Social conscious investment: analysis of the impact of COVID-19 based on ETF

Abstract

The paper examines the risk-return ratio of the ESG ETF as a basis for developing an investment strategy that has become necessary due to the shock caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. ESG Investing is taking into account environmental, sociological and governance factors along with financial factors when making investment decisions. ETF Investing means an index fund whose shares are traded on an exchange. Research has shown that almost 75% of respondents around the world integrate ESG and ETF into their investment approach. The ESG segment demonstrates an increase in investment attractiveness mainly due to the assumption of sustainability. Therefore, the hypothesis of stability in the shock period was a prerequisite for our study. One of the methods used was comparative analysis. Different approaches to risk assessment helped to analyze each group along with the expected return. Among the basic concepts of measuring financial risks in the theory of expected utility, the concept of variability, the concept of sensitivity and the concept of losses in adverse situations, the study focuses on identifying variability and assessing losses in adverse situations. The results were evaluated and compared before and after the shock. This paper also studied a pair of indicators characterizing the shock period, namely the depth of shock and the level of recovery to assess the risk-return ratio directly in the shock period. The results showed differences in risk assessments. The main overall consequence is that ESG ETFs are likely to be affected by shocks, but in the post-shock period there is a fairly rapid recovery. Applying risk-return analysis methodologies, we came to the following conclusions: ETFs show an increase in risks, the pandemic did not change catastrophically, which contributed to a rapid recovery. The study has shown that the dynamics of the risk-return ratio for investments with high implementation of the principle of E, S, G is growing. The results obtained can be applied in the practice of forming portfolio investment strategies.