Vanguard gets extra ETF billions after shunning ESG

Vanguard Group, which quit the world’s biggest climate-finance alliance in December, was the only major ETF provider to post an increase in European assets last year thanks to its lower exposure to environmental, social and governance strategies, according to Morningstar. An analysis shows Vanguard was the sole exchange-traded fund provider of the top five firms to see its European business grow in absolute terms, in large part because of “minimal exposure to ESG in a year when ESG underperformed mainstream investments.” Vanguard benefited from more exposure to fossil fuels than its peers.