Enhancing the modern financial system and fully leveraging the “stabilizer” role of funds constitute a critical foundation for accelerating high-quality economic development. The accessibility of sufficient and accurate corporate information emerges as a pivotal determinant of fund investment behavior. This paper examines fund shareholding behavior using data from A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen (2015-2023), empirically investigating the informational effect of ESG rating divergence among eight domestic and international rating agencies. The findings reveal that ESG rating divergence significantly reduces fund ownership, particularly for firms with lower composite ESG market ratings. This suggests that rating divergence amplifies information uncertainty, elevates investment risks, and prompts funds to divest high-divergence stocks. Further subsample analyses indicate that ESG rating divergence among domestic agencies exerts a more pronounced negative impact on fund holdings. However, this adverse effect is mitigated for firms with more detailed ESG disclosures, those heavily held by funds, or those included in “pan ESG” fund portfolios. Mechanism testing demonstrates that ESG rating divergence reduces fund ownership by increasing analyst forecast errors/disagreements and raising audit complexity. Counterfactual inference confirms that ESG rating divergence heightens the difficulty of profitable fund investments, while fund investments help mitigate risks amid deteriorating information environments.This paper identifies the capital market informational effect of ESG rating divergence and uncovers potential pathways for fund capital reallocation into equities. It provides theoretical guidance for financial regulators to standardize due diligence requirements for ESG rating agencies and enhance the informational intermediation function of capital markets.