--- title: Clearing Up the ABCs of ESG description: Advisors providing clarity around ESG terminology could create a meaningful differentiator for their practices. image: https://insights.danainvestment.com/hubfs/Blog%20Images/Dana-Blog-76-LinkedIn.png --- - [Home](https://www.danainvestment.com/) - About Us - [Who We Are](https://www.danainvestment.com/who-we-are/) - [Who We Serve](https://www.danainvestment.com/who-we-serve/) - [Our Responsibilities](https://www.danainvestment.com/our-responsibilities/) - [Meet The Team](https://www.danainvestment.com/meet-the-team/) - [History](https://www.danainvestment.com/history/) - [Awards](https://www.danainvestment.com/awards/) - Our Services - [Overview](https://www.danainvestment.com/overview/) - [Equity Strategies](https://www.danainvestment.com/strategy-assignment/equity-strategies/) - [Fixed Income Strategies](https://www.danainvestment.com/strategy-assignment/fixed-income-strategies/) - [Wealth Management](https://www.danainvestment.com/strategy-assignment/wealth-management/) - Insights - [The Dana Viewpoint](https://www.danainvestment.com/category/the-dana-viewpoint/) - [News & Updates](https://www.danainvestment.com/content-library-category/news-updates/) - [Content Library](https://www.danainvestment.com/content-library-category/content-library/) - [Resources](https://www.danainvestment.com/resources/) - [Contact](https://www.danainvestment.com/contact/) - [Stay Informed](https://www.danainvestment.com/stay-informed/) [![Dana Investment](https://insights.danainvestment.com/hs-fs/hubfs/raw_assets/public/DanaInvestment_May2023/images/mobile-logo.png?width=300&height=76&name=mobile-logo.png "Dana Investment")](https://www.danainvestment.com/) - About Us - [Who We Are](https://www.danainvestment.com/who-we-are/) - [Who We Serve](https://www.danainvestment.com/who-we-serve/) - [Our Responsibilities](https://www.danainvestment.com/our-responsibilities/) - [Meet The Team](https://www.danainvestment.com/meet-the-team/) - [History](https://www.danainvestment.com/history/) - [Awards](https://www.danainvestment.com/awards/) - Our Services - [Overview](https://www.danainvestment.com/overview/) - [Equity Strategies](https://www.danainvestment.com/strategy-assignment/equity-strategies/) - [Fixed Income Strategies](https://www.danainvestment.com/strategy-assignment/fixed-income-strategies/) - [Wealth Management](https://www.danainvestment.com/strategy-assignment/wealth-management/) - Thought Leadership - [Insights](https://insights.danainvestment.com/blog) - [The Dana Viewpoint](https://www.danainvestment.com/category/the-dana-viewpoint/) - [News & Updates](https://www.danainvestment.com/content-library-category/news-updates/) - [Content Library](https://www.danainvestment.com/content-library-category/content-library/) - [Resources](https://www.danainvestment.com/resources/) - [Contact](https://www.danainvestment.com/contact/) - [Stay Informed](https://www.danainvestment.com/stay-informed/) [![Dana Investment Advisors](https://insights.danainvestment.com/hs-fs/hubfs/raw_assets/public/DanaInvestment_May2023/images/header-logo.png?width=300&height=76&name=header-logo.png "Dana Investment Advisors")](https://www.danainvestment.com/) MENU CLOSE ![](https://insights.danainvestment.com/hubfs/raw_assets/public/DanaInvestment_May2023/images/search-image.png) # Clearing Up the ABCs of ESG Published on May 7, 2020, 5:33:28 PM While ESG interest is undoubtedly on the rise, the category hasn’t reached its full growth potential. One issue potentially holding it back? Clarity. An October 2019 report from the Institute of International Finance1 found that financial firms are using nearly 80 different terms to describe various forms of sustainable investing. As the report describes, this is creating confusion for would-be investors: *“At best, this confusion makes it hard to compare investment products and for clients to understand the differences in offerings,”* the report states*. “At worst, it facilitates greenwashing—intentionally misleading investors or giving them a false impression about how well their investments are aligned with their sustainability goals.”* Advisors who can provide clarity around terminology and the various types of ESG-related investment strategies could create a meaningful differentiator for their practices, and appeal to a growing cohort of investors who want to align their investments with their values. Current inflows show how quickly that cohort is growing. As we reported in our last blog ([*Pandemic Could Accelerate ESG Interest*](https://insights.danainvestment.com/blog/pandemic-could-accelerate-esg-interest)), inflows into such funds quadrupled to $20.6 billion in 20192, and got off to a hot start in 2020 with $10.5 billion of inflows in the first quarter3. To help advisors walk their clients through the different terminology and get clarity on what, specifically, their clients want from ESG strategies, we have provided a quick, introductory primer that clears up some of the verbiage. In this free guidebook, *Everything You Want to Know About ESG Investing*, we explain the differences between some of the most popular terms, the objectives and perspectives of different strategies, and address some of the most frequently asked questions about ESG strategies. We hope it provides your clients with more clarity around the issue. Available for download below.   [![New call-to-action](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/4730491/4e159393-82cd-410e-95c1-421d374feeb1.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/4730491/4e159393-82cd-410e-95c1-421d374feeb1)     1[https://www.iif.com/Publications/ID/3633/The-Case-for-Simplifying-Sustainable-Investment-Terminology](https://www.iif.com/Publications/ID/3633/The-Case-for-Simplifying-Sustainable-Investment-Terminology) [2](https://www.wsj.com/articles/coronavirus-pandemic-could-elevate-esg-factors-11585167518)[https://www.morningstar.com/articles/961765/sustainable-fund-flows-in-2019-smash-previous-records](https://www.morningstar.com/articles/961765/sustainable-fund-flows-in-2019-smash-previous-records) 3[https://www.morningstar.com/articles/977328/despite-the-downturn-us-sustainable-funds-notch-a-record-quarter-for-flows](https://www.morningstar.com/articles/977328/despite-the-downturn-us-sustainable-funds-notch-a-record-quarter-for-flows) By clicking the links above, you will be redirected to websites maintained by third parties. Dana Large Cap Equity Fund top-ten holdings as of March 31, 2020: Microsoft Corp (2.70%), Apple, Inc. (2.66%), Intel Corp (2.43%), Amazon.com, Inc. (2.34%), Alphabet Inc. Class A (2.32%), LAM Research Corp. (2.28%), Walmart, Inc. (2.27%), Merck & Co, Inc. (2.20%), T-Mobile, Inc. (2.15%), Visa, Inc. (2.15%) Dana Small Cap Equity Fund top-ten holdings as of March 31, 2020: Five9, Inc. (2.52%), Southwest Gas Corp (2.43%), Horizon Therapeutics (2.25%), Emergent BioSolutions, Inc. (2.24%), Qualys, Inc. (2.22%), Coherus BioSciences, Inc. (2.19%), Rapid7, Inc. (2.17%), BioTelemetry, Inc. (2.13%), Repligen Corp (2.12%), Chesapeake Utilities Corp (2.10%) Dana Epiphany ESG Equity Fund top-ten holdings as of March 31, 2020: Microsoft Corp (2.72%), Apple, Inc. (2.68%), Alphabet, Inc. Class C (2.67%), Amazon.Com, Inc. (2.43%), Intel Corp (2.23%), General Mills, Inc (2.22%) LAM Research Corp (2.16%), Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc. (2.12), Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. (2.10%), Pepsico, Inc. (2.07%) Tags: [Epiphany ESG Fund](https://insights.danainvestment.com/blog/tag/epiphany-esg-fund), [ESG](https://insights.danainvestment.com/blog/tag/esg) [Back to Blog](https://insights.danainvestment.com/blog) - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) ## Related Articles ## [Pandemic Could Accelerate ESG Interest](https://insights.danainvestment.com/blog/pandemic-could-accelerate-esg-interest) With fund inflows nearly quadrupling to a record $20.6 billion in 2019¹, ESG interest has clearly... [Read More](https://insights.danainvestment.com/blog/pandemic-could-accelerate-esg-interest) ## [Evaluating Active Managers’ Recent Performance and Downside Participation](https://insights.danainvestment.com/blog/evaluating-active-managers-recent-performance-and-downside-participation) In S&P Dow Jones Indices’ most-recent annual report of active managers’ relative performance... [Read More](https://insights.danainvestment.com/blog/evaluating-active-managers-recent-performance-and-downside-participation) ## [Dana Pairs Disruptive Growth with Durable Income in Twin ETF Engine](https://insights.danainvestment.com/blog/dana-pairs-disruptive-growth-with-durable-income-in-twin-etf-engine) Key Takeaways Equity allocation models built for slower market cycles can delay exposure to... [Read More](https://insights.danainvestment.com/blog/dana-pairs-disruptive-growth-with-durable-income-in-twin-etf-engine) [![Dana investment Advisors](https://insights.danainvestment.com/hs-fs/hubfs/raw_assets/public/DanaInvestment_May2023/images/footer%20logo.png?width=300&height=76&name=footer%20logo.png "Dana investment Advisors")](https://www.danainvestment.com/) - - © 2026 Dana Investment|[Privacy Policy](https://www.danainvestment.com/privacy-policy) [![Ultra](https://insights.danainvestment.com/hubfs/raw_assets/public/DanaInvestment_May2023/images/bottom-image.svg "Ultra")](https://ultradesignagency.com/) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Dana Funds Investment Team", "url" : "https://insights.danainvestment.com/blog/author/dana-funds-investment-team" }, "dateModified" : "2020-05-07T21:33:28.377Z", "datePublished" : "2020-05-07T21:33:28.000Z", "headline" : "Clearing Up the ABCs of ESG", "image" : [ "https://insights.danainvestment.com/hubfs/Blog%20Images/Dana-Blog-76-LinkedIn.png" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://insights.danainvestment.com/blog/clearing-up-the-abcs-of-esg", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://insights.danainvestment.com/hubfs/Logos/Dana-Investment-Adisors-Logo.png" }, "name" : "Dana Investment Advisors" } } ```