News & Commentaries by Ron Robins

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Does ethical investment withhold capital from those that most need it? Charlie Robertson of Renaissance Capital, an investment bank, reckons ESG risks becoming code for something else: an excuse for investors to put all of their money in Scandinavia. Prosperous havens rate highly on the criteria ESG investors employ. By contrast, the emerging economies that interest Mr Robertson do badly.”

[COMMENTARY]This is an interesting argument, particularly regarding government debt. However, the case could be made that poorly performing governments would be encouraged to perform increasingly better on ESG related parameters to gain lower cost funding. It would also help to improve the quality of life for such countries’ citizens.
Does ethical investment withhold capital from those that most need it? October 25, 2018, The Economist, UK.

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Canadian RI Assets Surpass $2 Trillion: Canadian RI Trends Report. “$2.13 trillion in RI assets under management (AUM); 41.6% growth in RI AUM over a two-year period; RI represents 50.6% of Canada′s investment industry, up from 37.8% two years ago; Retail RI mutual fund assets increased from $8.26 billion to $11.07 billion, or 34% over two years.”

[COMMENTARY]Canadian responsible investing continues momentous growth with institutions. Retail sales growth at 34% is good and growing significantly faster than the 20% in mutual fund assets in those two years between 2015 and 2017.
Canadian RI Assets Surpass $2 Trillion: Canadian RI Trends Report, press release, October 24, 2018, Responsible Investment Association, Canada.

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BlackRock stakes claim on ‘sustainable investing′ revolution. “Fink forecasts such ETF assets will rise from $25bn to over $400bn in a decade… ’We are going to see evidence over the long term that sustainable investing is going to be at least equivalent to core investments. I believe personally it will be higher,’ Larry Fink.”

[COMMENTARY]Larry Fink is restating what was obvious to me some forty years ago–that ESG, ethical, sustainable investing, no matter how you describe this ’values’ approach to investing, would inevitably become mainstream. It’s great news to see the chairman and CEO of the world’s largest asset manager arriving at this conclusion too.
BlackRock stakes claim on ‘sustainable investing′ revolution, by Peter Smith, October 22, 2018, FT, UK.

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Only 6% of Older Investors Are Familiar With ESG Investing: Survey. “Only 40% of investors older than 60 were familiar with values-based investing, compared with 84% of millennials, and a mere 6% of senior investors knew what environmental, social and governance investing involved, versus 80% of millennials.”

[COMMENTARY]These are unsurprising results. There are more interesting findings in this survey of particular interest to advisors.
Only 6% of Older Investors Are Familiar With ESG Investing: Survey, by Michael Fischer, October 19, 2018, ThinkAdvisor, USA.

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2018 Disruptive ETF Virtual Summit Live Update: ESG Investing Poll [among financial advisors] Shows Mixed Results. “ESG investing is still looking to gain more broad acceptance from investors as the space continues to expand with a greater outreach… Very interested and want ESG compliant portfolios–23.6%; Want ESG compliant portfolios but only if there is no extra cost–33%.”

[COMMENTARY]Nothing new here, but further confirmation that interest in ESG is gaining among financial advisors.
ESG Investing Poll Shows Mixed Results, by Ben Hernandez, October 18, 2018, ETF Trends, USA.

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Ethics & Trust in Finance Prize. “It aims to encourage high-quality management of banking, insurance and financial services based on trust and integrity. Launched in 2006 and now in its 7th Edition, the global competition for the Prize for Innovative Ideas for Ethics & Trust in Finance is open to young people, aged 35 years or younger, from throughout the world.

The Prize has won recognition from the International Monetary Fund [IMF], which co-hosted the award ceremony for the 5th edition of the global Ethics in Finance Prize… CFA, Euroclear and Swift/Swift Institute are actively supporting the Prize and promote it to their staff and members and the wider financial services industry.

Ideas for Ethics & Trust in Finance [Prize] is open to young people, aged 35 years or younger, from throughout the world… The deadline for handling in the final paper is set to 31 of May 2019.”

[COMMENTARY]I have supported this prize since its inception and highly encourage anyone eligible to participate!
Ethics & Trust in Finance Prize.

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[UK] Investors unwilling to sacrifice profit for ethics. “The VCT provider surveyed 250 individual investors aged between 40 and 80 with household earnings of …125,000. Albion’s research found just 30 per cent of those surveyed would be willing to sacrifice some investment return in exchange for pursuing a more socially responsible investment strategy. A total of 43 per cent said they would consider using SRI Investment products.”

[COMMENTARY]Note the age and income with respect to the surveyed group. This demographic generally appears less interested in SRI than younger cohorts.
Investors unwilling to sacrifice profit for ethics, by David Thorpe, October 15, 2018, FT Advisor, UK.

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Regulators are Taking a Tougher Stance on ESG Disclosure a New Study Reveals. “In the last three years alone Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)-related regulations – grew by more than 100 percent across the United Kingdom (UK), The United States of America (US), and Canada, indicating that ESG regulatory landscape is evolving fast… ESG issues require mainstream attention.”

[COMMENTARY]ESG issues have become mainstream in the investment world and in most industries. Regulators are playing catch-up.
Regulators are Taking a Tougher Stance on ESG Disclosure a New Study Reveals, press release, October 11, 2018, Datamaran, UK.

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Half of [UK] advisers talk about SRI with millennials. “More than half of advisers are very likely to recommend a sustainable and responsible investing (SRI) fund to millennials, according to the latest FTAdviser Talking Point poll.”

[COMMENTARY]This is promising. These advisors might just find many of their older clients are interested too!
Half of [UK] advisers talk about SRI with millennials, by Saloni Sardana, October 10, 2018, FT Advisor, UK.

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Which Countries Have the Most Sustainability-Focused Companies? “Morningstar’s sustainability atlas rates the stock indexes of 46 countries for sustainability, ESG and carbon risks.”

[COMMENTARY]This fascinating new approach to finding companies with a sustainable orientation could interest many investors.
Which Countries Have the Most Sustainability-Focused Companies? By Bernice Napach, October 8, 2018, ThinkAdvisor, USA.

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7 Myths About Millennials and Investing, Busted. “The FINRA Investor Education Foundation and the CFA Institute have just released a new study that should probably be required reading for any advisor wanting to attract millennial clients.”

[COMMENTARY]The study finds millennials are overconfident about their financial affairs and wary of the financial industry, among many other points of interest to investment professionals. Full report here.
7 Myths About Millennials and Investing, Busted, by Bernice Napach, October 5, 2015, ThinkAdvisor, USA.

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Advisers Slow to Respond to ESG Investing Demand. “’Providing advisers with materials that can be used to educate clients about a firm′s approach to ESG investing is crucial in increasing adviser adoption,’ says Ed Louis, a senior analyst at Cerulli Associates…

Forty-five percent of U.S. households prefer an environmental, social and governance (ESG) approach to investing, Cerulli Associates learned in a survey. Among those between the ages of 30 and 39, this increases to 64%, and for those younger than 30, it is 67%.”

[COMMENTARY]Another study citing great interest in ESG investing among retail clients, yet advisors lagging in advising on ESG investment products.
Advisers Slow to Respond to ESG Investing Demand, by Lee Barney, October 5, 2018, PlanAdvisor, USA.

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Institutional support grows for ESG, political spending transparency, report shows. “Based on the analysis of 4,090 shareholder meetings held in the first half of 2018, nearly 29% of institutional investors supported such proposals, a new high compared to 26% in 2017, 21% in 2016, and 18% in 2015. The numbers appear in stark contrast to the support of retail investors, only 16% of which supported such proposals in the first half of 2018.”

[COMMENTARY]Here we have another example of institutional participation in matters concerning ESG significantly exceeding that of retail investors.
Institutional support grows for ESG, political spending transparency, report shows, by Rob Kozlowski, October 3, 2018, Pensions & Investments, USA.

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More Than Just Doing Good, ESG Investments Help Manage Volatility. “A report by State Street Global Investor′s SPDR Practice Management Team showed that 69 percent of ESG investors said the investments helped them manage volatility. In fact, that was one reason they chose to invest that way—67 percent said lower volatility and 54 percent said lower downside risk were important reasons they incorporated ESG into their investment process. Overall returns haven′t suffered as a result, either.”

[COMMENTARY]ESG investors are echoing what the research is finding on ESG oriented portfolios.
More Than Just Doing Good, ESG Investments Help Manage Volatility, by Wealth Management, October 2, 2018, USA.

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Responsible Investing Accelerates as Investment Merits Gain Traction, RBC Global Asset Management Survey Finds. “Ninety percent of institutional investors believe environmental, social and governance (ESG) integrated portfolios are likely to perform as well or better than non-ESG integrated portfolios, according to a new global survey by RBC Global Asset Management (RBC GAM).”

[COMMENTARY]Finally, it seems that most institutional investors now understand that an ESG orientation doesn’t mean poorer returns. We’ve come a long way!
Responsible Investing Accelerates as Investment Merits Gain Traction, RBC Global Asset Management Survey Finds, press release, RBC GAM, Canada.

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Do companies with bad ESG scores make better investments. “In the US, poorly-rated companies that were upgraded generated the strongest rewards. Those stocks with CCC ESG rating, but eventually received a two-notch upgrade, outperformed the S&P 500 Index by more than 5% in the 12 months following the upgrade.”

[COMMENTARY]It’s a case of looking for the ’turnaround’ ESG situation. Seems like it a new strategy that can work with the right analysis. Perhaps more investors will now use it.
Do companies with bad ESG scores make better investments, by Shannen Wog, October 1, 2018, Citywire Selector, UK.

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