Climate change exposure and mutual fund ownership

Using a sample of U.S. firms and a text-based measure of managerial and analyst attention to climate change issues during earnings calls, we document a negative association between firms’ climate change exposure and changes in U.S. mutual fund ownership, suggesting U.S. mutual funds’ cautious investment approach to climate change. We further provide causal evidence for this relation using the staggered adoptions of state-level climate change adaptation plans and renewable portfolio standards. Additional analyses show that our finding is driven by climate-related opportunities and regulatory risks, rather than physical risks. Changes in U.S. mutual fund ownership reflect concerns over firms’ transition risks and stock performance pressures. Extending the analysis to non-U.S. mutual funds, we find similar results among funds domiciled in countries with strong environmental norms.