Constructing ESG-screened portfolios aims to reduce the aggregate ESG-risk at the portfolio level by excluding low ESG-score constituents from the selection universe. But ESG-screening imposes limits on potential diversification as well as alters risk exposures to systematic factors. To investigate ESG-screening’s impact on the factor-risk-adjusted performance of portfolios, we construct ESG-screened portfolios consisting of US equity mutual funds according to their returns-based ESG-scores. The result of performance contribution analysis for the sample period from 1999 to 2018 suggests that investors need to treat the concentration level of ESG-screening as a search parameter to balance the costs and benefits of ESG-screening.
