Big claims are being made for ESG (environmental, social, and governance) investment strategies: ESG will reconcile society to capitalism while making investors—and Wall Street—more money. BlackRock, the world’s largest fund manager, is pushing ESG as part of a marketing pitch to millennials, who put “improving society” ahead of “generating profits.” Much of the buy-side pressure for ESG comes from state and municipal pension funds playing politics with taxpayers’ and pensioners’ money, many of which are in poor financial shape.
