This also applies to environmental, social and governance (ESG) mandates. From an investment perspective, it does not matter if related policies do anything to ward off the negative impact of global warming, or sexism in the workplace, just so long as they garner widespread institutional support.
But the debate has moved on from whether socially responsible investment strategies will be widely adopted by money managers. The latest Money Monitor report from Lyxor shows that exchange traded funds with ESG mandates are attracting record inflows despite ongoing turmoil in the global economy. The debate now centres on whether sufficient scrutiny is applied to the way in which ESG investment portfolios are put together.