by Nell Minow
ESG has passed the tipping point. For investors, ESG, which stands for Environmental, Social, and Governance factors, has gone from a nice-to-have to a have-to-have. ESG is the fastest growing area of investment, with every major financial institution and every significant institutional investor having one or more ESG options. U.S. ESG index funds reached over $250 billion in 2020. More significantly, ESG factors are permeating every aspect of even the most traditional investment vehicles. A 2020 survey of 809 institutional asset owners, investment consultants and financial advisers found that 75 percent of them use ESG factors in their investment strategies, up from 70 percent in 2019. Nearly 13 percent of respondents were pension plan sponsors. Corporate executives and board members are scrambling to catch up.