ESG PERFORMANCE IN MUTUAL FUNDS: AN INVESTIGATION TOWARDS SUSTAINABILITY

In the last twenty years, sustainability has become a central topic in corporate dynamics due to international legislative pressures and the growing interest of investors. The three ESG pillars (Environmental, Social and Governance) are now fundamental requirements for companies seeking external financing, as they provide an objective parameter for the qualitative and quantitative assessment of sustainability, including for mutual funds. In this context, the paper aims to analyze the main characteristics of mutual funds considered sustainable, to grasp their logic and behavior. Through a descriptive statistical analysis on a sample of 170 funds – Equity (72), Bond (46), Int’l Global (36) and Balanced (16) – extracted from the authoritative “Sustainable Investment Mutual Funds and ETFs Chart” database, we show that funds classified as sustainable are small to medium-sized (Assets Under Management < $5.000 millions) and young (< 25 years). Additionally, we propose a study on the performance analysis of each class of funds, providing useful insights for both academic and professional contexts.