The Labor Department has the industry all abuzz about ESG (environmental, societal, governance) investment—this week we’d like to know if they’ve made inroads with your practice.
Late last month, noting its concern “that the growing emphasis on ESG investing may be prompting ERISA plan fiduciaries to make investment decisions for purposes distinct from providing benefits to participants and beneficiaries and defraying reasonable expenses of administering the plan,” the Labor Department proposed a new rule to clarify the standards. Standards, it seems fair to say, that left unamended might be expected to slow interest.
Not that, despite surveys that evince interest in the concept, have they gotten much traction in the defined contribution marketplace. Workable, consistent definitions of ESG remain fluid, and perhaps as a result, the adoption rate among defined contribution plans has been tepid—and the take-up rate among participants even lower. Fewer than 3% of plans offer an ESG option, according to the 62nd annual Plan Sponsor Council of America survey, and less than 0.2% of plan assets have been invested in those options.
In the wake of what is sure to be a bit of controversy, this week we’d like to know about your experience with ESG offerings, whether your plan sponsor client and prospects have an appetite for this option (or more of this option), and what you think the future hold.
Reply to this week’s NAPA Net Reader Poll at https://www.research.net/r/8WL6CRD.
And we’ll have it all sorted out for you on Friday!
