve the efficiency of asset allocation decisions, more so during a heightened climate risk environment.

Description
Keywords
3502 Banking, Finance and Investment , 35 Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services , 13 Climate Action , 1502 Banking, Finance and Investment , Finance , 3501 Accounting, auditing and accountability , 3502 Banking, finance and investment
Source
Global Finance Journal, ISSN: 1044-0283 (Print), Elsevier BV, 101041-101041. doi: 10.1016/j.gfj.2024.101041
Rights statement
© 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).