“At a pivotal time of increasing client interest and adoption of social investing that is still confronting ongoing misconceptions and push back from some corners of government oversight and advisor skepticism, the Institute is happy to announce a new, much needed, professional research and thought leadership based resource covering the full social landscape of ESG,…

“A group of five global sustainability leaders that set environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards will work together to develop a common framework for corporate reporting, the firms said Friday. The lack of consistent sustainability disclosures has made assessing companies confusing and difficult, according to a joint report released Friday from the environmental nonprofit CDP…

“Companies that issue green debt aren’t necessarily reducing their carbon emissions, underscoring the need for firms to have an environmental rating, according to a report from the Bank for International Settlements.” [COMMENTARY] The reasoning behind green bonds is that the proceeds are used for green projects. Thus, by definition, a company’s green-sustainable activities should be…

“A group of five global sustainability leaders that set environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards will work together to develop a common framework for corporate reporting, the firms said Friday. The lack of consistent sustainability disclosures has made assessing companies confusing and difficult, according to a joint report released Friday from the environmental nonprofit CDP…

“Companies that issue green debt aren’t necessarily reducing their carbon emissions, underscoring the need for firms to have an environmental rating, according to a report from the Bank for International Settlements.” [COMMENTARY] The reasoning behind green bonds is that the proceeds are used for green projects. Thus, by definition, a company’s green-sustainable activities should be…

“One agency’s A+ is another’s ‘laggard’ — and neither links to financial performance. Hybrid metrics will change everything, argue Harvard Business School’s Mark Kramer and leaders in the shared-value movement.” [COMMENTARY] It’ll be interesting to see if this concept proves itself. It’s an appealing idea. I suspect the mathematics involved could be considerable.Where ESG Ratings…

“One agency’s A+ is another’s ‘laggard’ — and neither links to financial performance. Hybrid metrics will change everything, argue Harvard Business School’s Mark Kramer and leaders in the shared-value movement.” [COMMENTARY] It’ll be interesting to see if this concept proves itself. It’s an appealing idea. I suspect the mathematics involved could be considerable.Where ESG Ratings…

“The development of ‘sustainable’ government bond funds may be hitting a road bump as fund managers fear being overly critical of western government policies, notably those of the United States.” [COMMENTARY] This reminds me of the US DOL’s missive about trying to restrict the application of ESG in pension funds. It’s so backward-looking!ESG Bond Funds…

“The development of ‘sustainable’ government bond funds may be hitting a road bump as fund managers fear being overly critical of western government policies, notably those of the United States.” [COMMENTARY] This reminds me of the US DOL’s missive about trying to restrict the application of ESG in pension funds. It’s so backward-looking!ESG Bond Funds…

“The data used to measure a company’s compliance with environmental, social and governance (ESG) guidelines is inconsistent and leads to misleading results. Moreover, when teams at the same company manage comparable ESG and non-ESG funds, the former more often underperforms the latter.” [COMMENTARY] Do all analysts come to the same conclusions when reviewing a company’s…

“The data used to measure a company’s compliance with environmental, social and governance (ESG) guidelines is inconsistent and leads to misleading results. Moreover, when teams at the same company manage comparable ESG and non-ESG funds, the former more often underperforms the latter.” [COMMENTARY] Do all analysts come to the same conclusions when reviewing a company’s…

“EU stocks with higher ESG scores significant enhanced returns. “We observe that, for EU firms, there is a significant negative relationship between the market value and the excess return, suggesting that smaller EU companies generate higher returns on average,” added thestudy. In contrast, for US and other Asian firms there was a significant negative relationship…

“EU stocks with higher ESG scores significant enhanced returns. “We observe that, for EU firms, there is a significant negative relationship between the market value and the excess return, suggesting that smaller EU companies generate higher returns on average,” added thestudy. In contrast, for US and other Asian firms there was a significant negative relationship…

“‘These results suggest that innovation-related assets rather that social capital investments offer the greater immunity to sudden, unanticipated market declines,’ the authors wrote.” (COMMENTARY] I believe I understand the study’s main contention. However, ESG funds generally are full of ‘innovation-related assets.’ Such assets frequently have high ESG ratings too! That’s why the ESG funds outperformed.Academics…

“More than 95% of the firms, groups and individuals who submitted comment letters or signed petitions in response to the Department of Labor’s proposal on environmental, social and governance investments in ERISA plans opposed the initiative, an analysis published Thursday from several investor organizations and financial industry firms found.” [COMMENTARY] I suspect that despite the…

“‘These results suggest that innovation-related assets rather that social capital investments offer the greater immunity to sudden, unanticipated market declines,’ the authors wrote.” (COMMENTARY] I believe I understand the study’s main contention. However, ESG funds generally are full of ‘innovation-related assets.’ Such assets frequently have high ESG ratings too! That’s why the ESG funds outperformed.Academics…

“More than 95% of the firms, groups and individuals who submitted comment letters or signed petitions in response to the Department of Labor’s proposal on environmental, social and governance investments in ERISA plans opposed the initiative, an analysis published Thursday from several investor organizations and financial industry firms found.” [COMMENTARY] I suspect that despite the…

“Five years on since the SDGs were launched, an increasing number of investors are putting capital to work to earn returns alongside helping solve global scourges like the climate crisis, poverty and inequality.” [COMMENTARY] Investments that align with the UN’s SDGs that make good returns are the ideal of ethical and sustainable investing!Investors continue to…

“Five years on since the SDGs were launched, an increasing number of investors are putting capital to work to earn returns alongside helping solve global scourges like the climate crisis, poverty and inequality.” [COMMENTARY] Investments that align with the UN’s SDGs that make good returns are the ideal of ethical and sustainable investing!Investors continue to…

“Barclays’ Quantitative Portfolio Strategy (‘QPS’) team finds that ESG-labelled funds do not necessarily provide more ESG exposure than conventional funds.” [COMMENTARY] This is interesting research. Of course, everything is in the details and I’d love to get some expert ESG opinion on Barclays’ findings.Barclays Launches Systematic Study of ESG-Focussed US Equity Funds, August 13, 2020,…