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The NYT Brings Us Encouraging News in the Swelter of Negative Reports as Sustainability Advocates Consider Possible Changes of Course in the New Year for U.S. Federal Government Policies Leading Business readership publication focuses attention on the dramatic rise of ESG factors in investing over the past five years in wrap up story... If you have not yet seen the story by Randall J. Smith that appeared in The New York Times Business Section on December 14th, we urge you to read it now, and to share it with your colleagues. Especially those occupants of the C-suite, board room, investor relations office -- this will help to make the important case for ESG / sustainable investing. It's our Top Story this week and the headline puts things in focus: investors are sharpening their focus on "S" and "E" risks to stocks. This is a front page, Business Section [Deal Book] wrap-up feature that shares news, commentary and important developments at such organizations as MSCI, Vanguard, TIAA-CREF, Goldman Sachs, Perella Weinberg Partners, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, US SIF, Heron Foundation, Parnassus and other leaders in sustainable investing. "Investing based on ESG factors has mushroomed in recent years," author Randall Smith explains, "driven in part by big pension funds and European money managers, trying new ways to evaluate potential investments." The article helps those not yet familiar with sustainable investing to understand the increasing momentum in "sustainable" or "ESG" or "sustainable, responsible & impact" investing. The organization MSCI is in sharp focus in the piece, with Linda-Eling Lee (the firm's able head of global research) interviewed on the company's approach to ESG research, ratings, equities indexes, and related work. At MSCI, the assets managed using ESG approaches is now at $8 billion-plus -- that's triple the 2010 level. ESG-related risks and opportunities are being closely evaluated as MSCI looks at publicly-traded companies, and as explained by the MSCI head of global research, 6,500 companies are followed by 150 analysts working in 14 global offices. The recent US SIF survey results are heralded -- $8.1 trillion in professionally-managed AUM assets in the U.S.A. are determined using ESG factors in analysis and portfolio management (the big driver is client demand). The TIAA-CREF Social Choice Equity Fund is at $2.3 billion in assets under management -- doubling in the past five years. MSCI's ESG indexes are at $3 billion -- tripling over the past three years. Vanguard's social index fund is at $2.4 billion -- quadrupling since 2011. There's a new CalSTRS low-carbon portfolio (using an MSCI index) set at $2.5 billion. This article in the Business Section of a leading American daily newspaper provides an encouraging -- and very timely! -- look at the momentum that's been building the capital markets signaling mainstream capital markets uptake and dramatic growth in adoption of ESG strategies and approaches for asset owners and asset managers. As we suggest, it is a wonderful wrap-up of top-line developments in sustainable investing that also underscores the importance of corporate sustainability to individual institutional investors -- and should help to make the investing and business cases for top management. This news article is of course timely as corporate sustainability and sustainable investing professionals consider the potential changes on the horizon with a new administration and the new congress coming to town with a very different agenda - at least what has been publicly proclaimed to date. There is clearly momentum in the capital markets for consideration of corporate ESG factors as investment dollars are being allocated. This is good news heading into 2017 and the probable headwinds sustainability professionals will encounter. Top Story Investors Sharpen Focus on Social and Environmental Risks to Stocks
Source: Sustainable Brands - Silicon Valley-based firms are often praised for innovation, but how do they measure up when it comes to sustainability efforts? The Centre for Sustainability and Excellence (CSE) recently sought to answer this question, and... Trump, carbon neutrality and the next phase of business sustainability Source: Shopfloor.org - Leigh Fibers, based in Wellford, South Carolina, is a nearly 100-year-old family owned business that uses sustainable product engineering to create branded products and specialty fibers that provide unique solutions to specific... The challenges of diversity in sustainability leadership How Companies Can Combine Sustainability And Customer Experience 5 Ways Small Business Can Increase Revenue Through Sustainable Solutions The 4 pillars of a corporate sustainability program BMW Brilliance leads car industry in sustainability Sustainability: Earth, the long view Source: Farm Bureau News - At the core of sustainability trends and continuous improvement in agriculture are millions of individual decisions made by farmers and land managers each day. Field to Market: The Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture recently... Supply Chain Sustainability: The New Green Lean Money Machine ESG Issues & Players Top 10 Issues That Will Frame Corporate Responsibility In 2017 Atmospheric levels of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, are spiking, scientists report The Top 10 Business Risks of 2017 As U.S. Shale Seeps Into Biggest Oil Market, Saudis Hone Defense EPA finds fracking can impact drinking water, shifts emphasis from earlier report to focus on risks (Thursday - December 15, 2016) Source: Live Science - And a new study found with 99 percent certainty that climate change is driving their retreat, or shrinkage, with the likelihood of any other factor causing such dramatic change estimated at 1 in 100,000, the researchers found. Asset Managers, US Pension Funds, Sovereign Wealth Funds As Brexit approaches, signs of a gathering economic storm for Britain A sovereign wealth fund for India' 5 Signs Showing Sovereign Funds Gearing for Spending in 2017 (Thursday - December 15, 2016) Associated Profiles : California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) Source: Los Angeles Times - Sixteen years ago, CalPERS, the nation's largest public pension fund, vaulted to the forefront of the social investing movement by voting to dump its $671 million in tobacco stocks....
'I'm very open-minded on environment,' Trump says Source: Salon - In selecting Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson as his secretary of state, President-elect Donald Trump is making the same bet he asked voters to make on him: that a track record of business accomplishment will translate... Senate fight looms after Trump taps Exxon CEO as top U.S. diplomat |
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