Title: The impact of expenses on the return of ESG and traditional mutual funds in India

Authors: Bhakti Agarwal; Shailesh Rastogi

Addresses: Symbiosis Institute of Business Management Nagpur, Symbiosis International (Deemed to be University), Pune, India ' Symbiosis Institute of Business Management Nagpur, Symbiosis International (Deemed to be University), Pune, India

Abstract: This research endeavours to explore the relationship between the net asset value (NAV) and the total expenses ratio (TER) of both traditional and environmental, social, and governance mutual fund schemes in the Indian context. The study utilises a dataset spanning three years, encompassing nine traditional and nine ESG mutual fund schemes. The empirical analysis is conducted using panel data econometrics. The finding of this investigation reveals that the TER significantly and negatively impacts the NAV of both traditional and ESG funds. Additionally, this research highlights that traditional funds carry higher risk profiles in comparison to ESG funds, as evidenced by the greater variability in TER among traditional funds as opposed to ESG funds. This research has significant implications for fund managers and investors. The comparative analysis of traditional and ESG mutual fund schemes is an underexplored area of research, underscoring the uniqueness and novel contribution of the present study.

Keywords: traditional fund; ESG fund; net asset values; NAVs; total expenses ratio; TER; mutual fund schemes; India.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSE.2025.147202

International Journal of Sustainable Economy, 2025 Vol.17 No.3, pp.298 - 313

Received: 16 Oct 2023
Accepted: 10 Feb 2024
Published online: 11 Jul 2025 *

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