Sustainable investing has moved from a niche ethical preference to a mainstream allocation strategy, with global sustainable assets under management estimated at US$30.3 trillion in 2022, following US$35.3 trillion in 2020 (Global Sustainable Investment Alliance [GSIA], 2021, 2023). Yet whether Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) integration genuinely enhances corporate financial performance as opposed to merely signalling legitimacy remains contested, and the evidence base is skewed heavily toward developed markets. This paper addresses that imbalance by examining the ESG financial performance relationship across the eleven-member BRICS+ bloc (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia). Using a systematic, PRISMA-informed narrative synthesis of peer-reviewed empirical studies published between 2018 and 2026, triangulated with index-level data from MSCI ESG benchmarks, country-level institutional data from the World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, and industry data from the Global Sustainable Investment Alliance, the study evaluates the direction, strength and consistency of the ESG–performance link. The synthesis of fourteen core empirical studies indicates a statistically positive association between ESG performance and accounting-based measures of profitability (return on assets and return on equity) in a clear majority of studies, while the relationship with market-based measures (Tobin's Q, stock returns) is considerably weaker and, in several cases, negative or statistically insignificant. Index-level comparisons further suggest that ESG-screened benchmarks in Brazil, India, China and South Africa have not underperformed their conventional counterparts on a risk-adjusted basis, and in some periods have outperformed them, while exhibiting somewhat lower volatility. The relationship is moderated by institutional quality, state ownership, and the maturity of national ESG disclosure regimes, which vary substantially across the expanded bloc. The paper concludes that sustainable investment in BRICS+ markets is best understood as a risk-mitigation and legitimacy-building mechanism whose financial payoff is real but heterogeneous, contingent on measurement choice and institutional context, rather than a uniform source of outperformance. Implications for investors, corporate managers and policymakers are discussed, along with the limitations inherent in a secondary-data design and directions for future firm-level panel research.
ESG investing; sustainable finance; corporate financial performance; BRICS+; emerging markets; corporate governance; MSCI ESG indices; institutional theory.
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