March 2026 Newsletter
News & Commentaries by Ron Robins
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New March Podcast:
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5 ways to strengthen sustainable bond markets. “Sustainable bonds have grown rapidly over the past decade, but inconsistent practices and transparency gaps risk undermining their credibility. Here’s what new OECD data reveals about the market – and what policymakers can do to protect investor interests.”
[COMMENTARY] This article should be read by anyone who invests in green bonds. It’s a good overview of the state of the global green bond market.
5 ways to strengthen sustainable bond markets, Caio De Oliveira and Valentina Cociancich, March 27, 2026, OECD, France.
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Why A Financial Advisor Might Avoid Some Of Your Questions. “The intent of the rule is to protect clients, and the principles behind it are sensible. Communications must not be misleading. Claims must be substantiated. Information must be fair and balanced. Investor protection matters.”
[COMMENTARY] Applying to the US, a new ‘marketing rule’ by the US SEC is making financial advisors there extremely careful in what they say to clients, virtually no matter how it is communicated.
Why A Financial Advisor Might Avoid Some Of Your Questions, by Rick Kahler, March 24, 2026, Advisor Perspectives, USA.
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Sustainable fund managers defend their tech-heavy portfolios. “Technology stocks are an increasingly uneasy fit in sustainable fund portfolios, due to the associated environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks – from greenhouse gas emissions to data privacy concerns and use in weaponry. Yet many sustainable funds remain invested in the sector.”
[COMMENTARY] Though the article focuses on UK funds, the same situation exists globally. Most sustainable fund portfolio managers are like other fund managers: they follow the herd. They usually deem it too risky for their careers to do otherwise.
Sustainable fund managers defend their tech-heavy portfolios, by Emmy Hawker, March 26, 2026, Trustnet, UK.
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Vatican Launches Project Encouraging Disinvestment From Mining Sector. “The Vatican on March 20, 2026, launched an international campaign encouraging divestment from the mining sector, urging faith-based investors to pull out unless companies uphold workers’ rights and environmental protection.”
[COMMENTARY] What nearly ALL news reports of the new Vatican directive to disinvest from mining leave out is “unless companies uphold workers’ rights and environmental protection.” Many new mines in developed and developing countries have indigenous peoples or governments as co-investors who are also intimately involved in mine design, environmental protection, and workers’ rights!
Vatican Launches Project Encouraging Disinvestment From Mining Sector, March 20, 2026, Global Banking & Finance Review, UK.
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Energy fallout from Iran war signals a global wake-up call for renewable energy. “Unlike during previous oil shocks, renewable power is now competitive with fossil fuels in many places. More than 90% of new renewable power projects worldwide in 2024 were cheaper than fossil-fuel alternatives, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency.”
[COMMENTARY] Many have criticized Europe’s obsession with renewable energy as misplaced. Yet, oil price shocks like the one we’re currently experiencing are a clear case for going there.
Energy fallout from Iran war signals a global wake-up call for renewable energy, by Aniruddha Ghosal, Anton F. Delgado, and Allan Olingo: March 20, 2026, AP, Yahoo! News, Vietnam.
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Proxies in Uncharted Waters: 2026 U.S. Proxy Season Preview,. “Early 2026 data show traditional governance and environmental proposals are resurging, while anti‑ESG proposals decline.”
[COMMENTARY] This 2026 proxy season preview could indicate that the anti-ESG ‘movement’ could be finally declining.
Proxies in Uncharted Waters: 2026 U.S. Proxy Season Preview, by Subodh Mishra, ISS STOXX, March 17, 2026, Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, USA.
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Sustainable Investments are the Main Trend in the Global Economy. “Today, more and more capital is being directed toward sustainable companies with so-called ESG assets. The share of purchases of such securities is growing at an accelerated pace, and interest from banks and large funds is becoming systemic.”
[COMMENTARY] The situation in the USA, where sustainable investing is experiencing headwinds, is an outlier. Throughout much of the world, sustainable and ESG investing continues to grow apace.
Sustainable Investments are the Main Trend in the Global Economy, by Ben Williams, March 9, 2026, The London Economic, UK.
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Confused About ESG Ratings? Don’t Be. “The same company may receive widely different scores from different providers.1 This does not mean ESG data are useless — it means they must be interpreted thoughtfully. ESG scores can be helpful information inputs, not buy-or-sell signals.
[COMMENTARY] Investors should know the methodology ratings providers use to arrive at a company’s ESG score. Only then can investors understand whether an assigned company rating makes sense to them.
Confused About ESG Ratings? Don’t Be, by Bruce Kahn, March 10, 2026, Advisor Perspectives, USA.
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Asia Pacific’s green champions step into the spotlight. “The new Asia Pacific 50 Most Sustainable Corporations ranking is a who’s-who of climate-aligned heavyweights in the region.”
[COMMENTARY] Another first for Corporate Knights! Ethical and sustainable investors are increasingly looking to Asia for investments. This study and ranking will be helpful to them.
Asia Pacific’s green champions step into the spotlight, introduction by Gordon Feller, March 4, 2026, Corporate Knights, Canada.
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Trump’s SEC gave companies more power over investors. Lawsuits pushed them back. “SEC’s new rule creates regulatory uncertainty, leading to investor lawsuits… Companies cautious with new power, blocking few shareholder resolutions… Lawsuits prompt companies like Pepsi, AT&T to allow shareholder votes.”
[COMMENTARY] Companies represent investor interests. Hence, investors should have the freedom to question companies, particularly if they represent significant proportions of the voting shares.
Trump’s SEC gave companies more power over investors. Lawsuits pushed them back, by Ross Kerber and Simon Jessop, March 2, 2026, Reuters, USA.
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Strong performance in sustainable investing boosts research innovation. “They found that companies with strong ESG credentials gain additional credibility internationally… This helps them attract investors, secure partnerships, and receive government support in foreign markets.”
[COMMENTARY] For many years, it has been observed that companies with strong ESG credentials attract and retain relatively higher-qualified workers, thereby incurring comparatively lower HR costs, superior R & D, and a lower cost of capital. This paper shows that such organizational behaviour also helps companies in their overseas activities.
Strong performance in sustainable investing boosts research innovation, February 25, 2026, Durham University Business School, UK.
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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.”
[OMMENTARY] The belief in the constructs underlying ESG has been ‘recalibrated’ in most companies and among investors. They have not given up on ESG’s basic premises. Survey participants were Americans. Outside the US, could provide different results.
Research Reveals a Fundamental Shift in How Investors View ESG, by David Larcker, Brian Tayan and Amit Seru, February 18, 2026, HarvardBusinessReview, 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.
Unsustainable: Measurement, Reporting, and the Limits of Corporate Sustainability. “Engagingly written and featuring an impressive breadth of research, Unsustainable offers a critical ethnography of corporate sustainability practices, challenging businesses (and the rest of us) to reckon with what we mean by `sustainability’ and how we think we can measure and manage it.” — Andrew Orta, Author of Making Global MBAs: The Culture of Business and the Business of Culture.
For more information, visit: Unsustainable: Measurement, Reporting, and the Limits of Corporate Sustainability, by
© 2026 Ron Robins, Investing for the Soul
