Sustainable fund net inflows suffered their sharpest quarterly slowdown in three years in the last quarter, but still outperformed conventional funds, according to Morningstar’s Global Sustainable Fund Flows report for Q1 2022. Global sustainable funds attracted almost US$97 billion of net new money in the first quarter, falling more than a third from Q4 2021. Investor concerns over inflationary pressures and the war in Ukraine saw broader market inflows slump by 73% over the period. Global sustainable fund assets fell 4% in the quarter to US$2.77 trillion, slightly less than the 5.5% dip experienced in the broader market. Morningstar said product development slowed down, with 227 new sustainable funds launched globally, while repurposing of conventional products continued. In Q1, Morningstar identified 63 repurposed funds in Europe, the lowest quarterly count since SFDR came into force in March 2021.
