Displaying items by tag: sustainability

Monday, 22 March 2021 16:55

Is ESG Just Hype and Marketing?

(New York)

In an eye-opening “expose” type article, for CIO of Blackrock’s ESG division went on the record saying that ESG was largely just hype and had little substance behind it. According to former CIO Tariq Fancy, “In truth, sustainable investing boils down to little more than marketing hype, PR spin and disingenuous promises from the investment community”. The comments ran in USA Today on March 16th.


FINSUM: The reality is a little more complicated. ESG does suffer from a great deal of greenwashing, and firms—at first—did little to genuinely integrate ESG into their decision-making. Over time, they have taken greater account of real ESG factors in investment selection, but at the same time much of what constitutes “ESG” and “green investment” is muddled and unclear. There is a reporting issue that the whole industry suffers from—there is not enough data to separate good from bad companies—and thus much of the investment selection gets generalized according to industries (e.g. tech is good, energy is bad), which is so broad as to be almost useless.

Published in Eq: Total Market
Wednesday, 03 March 2021 18:41

Why ESG is Undermining Bitcoin

(New York)

Most bitcoin investors know it, but few else do: the bitcoin industry is ultra energy intensive as bitcoin mining takes mountains of electricity. Because of this, the surge in interest in ESG is casting a pall over the bitcoin frenzy. One research analyst summarized the situation very nicely, saying “Many companies have cozied up to Bitcoin in order to associate themselves with the digital currency’s technological mystique … As ESG funds start to flee Bitcoin, its price will begin a downward spiral. Stay away”.


FINSUM: This makes absolute sense. Bitcoin is highly energy inefficient, and therefore the combination of ESG considerations and likely government regulations make bitcoin look quite unattractive over the long term.

Published in Eq: Tech
Wednesday, 24 February 2021 16:45

Top Asset Manager Makes All Funds ESG

(New York)

ESG has been getting more and more mainstream, and yesterday it likely took the final hurdle to major acceptance...View the full story on our partner Magnifi’s site

Published in Eq: Total Market
Tuesday, 16 February 2021 17:39

Goldman Sachs is Jumping Head First into ESG

(New York)

Goldman Sachs is entering the ESG market as it plans to sell bonds to finance greener projects this week. This is part of the firm's broader attempts to provide funds to socially conscious investments. In fact GS plans to issue $750 billion in credit by 2030 to this trending area of finance. CEO of Golman Sachs Bank Carey Halio said to expect a steady stream of issuance in ESG, but the size of these initiatives will grow slowly over time. Goldman is just the latest to jump into this segment of the market. Investors may also have the opportunity to invest in alternative currencies in the future as Goldman has indicated a similar rollout could happen in the euro area. GS is just the latest of financial firms moving into the growing ESG arena. Bank of America, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley helped contribute the $118 billion growth in ESG last year.


FINSUM: Financial firms involvement in ESG will only continue as many of these companies will find helpful policies with the new administration.

Published in Eq: Tech
Wednesday, 03 February 2021 12:39

Major Asset Manager Makes All Funds “ESG”

(New York)

ESG has been getting more and more mainstream, and yesterday it likely took the final hurdle to major acceptance. A top asset manager with almost $1 tn in AUM announced that from here forward, all its new funds would be ESG. The manager is DWS group, which is majority owned by Deutsche Bank. According to DWS, “Sustainability is more than a corporate topic, it’s a society topic and an industry topic”. The move follows UBS’ recommendation last year that investors choose sustainable investing over traditional investing. However, according to some US financial advisors, these kind of moves will come slowly in the US. “There is too much assets tied up in old money and not enough advisor support,” says Jeff Glitterman of Glitterman Wealth Management.


FINSUM: We have to agree with Glitterman here. While BlackRock has certainly been a leader in the US, there is a reason a lot of these big announcements have been coming from European firms.

Published in Eq: Total Market
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