ING will begin offering the ESG Managers Portfolios to participants in some of its defined contribution retirement plans as part of an ongoing effort to provide customers with socially responsible investment options.

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

ING is the first defined contribution provider to offer these funds to workplace retirement plan investors. Previously, the portfolios were only available through financial advisors. Initially, the portfolios will be available to plan sponsors and participants in ING's education, government, healthcare and not-for-profit market segments.

The ESG Manager Portfolios represent a unique, one-stop solution for capturing returns from socially responsible investments. They consist of four funds that follow a sustainable approach: ESG Managers Aggressive Growth Portfolio, ESG Managers Growth Portfolio, ESG Managers Moderate Portfolio, and ESG Managers Conservative Portfolio.

Pax World serves as the investment advisor to ESG Managers Portfolios, while Morningstar Associates is charged with manager selection, asset allocation and portfolio construction and monitoring. Managers selected by Morningstar Associates to provide sub-advisory services include a dozen of the best-known names in the sustainable-investing industry.

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