February 2025 Newsletter
News & Commentaries by Ron Robins
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New February Podcasts:
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2025 Clean 200 by Corporate Knights. “The Clean200 are the largest 200 public companies ranked by clean revenue. The ranking was first calculated on July 1, 2016, and publicly released on August 15, 2016, by Corporate Knights and As You Sow. The current list has been updated with data through January 29, 2025.”
[COMMENTARY] This is my all-time favourite company ranking because it ranks the quality and usefulness of a company’s output in terms of its applicability to human life and our environment. Generally, the companies in this ranking are also top financial performers — which is great for investors!
2025 Clean 200 by Corporate Knights, by CK staff, February 20, 2025, Corporate Knights, Canada.
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70% of CFOs believe sustainability investments will return more than traditional outlays. “In addition, 92% of 500 CFOs surveyed said they expect their organizations will significantly increase net investment in sustainability in 2025.”
[COMMENTARY] ESG is alive and well. It just goes by a different moniker: sustainability!
70% of CFOs believe sustainability investments will return more than traditional outlays, by Steve Kerch, February 18, 2025, Equitties.com, USA.
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Changes in SEC Guidance on Investor Engagement Present a New Challenge to Shareholders. “It’s clear from some SEC commissioners’ recent remarks that they aim to leave behind the era of the shareholder meeting as a battleground for social and political issues.”
[COMMENTARY] The new SEC investor guidance favours management at the expense of shareholders. Already financial giants like Vanguard and BlackRock are cancelling many interactions with companies.
Changes in SEC Guidance on Investor Engagement Present a New Challenge to Shareholders, by
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Investors more likely to opt for green labels over financial returns, fueling greenwashing concerns. “Vitalis, in collaboration with Dr. Olaf Weber and Dr. Vasundhara Saravade from the Faculty of Environment, discovered that investors are more likely to choose a bond labeled as ‘green’ over a non-green bond, even when the latter offers higher financial returns.”
[COMMENTARY] This is why — especially for green bonds — taxonomies and regulations are needed.
Investors more likely to opt for green labels over financial returns, fueling greenwashing concerns, by Rachel Doherty, Chantal Vallis, February 10, 2025, Phys.org, UK.
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The anti-DEI movement confronts an unlikely opponent: big banks. “JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs – along with retailer Costco – have set the stage for corporations to push back on the anti-DEI agenda. Will others join the resistance?”
[COMMENTARY] It makes sense for large companies, particularly, to have a hiring policy that reflects their clientele. Hence, DEI is relevant to their operations. To do otherwise may only harm their profitability.
The anti-DEI movement confronts an unlikely opponent: big banks, by Eugene Ellmen, February 12, 2025, Corporate Knights, Canada.
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ESG Investing Isn’t as Divisive as We Think. “Many asset managers have stopped offering funds supporting environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals in the face of political backlash. In new research, Omar Vasquez Duque shows that much of this backlash is due to semantics and poor fund design, and that investors across the political spectrum are willing to take lower financial returns to support specific goals under the ESG label.”
[COMMENTARY] I’ve long held that the anti-ESG crowd don’t understand ESG and that companies will engage and increase ESG-type activities for no other reason than to improve operational efficiencies — and corporate profits!
ESG Investing Isn’t as Divisive as We Think, by Omar Vásquez Duque, February 11, 2025, Promarket, USA.
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Anti-ESG Proposals Have Increased in Volume, but Fare Poorly. “In conclusion, the study shows that the anti-ESG proponents are increasing their voice through a higher volume of shareholder proposals in an attempt to reach wider audiences, albeit with limited support. Though the future remains uncertain, the data does suggest that the anti-ESG movement will continue on and maintain a strong presence in shareholder meetings while possibly expanding reach in the coming years.”
[COMMENTARY] The study data indicates that corporations generally realize the importance of ESG for their operations. and stakeholders and not usually deterred by the anti-ESG rhetoric.
Anti-ESG Proposals Have Increased in Volume, but Fare Poorly, by Jeremy Ho, February 6, 2025, Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, USA.
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Four facts about ESG beliefs and investor portfolios. “We document four facts. First, investors generally expected ESG investments to underperform the market. Between mid-2021 and late-2023, the average expected 10-year annualized return of ESG investments relative to the overall stock market was −2.1%”
[COMMENTARY] I believe the reason many investors expect ESG-based investments to underperform is cultural, in that a certain amount of ‘crookedness’ is necessary to outperform financially. Am I wrong?
Four facts about ESG beliefs and investor portfolios, by Stefano Giglio, Matteo Maggiori, Johannes Stroebel, Zhenhao Tan, Stephen Utkus, and Xiao Xu. Journal of Financial Economics, Volume 164, February 2025, 103984.
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Corporate Ownership and ESG Performance. “Does ownership matter? With average holding periods of publicly-traded stock measured in months, share ownership may not effect firm’s long-term practices and activities. Yet, large shareholders surely have a stronger voice than others and their holding periods are considerably longer. Hence, their preferences might influence the choices made by firms, especially regarding corporate practices around environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues.”
[COMMENTARY] The research cited in this article says the type of ownership in a company matters regarding ESG practices. Owners with longer-term interests are more favourable to incorporating ESG activities.
Corporate Ownership and ESG Performance, by Peter Tufano (Harvard Business School), Belen Villalonga (NYU), and Boya Wang (University of Cambridge), January 28, 2025, Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, USA.
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Featured Book
Note: Ron Robins is an Amazon Associate. He thus earns fees from qualifying book or merchandise purchases referred from this website.
Mind Your Money: A practical guide to sustainable investments. “This book is for everyone looking to change their private finances. ‘Mind your money’ provides ideas, real-world options, and solutions that you can implement in your investment portfolio today. It covers everything from why sustainable investing is so powerful, to what it is, and practical tips to get started right away. With the help of this book, you can mind your money and invest it where your heart is.”
For more information visit Mind Your Money: A practical guide to sustainable investments, on Amazon. By
