Now that we’ve established the broad sweep of ESG’s domain as well as the challenges of reporting and disclosure, let’s take a look at how it gets implemented across various asset classes. Traditionally ESG resided in public equities given shareholder’s theoretical ability to change corporate behavior. As we saw in our earlier study of the…
So far in this special series we’ve outlined the history of the ESG movement, its complexities and challenges, and current themes in climate and social change, and governance. It’s clear that compelling dynamics are behind ESG in all its aspects. It’s also evident that defining, let alone organizing or regulating, such a multi-dimensional entity goes…
Now we come to the G in ESG. Governance’s link to environmental and social goals was cemented by the sub-prime debacle and resulting GFC. Corporate malfeasance and lack of transparency propelled the need to identify future responsible ESG parties and enforcement. The challenge, as one expert told us, is while governing considerations are most in…
As with climate change, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), with its goals of broad representation, fair pay and equal opportunity have become the lens through which investors are judging both managers’ investment selections and their internal DEI efforts. And as with environmental sustainability, more DEI attention has driven global policy making and regulation towards disrupting…
Besides historic influences, climate change, diversity, equity and inclusion, and corporate accountability are now the lenses through which investors are assessing managers’ ability to understand the associated risks and opportunities for every investment decision. Despite the politics of climate change, the burden of scientific evidence and “rapid degradation of biodiversity and rise in extreme weather…
Today’s ESG river had many tributaries. Early practices screened out business activities perceived to harm the environment or society. Mosaic law dating back to 1500 BC, Koran precepts, Henry VIII’s lending legalization, 18th century England and Methodist movements, and the 20th century’s socially responsible investing (SRI) all have embodied “doing good.” In the last fifty…
Last weekend, we took our eight-year-old daughter to the library to get books on her school reading list. (The “Ready, Freddy!” series, if you must know). On the way out, a mother and her two young sons preceded us. The boys ran into the automatic revolving door. “No,” she said, opening the swinging door. “Come…
While the war in Ukraine grinds along amid depressing headlines, investors of all stripes are settling into the view that economic effects of the war will be more local than widespread (see our Quote of the Week). Public equities in particular have recovered their value since Russia’s invasion of February 24, having priced in, for…
It was almost a clean getaway. Two years almost to the day since it emerged, Covid was crumbling. The combination of vaccinations (77% of Americans with at least one shot) and infection immunity was finally having an effect. Hawaii became the last state to announce an end to indoor masking. Across the nation school children…
This week Churchill’s Carol Loundon, managing director, underwriting and portfolio management, joins her colleagues Kelli Marti and Jessica Nels as we continue our special series for 2022 [link] with a discussion of ESG and private credit. Increased focus on ESG in the past five years has mirrored the rise of private credit as an established…