Exchange-traded ESG assets climbing the ladder

At the end of the September, total assets invested in environmental, social and governance-focused exchange-traded funds and products stood at $47 billion. Though that may be pennies compared to the $4 trillion ETF industry, it represents a 114% increase in nine months. The number of products offered also rose to 253 as of Sept. 30 from 206 on Dec. 31.

The interest in ESG has come from both managers and investors, particularly as ESG and socially responsible investing has so far outperformed its broad market counterparts in 2019. BlackRock's ETF arm, iShares, manages more than $8 billion of the top 20 ESG exchange-traded products, or about 60% of the largest funds. Deutsche Bank's Xtrackers branded MSCI USA ESG leaders product had the highest net flows through the first nine months of the year at $1.39 billion. BlackRock's iShares MSCI USA Leaders brought in a net $986.8 billion so far in 2019, $848.6 billion of which was invested in September.