“These actions will inform the company’s reputation as an employer and [of] its brand value for many years to come,” said John Streuer, CEO of Calvert Research & Management, the responsible investing unit of Eaton Vance (EV).

“Every investor I talk to, every company I talk to, [shows] that what we easily refer to as the ‘S’ [in ESG] is going to become a lot more prominent,” says Martin Whittaker, CEO of JUST Capital, which promotes stakeholder capitalism and created the index behind the Goldman Sachs JUST U.S. Large Cap Equity exchange-traded fund (JUST).

This is the latest development in the flood of interest in ESG, despite the bear market. Sustainable stocks and funds have outperformed during the recent selloff, partly because they were less exposed to energy, but also because ESG funds are perceived to have superior risk management.

Based on first quarter returns, sustainable funds were much more likely to appear in the top quartile or top half of their peer group in terms of performance than conventional funds, according to Morningstar.

Moreover, estimated net flows into the 314 sustainable open-end funds and ETFs eclipsed the previous record set in the fourth quarter, Morningstar says.

ESG covers a wide variety of factors that aren’t part of the typical financial metrics. For example, in a recent report, Morgan Stanley noted that “human capital management, corporate culture, and the treatment of customers are key factors in ESG investing.”

Data providers are rushing to supply the demand for numbers. Truvalue Labs flagged important trends to watch, including social impact response, which would highlight companies’ shifting operational activities. Among other things, it said it would closely observe employee health and safety, labor practices, access and affordability, product quality and safety, and supply chain management.

In a statement, Robert Fernandez, director of ESG research at Breckinridge Capital Advisors, said that after the crisis, “the market may take future tail risks more seriously,” or risks that will cause a greater market move than other events. In such scenarios, companies with “a clearly defined purpose and a prudently managed balance sheet, and where decisions are made with a broader set of stakeholders in mind are more likely to be sound, long-term investments.”

Companies are stepping up to commit to their biggest constituencies beyond their own stakeholders, including employees, suppliers, customers, and communities, during the crisis.

Fernandez said Breckinridge is seeking companies “that understand that a benign operating environment will not last forever.”

In a recent report, BofA Global Research said, “allocating resources to fight Covid-19 can foster employee & community goodwill. These ‘”S’ factors matter and can drive alpha.”

Such companies are more likely to have employee and community goodwill and thus “enhance brand and reputation—all of which have been critical drivers of performance in general and even more so recently.” BofA wrote. These may include donation of medical supplies, supporting the finances of partners in the supply chain or franchisees, accepting delayed payment, and providing free IT products for hospitals.

Such companies “will see greater loyalty from their staff and be more able to attract new recruits after the crisis. Conversely, staff may leave employers that they felt abandoned them in the crisis,” Katherine Davidson and Scott McLennan, fund managers at Schroders, recently wrote. “Every employee is also a consumer, so we could also see market share shift to companies that are deemed to have ‘done their bit’ during the crisis.”

“All these topics like inequality, health and impact on communities will be addressed in a much more aggressive way after the crisis,” says Philipp Aeby, CEO at RepRisk, which has a database on ESG risk.

Write to Leslie P. Norton at leslie.norton@barrons.com