Companies engage in ESG activities in order to achieve higher financial returns and to signal compliance in the market. The link between ESG and firm financial performance is still not well established because literature is infused with conflicting results and paradoxes. Through bibliometric analysis and meta-analysis, this study attempts to synthesize literature on ESG performance and its impact on performance. Bibliometric analysis highlights top scholars in the field, leading journals, institutions, countries, and an overview of highly cited articles in sustainable finance. This study presents three research streams: (1) Firm characteristics and ESG performance, (2) Corporate governance and ESG performance and (3) Financial materiality of ESG disclosure. Additionally, I conducted a meta-analysis in which I used random effects models to compute the effect sizes of each research stream. Finally, research trends and a future research framework are proposed based on the research gap identified in this review.