Robeco - Sustainable Investing Outlook: Holding the note
We expect more capital for climate transition strategies, with 2026 likely to focus on physical climate risks.
Sustainable investing (SI) in 2025 hummed a muted tune, with modest net outflows from labeled sustainable open-ended funds and ETFs over the first nine months. The overall trend has been broadly flat for nearly two years (excluding a few exceptional movements) and we see no clear catalysts to change the tempo in 2026. Fund launches continued, at a declining pace, but market growth lifted total sustainable AuM to USD 3.7 trillion by the end of September. [1]
[1] Morningstar Global Sustainable Fund Flows: Q3 2025 in Review
Key takeaways
- We expect capital allocation to shift to climate transition strategies and managing weather-related risks.
- Sustainable investors are likely to engage more in an expanded defense industry value chain including infrastructure.
- A potential area of strength is thematic investing, including ETFs focused on clean energy. Green bond issues are slowing.
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July 2026
Please note that these are the views of Robeco and should not be interpreted as the views of RL360.