“The European Green Deal has the potential to play a key role not only in ensuring this recovery in the short term but also in addressing long-term climate change threats. The launch of the ‘Fit for 55’ package this week is expected to mark an important step in overhauling climate policies and enabling the EU…

“Credit-rating agencies say they can discipline companies that behave badly, and they have in some cases, but research reveals negligible progress.” [COMMENTARY]Although most investors profess a concern for the environment while investing, this study might suggest they really don’t. I’d like to see other studies of this kind to see if the findings from the…

“Sustainable investing is red-hot. For the most recent evidence, look at last week’s acquisition news: Affiliated Managers Group paid $600 million for a majority stake in privately held Parnassus Investments, which sent Affiliated’s stock (ticker: AMG) up as much as 7% on the day the deal was announced.” [COMMENTARY]Many of the ethical and SRI pioneer…

“US institutional investors focus more on ESG data and social factors than their global counterparts, according to a new study by global asset manager Schroders.” [COMMENTARY] The survey results support the findings of other similar studies.Schroders Institutional Investor Study 2021: On ESG, US Investors Focus on Data, Social Impact, press release, July 6, 2021, Schroders/Business…

“With the Securities and Exchange Commission resolute in its efforts to establish new disclosure requirements related to environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks, companies appear increasingly resigned to some measure of mandatory reporting. But these companies haven’t yet given up: in an effort to contain litigation risk, they continue to press the SEC to show…

“Every year since 2002, Corporate Knights has evaluated Canadian companies with annual revenue of over $1 billion on a growing number of key performance indicators. This year’s Best 50 Corporate Citizens were evaluated against 24 key performance indicators, including the clean revenue result for each company, which is percentile-ranked against industry peers and weighted at…

“Many investors are attracted to ESG securities on promises of high returns, but they are ‘misguided, Wharton finance professorLuke Taylorsaid on theWharton Business Daily radio show on SiriusXM. (Listen to the podcast here.) The past performance of ESG securities is not a reliable indicator of returns in the future, especially when past returns were largely…

“Only 51% of companies back up their reports on sustainability with assurance, a study of 1,400 companies by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) found, warning that low-quality assurance is an ’emerging investor protection and financial stability risk.’” [COMMENTARY] I’ve had a big concern for over four decades. It’s that when ethical investing finally gets…

“Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation that would require public companies to report environmental, social and governance (ESG) metrics… The bill, simply titled the ESG Disclosure Simplification Act of 2021, comes on the heels of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) decision to open public comments on climate change disclosures to…

“Boards and investors may not always see eye to eye on metrics and weights.” [COMMENTARY] This is all part of the evolution of corporate ESG. It will certainly be messy for a while.Professionals see evolving ESG links to executive compensation, by Ben Maiden, June 24, 2021, Corporate Secretary, USA.

“By a razor thin vote of 215 to 214, the House of Representatives passed the ESG Disclosure Simplification Act of 2021. The Act would require public companies to disclose in any proxy or consent solicitation material for an annual meeting of the shareholders… “ [COMMENTARY] This is good news, though I believe it still has…

“Solar energy is a rapidly growing market, which should be good news for the environment. Unfortunately there’s a catch. The replacement rate of solar panels is faster than expected and given the current very high recycling costs, there’s a real danger that all used panels will go straight to landfill (along with equally hard-to-recycle…” [COMMENTARY]…

“The SEC is gathering public input about corporate climate reporting. The comment request is one of several actions the agency has taken over the past several months to elevate ESG oversight, includingestablishing a climate and ESG enforcement task force… In a June 3 speech, Roisman said the thrust of climate disclosure seems to be on…

“Climate-friendly debt served as a better protection against large market fluctuations than gold, as well as performing better than other environmental, social, and governance investments, according to new research from Imran Yousaf of Pakistan’s Air University, Muhammed Tahir Suleman of the University of Otago in New Zealand, and Riza Demirer of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.”…

“Texas has joined a group of states proposing legislation that would ban private investment management companies that focus on sustainable investing, to the ire of the oil and gas industry. Attorney J. Carl Cecere argues politicizing state-pension investment strategy is bad for pensioners and violates the First Amendment.” [COMMENTARY] I agree with the writer. Not…

“With an array of data providers and indices to choose from, third party ESG verifiers have stepped into the market to help screen information available and offer some clarity. In Switzerland, one such company is Geneva-based sustainable investment advisory firm Conser. Founded by Angela de Wolff (also one of the co-founders of Sustainable Finance Geneva),…

“During a virtual session Monday, Kristen Sullivan, CPA, CGMA, a partner with Deloitte & Touche LLP and the firm’s Americas region sustainability services leader, gave an overview of the concerns public companies, directors, and auditors have about the new regulatory focus on ESG disclosures. To date, ESG disclosures have tended to be separate from regulatory…

“These activities (ESG, SRI, and impact investing) form a coherent challenge to the limitations of modern portfolio theory. MPT, the dominant investment paradigm in the world, focuses on diversification to minimize risk.” [COMMENTARY] Yes, MPT is upended by our emphasis on ESG, sustainability, and ethics!The Theory at the Heart of Modern Portfolios Is Leading Investors…

“We observe that firms engaged in more CSR activities outperform other firms. This suggests that CSR plays a positive role in determining shareholder value, particularly for an emerging market where minority shareholder rights are weak. Collaborating with our main finding, we further find that governance metrics play a significant role.” [COMMENTARY] This study was done…

“MSCI, FTSE Russell, S&P Dow Jones and Bloomberg could see their dominance of the indexing industry threatened by sustainability specialists, according to a new report.” [COMMENTARY] When a new industry takes shape, there are always new entrants and winners. It’ll likely be the same as ESG investing matures. Who will be the winners?Indexing Giants ‘Should…