Sustainable Investing Opinion Briefs: May 2019
May 29, 2019 – According to a paper by Dutch asset manager Rebeco, investment strategies that use exclusion as their primary investment screening “tool, are not sustainable”. As reported in Expert Investor by Joe McGrath, Rebeco’s head of ESG (Masja Zandbergen) addressed the issue of “greenwashing” by further suggests that “investing in” lower quality ESG […]
Sustainable Investing Opinion Briefs – January 15, 2019
Opinions Briefs coverage: Moody’s Investors publication of a cross-sector rating methodology explaining the firm’s general principles for assessing ESG risks in credit analysis globally, a Barron’s article entitled “Forgive and Forget?” in which Lewis Braham poses the question: How long does it take to forgive a company for egregious behavior?, a regulation being proposed by […]
Sustainable Investing Opinion Briefs: December 31, 2018
December 18, 2018 – An article by Kelsey Piper in Vox entitled “impact investment” funds advertise great returns and social impacts. They aren’t delivering” makes the case that impact investing, which is also referred to as socially responsible investing, is probably not making the world better. According to Kelsey, “Impact investing” is built on a […]
Sustainable Investing Opinion Briefs – December 15, 2018
December 14, 2018 – Ted Knustson reported in Personal Finance on the December 13, 2018 meeting of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Investor Advisory Committee meeting that included a discussion with various invited industry representatives regarding disclosures on sustainability and environmental, social and governance (ESG) topics. While ESG investing goes mainstream and the focus […]
Sustainable Investing Opinion Briefs: November 30, 2018
November 23, 2018 – A report from Cerulli Associates states that the “variety and scope of sustainable bond funds” are expected to “expand considerably” over the next 5 years. At present, most sustainable bond funds are focused on investment grade corporate debt. The report suggests that limited availability of sustainable sovereign and high yield bonds, […]
Sustainable Investing Opinion Briefs: November 1 – November 15, 2018
November 8, 2018 – An editorial in the Wall Street Journal entitled “A Green Ballot Trouncing” posits that the mid-term elections held on November 6 highlighted “that more voters like Donald Trump’s policies than like him.” This was based on the voters’ embrace of Mr. Trump’s pro-growth energy positions expressed in the form of a […]
Sustainable Investing Opinion Briefs: October 15 – October 31, 2018
October 31, 2018 – The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment (USSIF) released its 2018 Biennial Foundation’s “Report On US Sustainable, Responsible and Impact Investing Trends.” The Report, based on data collected and analyzed through the beginning of 2018, disclosed that assets linked to sustainable, responsible and impact investing (SRI) strategies have reached $12.0 trillion, […]
Sustainable Investing Alerts: October 1 – October 15, 2018
Oct. 10, 2018 DUE DILIGENCE Alert: MODERATE COMPETITIVE Alert: 3 Event: Calvert expands its ESG research team. Briefing Point(s): i) Calvert has added four new senior ESG specialists to its research team, which is headed by Director of ESG Research Jessica Milano, ii) Three of the new hires come from US Federal Agencies including: the […]