PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022 - 34

PLAN DESIGN | ESG
The ESG Decision
Plan sponsors have several options for offering sustainable investments
D
efined contribution plan sponsors'
adoption of environmental,
social and governance investments
for their plan lineup has been slow.
Of the sponsors responding to the 2021
PLANSPONSOR Defined Contribution
Survey, just 15% included ESG funds on
their investment menu.
In contrast, plan participants show
considerable
interest
in ESG when it
is available. The 2021 Schroders U.S.
Retirement Survey found that 90% of DC
plan participants who have access to ESG
options, and are aware that they do, plan
to invest in them.
Should a sponsor decide to include
ESG, this raises an additional question:
Given the growing number of options
available to retirement plans, how should
the sponsor bring ESG into its plan?
Determine ESG Goals
Plan sponsors should first clearly define
what they hope to accomplish with ESG
options, says Matt Braisden, retirement
plan adviser with Plancorp LLC in St.
Louis. ESG investing has multiple facets,
he says, and unless a sponsor knows
its exact purpose for including ESG, it
may fail to accomplish it. For example,
Braisden has
seen significant
interest
in environmentalism and sustainability
but also plan sponsors and participants
who say they care about social practices
34 PLANSPONSOR.COM April - May 2022 Art by Irene Servillo
and governance. For the sponsor, understanding
the workers', and its own, values
helps focus the ESG-investment decisions
on funds that match those values.
Sponsors that have articulated their
ESG goals typically consider two methods
for trying to accomplish them, Braisden
says. The first is known as divestment, or
screening to exclude specific businesses
such as oil companies or weapons manufacturers.
The second method is to vary a
portfolio's allocations relative to a market
index based on companies' sustainability
scores. Companies with poor sustainability
scores are underweighted vs. the
index, while
companies with
scores are overweighted.
higher

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PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022

INSIGHTS
INDUSTRY ANALYSIS
RULES & REGULATIONS
UPFRONT
The DE&I Lens
By Design
Things People Do
Leakproof Your Plan
The ESG Decision
When Retirees Stay in the Plan
PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022 - Cover1
PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022 - CT1
PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022 - CT2
PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022 - Cover2
PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022 - 1
PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022 - INSIGHTS
PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022 - 3
PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022 - INDUSTRY ANALYSIS
PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022 - 5
PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022 - RULES & REGULATIONS
PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022 - 7
PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022 - 8
PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022 - 9
PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022 - UPFRONT
PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022 - 11
PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022 - 12
PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022 - 13
PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022 - 14
PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022 - 15
PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022 - 16
PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022 - 17
PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022 - The DE&I Lens
PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022 - 19
PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022 - 20
PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022 - 21
PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022 - By Design
PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022 - 23
PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022 - 24
PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022 - 25
PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022 - 26
PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022 - 27
PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022 - Things People Do
PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022 - 29
PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022 - 30
PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022 - 31
PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022 - Leakproof Your Plan
PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022 - 33
PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022 - The ESG Decision
PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022 - 35
PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022 - When Retirees Stay in the Plan
PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022 - 37
PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022 - 38
PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022 - 39
PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022 - 40
PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022 - Cover3
PLANSPONSOR - April - May 2022 - Cover4
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https://www.plansponsordigital.com/plansponsor/june_july_2021
https://www.plansponsordigital.com/plansponsor/april-may_2021
https://www.plansponsordigital.com/plansponsor/february-march_2021
https://www.plansponsordigital.com/plansponsor/december-january_2021
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https://www.plansponsordigital.com/plansponsor/june-july_2019
https://www.plansponsordigital.com/plansponsor/april-may_2019
https://www.plansponsordigital.com/plansponsor/february-march_2019
https://www.plansponsordigital.com/plansponsor/december_2018-january_2019
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https://www.plansponsordigital.com/plansponsor/june-july_2018
https://www.plansponsordigital.com/plansponsor/april-may_2018
https://www.plansponsordigital.com/plansponsor/february-march_2018
https://www.plansponsordigital.com/plansponsor/december_2017-january_2018
https://www.plansponsordigital.com/plansponsor/november_december_2017
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