IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/vrs/poicbe/v18y2024i1p442-450n1010.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Effect of ESG Scores on Portfolio Performance. Evidence from Europe

Author

Listed:
  • Sandu Diana-Mihaela

    (Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania)

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the performance of eight portfolios constructed based on environmental, social and governance scores. The main question I explore is whether portfolios that integrate ESG values generate a significant additional return. The sample consists of 1095 European stocks from 23 countries, and the period analyzed is 2021-2022. To form portfolios, all stocks are first ranked according to one-year lagged ESG scores (Total ESG score, Environmental score, Social score and Governance score) in a decreasing way. Then 10% of the highest-scoring stocks are included in the Top portfolio, while 10% of the lowest-scoring stocks are included in the Bottom portfolio. Portfolio evaluation was performed using two techniques: CAPM and Fama French five-factor regression. In addition, the Sharpe ratios of the portfolios have been calculated. The Sharpe ratio is positive for the top portfolio, showing that investors are compensated more per unit of risk. The Top Environmental portfolio is found to be the best performer for positive values. In contrast, the Sharpe ratio is negative for the Bottom portfolios. This means that these portfolios underperform the risk-free rate. The CAPM results show that all portfolios using ESG-based scores underperformed the market. The results of the Fama-French five-factor model are similar to those of the CAPM. The general findings of this study indicate that using ESG-based scores in the selection investment process does not add a significant additional return. These findings provide additional evidence to the literature on the relationship between ESG and portfolio performance in the recent European context.

Suggested Citation

  • Sandu Diana-Mihaela, 2024. "The Effect of ESG Scores on Portfolio Performance. Evidence from Europe," Proceedings of the International Conference on Business Excellence, Sciendo, vol. 18(1), pages 442-450.
    • Handle: RePEc:vrs:poicbe:v:18:y:2024:i:1:p:442-450:n:1010
    DOI: 10.2478/picbe-2024-0038
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.2478/picbe-2024-0038
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.2478/picbe-2024-0038?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. N. C. Ashwin Kumar & Camille Smith & Leïla Badis & Nan Wang & Paz Ambrosy & Rodrigo Tavares, 2016. "ESG factors and risk-adjusted performance: a new quantitative model," Journal of Sustainable Finance & Investment, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(4), pages 292-300, October.
    2. Ferrell, Allen & Liang, Hao & Renneboog, Luc, 2016. "Socially responsible firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(3), pages 585-606.
    3. Díaz, Violeta & Ibrushi, Denada & Zhao, Jialin, 2021. "Reconsidering systematic factors during the Covid-19 pandemic – The rising importance of ESG," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 38(C).
    4. Fama, Eugene F. & French, Kenneth R., 2015. "A five-factor asset pricing model," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(1), pages 1-22.
    5. Wong, Woei Chyuan & Batten, Jonathan A. & Ahmad, Abd Halim & Mohamed-Arshad, Shamsul Bahrain & Nordin, Sabariah & Adzis, Azira Abdul, 2021. "Does ESG certification add firm value?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 39(C).
    6. Newey, Whitney & West, Kenneth, 2014. "A simple, positive semi-definite, heteroscedasticity and autocorrelation consistent covariance matrix," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 33(1), pages 125-132.
    7. Hong, Harrison & Kacperczyk, Marcin, 2009. "The price of sin: The effects of social norms on markets," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(1), pages 15-36, July.
    8. Luo, Di, 2022. "ESG, liquidity, and stock returns," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    9. Shernaz Bodhanwala & Ruzbeh Bodhanwala, 2019. "Relationship between sustainable and responsible investing and returns: a global evidence," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 16(4), pages 579-594, June.
    10. Emre Zehir & Aslı Aybars, 2020. "Is there any effect of ESG scores on portfolio performance? Evidence from Europe and Turkey," Journal of Capital Markets Studies, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 4(2), pages 129-143, November.
    11. Meir Statman & Denys Glushkov, 2009. "The Wages of Social Responsibility," Financial Analysts Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 65(4), pages 33-46, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sandu Diana-Mihaela, 2023. "Is There Any Effect of ESG Scores on Portfolio Performance in South Africa?," Proceedings of the International Conference on Business Excellence, Sciendo, vol. 17(1), pages 1807-1817, July.
    2. Naffa, Helena & Fain, Máté, 2022. "A factor approach to the performance of ESG leaders and laggards," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).
    3. Jiaju Miao & Pawel Polak, 2023. "Online Ensemble of Models for Optimal Predictive Performance with Applications to Sector Rotation Strategy," Papers 2304.09947, arXiv.org.
    4. David Hirshleifer & Po-Hsuan Hsu & Dongmei Li, 2018. "Innovative Originality, Profitability, and Stock Returns," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 31(7), pages 2553-2605.
    5. Ni, Yinan & Sun, Yanfei, 2023. "Environmental, social, and governance premium in Chinese stock markets," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    6. Liu, Xiaoming & Shen, Xieyang & Wang, Changyun & Zeng, Jianyu, 2023. "Do fund managers' tones predict future performance? Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    7. Alireza Rezaeian & Marie Racine, 2024. "The risk of SIN or socially irresponsible stocks," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 62(2), pages 755-798, February.
    8. Raymond Kwong & Man Lung Jonathan Kwok & Helen S. M. Wong, 2023. "Green FinTech Innovation as a Future Research Direction: A Bibliometric Analysis on Green Finance and FinTech," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(20), pages 1-27, October.
    9. Hao Liang & Lin Sun & Melvyn Teo, 2022. "Responsible Hedge Funds [Role of managerial incentives and discretion in hedge fund performance]," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 26(6), pages 1585-1633.
    10. Du, Qianqian & Su, Wanxuan & Liang, Dawei & Wang, Luying, 2023. "How does green preference impact sustainability-based investment strategy? Evidence from the Chinese stock market," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    11. Fousseni Chabi-Yo & Markus Huggenberger & Florian Weigert, 2019. "Multivariate Crash Risk," Working Papers on Finance 1901, University of St. Gallen, School of Finance.
    12. Liu, Xufeng & Wan, Die, 2023. "Retail investor trading and ESG pricing in China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    13. Metin Borak & Hatice Dogukanli, 2023. "Effect of Corporate Social Responsibility on Portfolio Performance: Evidence From Turkey," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, December.
    14. Zhang, Yaojie & Song, Bingheng & He, Mengxi & Wang, Yudong, 2024. "Abnormal temperature and the cross-section of stock returns in China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    15. Hui-Ju Tsai & Yangru Wu, 2022. "Changes in Corporate Social Responsibility and Stock Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 178(3), pages 735-755, July.
    16. Nofsinger, John R. & Sulaeman, Johan & Varma, Abhishek, 2019. "Institutional investors and corporate social responsibility," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 700-725.
    17. Gregor Dorfleitner & Christian Kreuzer & Christian Sparrer, 2020. "ESG controversies and controversial ESG: about silent saints and small sinners," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 21(5), pages 393-412, September.
    18. Anastasia O. Volodina & Marina B. Trachenko, 2023. "ESG Investment Profitability in Developed and Emerging Markets with Regard to the Time Horizon," Finansovyj žhurnal — Financial Journal, Financial Research Institute, Moscow 125375, Russia, issue 2, pages 59-73, April.
    19. Luo, Di & Farag, Hisham, 2024. "ESG and aggregate disagreement," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    20. Benjamin Hübel & Hendrik Scholz, 2020. "Integrating sustainability risks in asset management: the role of ESG exposures and ESG ratings," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 21(1), pages 52-69, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:vrs:poicbe:v:18:y:2024:i:1:p:442-450:n:1010. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.sciendo.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.