News & Commentaries by Ron Robins ————————————————————- Has ESG morphed to become just a box-ticking exercise? “The recent moves to assess environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance within fund portfolios are attempting to answer an important question: how do you tell if your asset manager is taking ESG seriously? Difficulties in accurately measuring such an…

News & Commentaries by Ron Robins ————————————————————- Bloomberg Financial Services Gender-Equality Index (BFGEI). “For investors who prioritize gender equality, new market data tools are emerging to help them assess a company′s efforts on this front. This week, Bloomberg launched an index that scores financial-service companies on how well they treat women and whether they are…

News & Commentaries by Ron Robins ————————————————————- ESG Materiality Without (Comparable) Metrics? Back to the future of financial reporting? “What if a firm could pick and choose which element(s) of its financials on which it would report? What if each firm could define its reporting categories on its own (think of choosing one or more…

News & Commentaries by Ron Robins ————————————————————- Morningstar Sustainability Ratings Now Available to Individual Investors Globally. “The new Morningstar Sustainability Rating… for funds is now available on its North American and European websites as well as in Morningstar… Advisor WorkstationSM, the company’s web-based practice management platform for advisors.” [COMMENTARY]So it has come to pass! It…

News & Commentaries by Ron Robins ————————————————————- CFA Institute Survey: Investors Want Transparency, Ethics, Performance.Key findings: “Retail investors′ trust in financial services increased in the U.S., U.K. and Australia, fell in Canada and Hong Kong since 2013. Investment costs are even more important than performance to investors globally, and firms are not meeting expectations in…

News & Commentaries by Ron Robins ————————————————————- The SEC Isn′t Enforcing Climate Risk Disclosures By Fossil Fuel Companies. “Peabody Energy is not the only fossil fuel company to fail to disclose climate change risks. ExxonMobil, the largest oil and gas company in the U.S., is being investigated by both California and New York for not…