Reporter Cho Sang-rok of Hello Tea |
As investors’ interest in environmental, social and governance (ESG) themes continued, KRW 700 billion of funds flowed into ESG equity-type public offering funds this year.
According to FnGuide, a financial information company on August 15, 699.9 billion won has flowed into equity-type public offering funds classified under the ESG theme as of August 13 this year.
While 1.1 trillion won was withdrawn from domestic equity-type public offering funds during the same period, ESG funds have been steadily pouring in. The set amount is 1.35 trillion won, the highest in history.
Kim Hu-jung, a researcher at Yuanta Securities, said, “Funds are coming from products that can only be accessed as ‘funds’, such as public offering funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), or funds with trust in long-term growth potential, such as US stocks.” “ESG-related stocks “I am guessing that the money is coming in because I think it is okay to invest in this industry for a long time,” he said.
The yield wasn’t bad either. The average return of ESG equity-type public offering funds with a set amount of 1 billion won or more this year was 11.24%, similar to the growth rate of the KOSPI (10.36%).
However, some raise the question whether the current ESG fund is very different from other funds. It is pointed out that the fund is invested in ‘common’ large companies such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.
An asset management company official said, “Since ESG management does not directly increase profit margins, it is difficult for small companies to implement ‘carbon reduction’ first. Large companies will start.”
It is explained that large corporations that can afford to expand eco-friendly facilities are highly likely to get high ESG scores. In addition, even if the stocks are structured similarly, the weight of each stock in the portfolio may differ.
However, the lack of clear standards for ESG is considered a challenge. It is difficult to evaluate the ESG performance of each company, so it is not easy to salvage the mystery of ESG fund management.
“Overseas ESG funds do not invest in completely different ESG stocks,” said researcher Hu-jeong Kim. did.
He said, “There are different opinions on the ESG evaluation criteria, but I think the gap will narrow over time. Because crab is ESG, the differentiation will become stronger over time.”
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