US. Window opens to increase ESG investments in DC plans

US. Window opens to increase ESG investments in DC plans

Retirement plan service providers are betting that demand for ESG investments in plan menus — until now muted — is set to grow.

Take, for example, Morningstar Inc. In October, the company’s investment management arm announced it had teamed up with Plan Administrators Inc., a retirement plan administrator and record keeper, to launch a pooled employer plan this year featuring an investment menu made up almost exclusively of ESG funds.

Five months later, Transamerica Corp. followed suit with the launch of a “group plan” — a close cousin to a pooled employer plan — that uses an ESG-driven target-date series as the plan’s qualified default investment alternative.

Robo retirement plan providers, too, are moving in on the opportunity.

In March, online investment adviser Carbon Collective Corp. launched a climate-focused 401(k) plan whose investments it says favor companies that are developing fixes for the world’s environmental problems and preclude those hooked on long-term fossil fuels.

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