December 2019 Newsletter
News & Commentaries by Ron Robins
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Latest Podcasts:
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My latest podcast: US Budget’s Renewable Energy Winners. And More… “Who are the US budget’s renewable energy stock and ETF winners and losers? Using MSCI and proprietary methodologies Investor’s Business Daily creates its best 50 ESG companies ranking.
New PIMCO ESG money market fund. Innovative and only Catholic long/short mutual fund. New ethical and sustainable robo advisors. My 1-hour investor tutorial reduced in price! And more…”
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‘Fooling ourselves’ to focus on ‘amorphous’ social investing factors, says SEC Commissioner Peirce. “‘The notion that we can come together and we can get our regulator to focus on an amorphous set of qualities other than the long-term financial value of a corporation, I think we’re fooling ourselves,’ she said Tuesday on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street.”
COMMENTARY] Commissioner Peirce clearly represents President Trump’s views in this area. I do realize that there’s a lot of greenwashing going on. However, to try to determine exactly what is or is not ESG is better left to the market. I say to her how about defining ‘value’ or ‘growth’ investing while she’s at it!
‘Fooling ourselves’ to focus on ‘amorphous’ social investing factors, says SEC Commissioner Peirce, by Pippa Stevens, December 17, 2019, CNBC, USA.
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10 Sustainable Investing Stories of 2019. “We examine the developments and consider their implications for 2020.”
COMMENTARY] An excellent overview of what happened in US sustainable investing in 2019. Dr. Hale goes from the immediacy of climate change, an analysis of proxy voting, concerns around the SEC rolling back proxy votes, to sustainable investment flows and more.
10 Sustainable Investing Stories of 2019, by Jon Hale, December 12, 2019, Morningstar, USA.
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Conflicting ESG Ratings Are Confusing Sustainable Investors. “There are many ways to score a company on environmental, social, and governance criteria, making the results difficult to compare.”
COMMENTARY] Company ESG ratings by the leading ESG rating firms show marked differences. All ethical and sustainable investors should read this article.
Conflicting ESG Ratings Are Confusing Sustainable Investors, by Jacqueline Poh, December 11, 2019, Bloomberg, USA.
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Nasdaq Sustainable Bond Network [NSBN] Builds a Framework for a Sustainable Future. “Nasdaq formed the first Sustainable Bonds Market in 2015, and NSBN enhances the sustainable bonds’ investment process, allowing investors to source detailed information on sustainable bonds for product due-diligence, selection and monitoring.”
COMMENTARY] This is a much-needed market development for trading green bonds.
Nasdaq Sustainable Bond Network [NSBN] Builds a Framework for a Sustainable Future, by MarketInsite, December 10, 2019, USA.
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Green bonds set for shake up as EU agrees rules for sustainable financial products. “The $200 billion green bond market is set for a shake up after the European Union on Thursday reached a deal on a new set of rules governing which financial products can be called ‘green’ and ‘sustainable’.”
COMMENTARY] It’s good to see some standardization in the definition of green bonds. I hope that these standards will give rise to similar standards globally. That will help all investors.
Green bonds set for shake up as EU agrees rules for sustainable financial products, by Jonas Ekblom, December 5, 2019, Reuters, Belgium.
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Our (Morningstar) Sustainability Rating Methodology Got an Upgrade. “The enhanced version differs from its predecessor in three ways: First, it is focused on material ESG risk, rather than on a broader array of ESG issues, some of which may not be financially material to investors. Second, company ESG risks can now be compared across industries, rather than only within industry peer groups. And third–the new rating is simple and transparent, no longer requiring a complicated calculation.”
COMMENTARY] The new ratings’ regime is a terrific upgrade from the previous one! Ethical and sustainable investors will be well served by these changes.
Our Sustainability Rating Methodology Got an Upgrade, by Jon Hale, December 2, 2019, Morningstar, USA.
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Featured Book
The Ethical Investor…s Handbook: How to Grow Your Money Without Wrecking the Earth, by Morten Strange, Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Pte Ltd., 2019.
…Strange is articulate, has a great sense of understanding of the subject and a good turn of phrase, combined with the financial rigour, to tackle one of the key challenges facing investors who are not convinced by climate change … I would thoroughly recommend this book!…… Lawrence Gosling Editor-in-chief, WhatInvestment (UK).
