Thanks to politics, I have advised plan sponsors not to pursue ESG investments for their plan as the rule is dependent on who is in the White House.

According to a PIMCO survey, more than 70% of retirement plan consultants and aggregators say that politics is a leading reason why their clients avoid funds that consider ESG factors.

Despite the rule from the Department of Labor that allows plan sponsors to include funds with ESG criteria, most consultants and retirement plan aggregator firms said they have not changed their stances. The survey shows that just over half (52%) of institutional consultants recommend ESG funds to retirement plan clients, with none saying they are more likely to do so because of the new rule. While 38% of aggregators said they had previously recommended those options, another 13% have started to because of the DOL’s stance, according to the report.