ING will begin offering the ESGManagers Portfolios to participants in some of its definedcontribution retirement plans as part of an ongoing effort toprovide customers with socially responsible investment options.

The ESG Manager Portfolios were launched in 2010 by Pax World Management, subadvised byMorningstar Associates. They're a series of non-proprietary,multi-manager risk-based asset allocation funds that integrateenvironmental, social and governance factors into their investmentanalysis and decision making.

ING is the first defined contribution provider to offer thesefunds to workplace retirement plan investors. Previously, theportfolios were only available through financial advisors.Initially, the portfolios will be available to plan sponsors andparticipants in ING's education, government, healthcare andnot-for-profit market segments.

The ESG Manager Portfolios represent a unique, one-stop solutionfor capturing returns from socially responsible investments. Theyconsist of four funds that follow a sustainable approach: ESGManagers Aggressive Growth Portfolio, ESG Managers GrowthPortfolio, ESG Managers Moderate Portfolio, and ESG ManagersConservative Portfolio.

Pax World serves as the investment advisor to ESG ManagersPortfolios, while Morningstar Associates is charged with managerselection, asset allocation and portfolio construction andmonitoring. Managers selected by Morningstar Associates to providesub-advisory services include a dozen of the best-known names inthe sustainable-investing industry.

According to Morningstar, assets in socially responsible market funds havegrown almost 150 percent since 2000. This is a significant outpaceover overall mutual fund asset growth.