February 2026 Newsletter
News & Commentaries by Ron Robins
————————————————————-
New February Podcast:
————————————————————-
Perspectives In ESG And Sustainable Investment – ESG and the Sustainable Economy Handbook. “In sum, many institutional investors are still feeling their way as they develop their strategy for dealing with whether and how to incorporate ESG and sustainability issues into their investing decisions.”
[COMMENTARY] A distinguished law firm has published an interesting report that will interest ethical and sustainable investors.
Perspectives In ESG And Sustainable Investment – ESG and the Sustainable Economy Handbook, February 20, 2026, JD Supra, USA.
————————————————————-
When does ESG pay off? Evidence from U.S. firms with heterogeneous dividend policies and CSR governance. “Overall ESG performance—particularly its environmental and social dimensions—is positively associated with firm profitability, measured by return on assets (ROA).”
[COMMENTARY] Here is another study showing that good corporate ESG performance equates with strong corporate financial performance! Hence, why not consider a company’s ESG performance in assessing whether it is a good investment or not?
When does ESG pay off? Evidence from U.S. firms with heterogeneous dividend policies and CSR governance, by Najoua Talbi, February 20, 2026, International Journal of Disclosure and Governance.
————————————————————-
Research Reveals a Fundamental Shift in How Investors View ESG. “ESG investing has not disappeared, but it has changed. Longitudinal survey data from U.S. retail investors and large institutional asset managers show that early enthusiasm—especially among younger investors—has converged around a more pragmatic, risk-first approach.”
[COMMENTARY] The findings of this research concur with what I’ve suspected in recent years. The talk of investors abandoning an ESG approach to investing is misplaced. It has simply changed in volume and emphasis.
Research Reveals a Fundamental Shift in How Investors View ESG, by David Larcker, Brian Tayan and Amit Seru, February 18, 2026, Harvard Business Review, USA.
————————————————————-
Clean200 companies hit $2.8 trillion in sustainable revenues. “The 2026 Carbon Clean 200 list shows average sustainable revenues rising and pure-play firms taking a greater share of the index.”
[COMMENTARY] This is possibly my favourite company ranking. It ranks global public companies by their total sustainable revenues and by sustainable revenues relative to their total revenues.
Clean200 companies hit $2.8 trillion in sustainable revenues, by CK Staff, Corporate Knights, and As You Sow, February 18, 2026, Canada.
————————————————————-
Europe’s sustainable investors flood defence sector. “The line between sustainability and security is being redrawn behind closed doors, exposing a growing mismatch between ESG labels and real-world portfolios.”
[COMMENTARY] How do you feel about investing in the defence sector? Can defence companies be categorized as sustainable or labelled ESG? Do potential returns justify such investments? This article offers a good discussion of the subject.
Europe’s sustainable investors flood defence sector, by Tenke Zoltani, February 12, 2026, The Financial Times, UK.
————————————————————-
Investing In Nature’s Intangible Benefits: Assigning Economic Value To Protect Natural Resources. “This article is the second in a series (read the first interview here) highlighting the perspectives of experts who are part of this work and participated in our related 2025 Climate Week NYC panel, Valuing the Priceless: Investing in Nature’s Intangible Benefits.”
[COMMENTARY] These articles highlight a fascinating discussion that in the future could become a central consideration for ethical and sustainable investing.
Investing In Nature’s Intangible Benefits: Assigning Economic Value To Protect Natural Resources, by The Sorenson Impact Institute, February 11, 2026, Forbes, USA.
————————————————————-
UK Introduces Its First Regulatory Regime for ESG Ratings Providers. “Both the UK and EU frameworks are based on the recommendations published by the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), which are intended to enable international interoperability in this space.”
[COMMENTARY] Some standardization of metrics is desirable for comparison purposes between ESG raters and for international comparisons, as we have with finance metrics like return on equity, price-earnings ratios, etc. However, I withhold judgment about the utility of government intervention until I see how it works for investors.
UK Introduces Its First Regulatory Regime for ESG Ratings Providers, by Joanna Broadwith, Ruth Knox, and Arun Srivastava, February 9, 2026, JD Supra, UK.
————————————————————-
2026 Corporate Governance Trends to Watch. “Regulatory shifts are rewriting the rules of engagement between companies and their shareholders.”
[COMMENTARY] This authoritative article has many insights for ethical and sustainable investors. It provides insights that could affect how you invest.
2026 Corporate Governance Trends to Watch, by Ray Garcia, Matt DiGuiseppe, and Arielle Berlin, PricewaterhouseCoopers, February 8, 2026, Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, USA.
————————————————————-
ESG ratings – still relevant? “The challenge is how ESG ratings can be refined to drive meaningful and resilient sustainable investing outcomes. In our view, exclusive dependence on thirdparty providers has its limits.”
[COMMENTARY] My concerns regarding ESG ratings providers are that they need to be fully transparent about who they are, ownership, biases, etc., as well as provide a detailed methodology of their rating system. Let the free market decide who has the best ratings. Over time, their ratings can be judged against stock market performance.
ESG ratings – still relevant? By Marie Navarre and Thomas Roulland, February 2, 2026, Allianz Global Investors, Belgium.
————————————————————-
How sustainable funds are navigating AI, defence and financials. “Navigating grey area sectors successfully depends on due diligence and active engagement, not blanket exclusions, fund managers say.”
[COMMENTARY] This is a useful article for most investors today. Investors might glean some ideas from it for themselves.
How sustainable funds are navigating AI, defence and financials, by Emmy Hawker, February 2, 2026, Trustnet, UK.
————————————————————-
What next for green bonds after a year of resilience? “The green bond market has entered a new phase of maturity. It proved resilient in 2025, with growth essentially driven by Europe.”
[COMMENTARY] By now, probably most ethical and sustainable investors own green bonds. They will likely continue to increase their holdings in them, too.
What next for green bonds after a year of resilience? By Johann Plé, January 30, 2026, BNP Paribas, Europe.
————————————————————-
Featured Book
Note: Ron Robins is an Amazon Associate. He thus earns fees from qualifying book or merchandise purchases referred from this website.
The Little Book of Impact Investing: Aligning Profit and Purpose to Change the World (Little Books. Big Profits). “Priya Parrish’s The Little Book of Impact Investing is a terrific guide to investing in for-profit, positive impact companies. Drawing from her long experience, Parrish shares actionable advice to help others succeed in this dynamic segment of the global impact investing field.”―DEBRA SCHWARTZ, Managing Director of Impact Investments, MacArthur Foundation
For more information, visit The Little Book of Impact Investing: Aligning Profit and Purpose to Change the World (Little Books. Big Profits) on Amazon. Wiley; 1st edition (October 15, 2024).
© 2026 Ron Robins, Investing for the Soul
