Amid the market turmoil brought about by the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, funds focused on buying stocks that score well on environmental, social, and governance-related metrics proved to be a safer harbor for investors. These sustainable funds had an impressive year in 2020: Three out of four sustainable equity funds beat their Morningstar Category average. And even though the first quarter of 2021 was a challenging one for the performance of sustainable investments, the long-term investment case for ESG remains encouraging: The fact that ESG screens have led to resilience in recent down markets, driven by the relationship between sustainability and attributes like corporate quality and financial health, supports the view that ESG risk is material.