Displaying items by tag: sustainability

Investors have been expressing a growing interest in addressing ESG issues with the filing of a record number of shareholder resolutions to be considered this proxy season. According to As You Sow, the Sustainable Investment Institute and Proxy Impact in the Proxy Preview 2023 report, investors filed 542 shareholder resolutions concerning ESG issues in 2022 that they want public companies to take into consideration. The organization said that the leading concerns were climate change, corporate political influence, racial justice, and reproductive and worker rights. Many of these will be voted on at spring and summer corporate annual general meetings. While politicians are arguing over the merits of ESG investing, “Investors have shown long-term support for companies adopting for net-zero greenhouse gas goals and reporting on the management of climate risks and opportunities,” according to Michael Passoff, CEO of Proxy Impact and co-author of Proxy Preview 2023. He also added that “Shareholder resolutions have always been at the forefront of these efforts — first by educating companies and investors about climate risk and solutions, and more recently by calling for quantitative metrics on greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets, alignment with science-based targets, and incorporating climate-risk mitigation into executive compensation packages and company-wide business strategies.”

Finsum:Investors continue to show a growing interest in addressing ESG issues with the filing of a record 542 shareholder resolutions concerning ESG issues in 2022 that they want public companies to take into consideration.

Investors have continued to pile into ESG funds amid a strong political backlash and new regulations, but what impact does ESG have on expected returns? In their book, Your Essential Guide to Sustainable Investing, Larry Swedroe, and Sam Adams presented the answer to that question from research that included studies from 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021. They found that in both U.S. and international markets, ESG strategies’ returns were well explained by their exposures to the Fama-French factors of market, size, profitability, investment, momentum, and value; and multifactor alphas were not significantly different from zero. This indicates that any benefit from incorporating ESG strategies into a portfolio is already captured by other well-defined and known equity factors, meaning investors could not improve their Sharpe ratios by using ESG strategies. They also found that return and risk differences of ESG funds could be significant and were mainly driven by fund-specific criteria rather than by a homogeneous ESG factor. In addition, across four fund categories including index, active, exclusion-based, and non-exclusion based, the majority of observations displayed higher volatility than the broader market. Swedroe and Adams also noted that environmental and social scores did not contribute to performance. However, if investors want to have their cake and eat it too, then they should tilt their portfolios to sustainable firms with exposure to the Fama-French factors of size, investment, profitability, value, and momentum.

Finsum:In their book, Your Essential Guide to Sustainable Investing, Larry Swedroe, and Sam Adams presented evidence that ESG strategies don’t provide any return benefit unless they’re tilted to Fama-French factors of market, size, profitability, investment, and momentum.

While the younger generations have been driving interest in ESG, it appears that the older generations are changing their stance on aligning their values with sustainable investments as they want to leave the world in a better place. This is according to a study by Campden Wealth for Global Impact Solutions Today (GIST) and Barclays Private Bank. They collected data from nearly 150 respondents, including the world’s wealthiest individuals, families, family offices, and their foundations. The respondents come from 35 countries and have an average of $730m in assets under management. The study found that 36% want to demonstrate their family wealth can be invested for positive outcomes, a 13% increase from the previous year’s findings. In addition, more than half said sustainable investing is bridging the gap between younger and older generations, and almost 70% reported sustainable investing is being embraced by the generation in charge of the family’s wealth. More than three-quarters (77%) said they want to leave the world a better place, while 84% said their private capital will be essential in addressing climate change. Damian Payiatakis, head of sustainable and impact investing at Barclays Private Bank stated, “These global wealth holders have realized their capital makes an impact on the world. Accordingly, they want their portfolio to be lucrative and to be personally meaningful. The mindset shifts I’m seeing is to invest not only for tomorrow but to influence it.”

Finsum:Based on the results of a new study, impact investing is bridging the gap between younger and older generations, with almost 70% reporting that sustainable investing is being embraced by the generation in charge of the family’s wealth.

According to analysts, advisors are preparing for investor backlash regarding ESG investing amid divestments from red states. Several states such as Kentucky, Florida, Missouri, and Texas have threatened to pull pension funds from companies that boycott energy companies. In addition, anti-ESG firm Strive Asset Management recently launched a “financial educational campaign” aimed at encouraging investors to press advisors on ESG issues. Michele Giuditta, director of Cerulli Associates noted that during a 2022 poll, 46% of financial advisors cited the perception that ESG investing is politically motivated as a “significant deterrent to ESG adoption,” compared to just 16% in 2021. However, two-thirds of advisors say they consider ESG factors for at least a portion of their client accounts. Giuditta added, “Advisors will need to discuss the merits of ESG and sustainable investing with their clients and reinforce how and why asset managers are using relevant ESG data to drive long-term economic value.” Craig Kilgallen, relationship manager at Fuse Research, told Ignites that while state bans can discourage institutions from investing with an asset manager, the same may not be true for retail investors. He added, “As it relates to the intermediary world, I’ve anecdotally heard that firms are not changing the way ESG is discussed.”

Finsum:While state bans on ESG-focused managers may discourage institutions from investing with an asset manager,it won’t stop advisors from considering ESG for their clients.

While ESG continues to face backlash on the political front, this is still a strong demand for sustainability from investors. For example, recent research from Ernst and Young (EY) found that sustainability experience at the board level in Europe has increased over the last six months as companies respond to investor demand. The latest EY Boardroom Monitor found that 32% of companies currently have board directors with professional experience or expertise in sustainability. While that figure may seem low, it’s a big jump from EY’s Boardroom Monitor in June, when only 19% of boards monitored listed sustainability expertise. The jump in experience corresponds with EY’s research that showed sustainability was a dealbreaker for investing for a majority of investors. Over fifty percent (51%) of investors said boardroom experience in sustainability has a ‘significant’ impact in terms of making a company an attractive investment. Twenty-two percent went further, saying it has a “highly significant” impact on a company’s investment case. Other findings from EY’s research revealed that sustainability experience is much more prevalent among female board members. While the current gender split in financial services boardrooms is 58% male and 42% female, 72% of board directors with experience in sustainability are female.

Finsum:According to research from Ernst and Young, sustainability experience in the board room jumped from 19% in June to 32% as companies respond to investor demand.