For US respondents, this was up from 49 per cent in 2018 and 38 percent in 2016.
And popularity is only likely to increase over the coming years.
As Darius McDermott, managing director at Chelsea Financial Services, notes: “Our research team meets about five fund managers every week.
"A couple of years ago, only a handful of these managers would mention ESG, and they would be the managers who have had it at the core of their process for decades.
Today, however, nearly every single manager we meet makes reference to it.
So you have to be careful that funds are genuinely using ESG – not just saying it as it is fashionable to do so.”
These developments also prompt the following question: If the economic environment was to change over the coming years, and September proves to be a springboard for value stocks, would it also be advantageous for ESG funds to adopt such a strategy?
Daniel Pereira, investment research analyst at Square Mile Investment Consulting and Research, is hesitant to draw firm conclusions on the matter, saying that every manager’s approach is different and consequently will have a varying return profile.
He says: “Although growth stocks have led market returns in recent years, it is worth remembering that those currently trading on excessively high multiples can be very quick to de-rate on changes in market sentiment, such as what was experienced over the fourth quarter of 2018.
Will growth stocks continue their run?
If a growth company meets a certain ESG criteria, it does not insulate the share price from such market volatility.”
There is also the broader argument of whether growth stocks will continue their good run of form.
On this subject, Mr Pereira says that as growth stocks continue to soar, the days of value outperforming are seemingly becoming an ever more distant memory.
“Growth stocks have performed well in an environment of low economic growth, which may have been further exacerbated by a rise in algorithmic trading which buys index positions, regardless of price or valuations," he says, adding: “However, we have also seen some brief spells of value outperforming such as in 2016, around the time of President Trump’s election, and during September of this year.
"Such catalysts for value to enjoy a sustained rally, and growth to therefore lag, are difficult to predict, even for the most highly regarded economists and market commentators.”
In conclusion, he says that value is likely to outperform at some given point, but concedes that predicting when this is likely to happens is difficult to pinpoint.
However, a shift from growth to value could have its complications.
