ESG and Responsible Institutional Investing Around the World: A Critical Review

ESG and Responsible Institutional Investing Around the World: A Critical Review

Author: Pedro Matos

Publisher: CFA Institute Research Foundation

Published: 2020-05-29

Total Pages: 80

ISBN-13: 1944960988

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This survey examines the vibrant academic literature on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing. While there is no consensus on the exact list of ESG issues, responsible investors increasingly assess stocks in their portfolios based on nonfinancial data on environmental impact (e.g., carbon emissions), social impact (e.g., employee satisfaction), and governance attributes (e.g., board structure). The objective is to reduce exposure to investments that pose greater ESG risks or to influence companies to become more sustainable. One active area of research at present involves assessing portfolio risk exposure to climate change. This literature review focuses on institutional investors, which have grown in importance such that they have now become the largest holders of shares in public companies globally. Historically, institutional investors tended to concentrate their ESG efforts mostly on corporate governance (the “G” in ESG). These efforts included seeking to eliminate provisions that restrict shareholder rights and enhance managerial power, such as staggered boards, supermajority rules, golden parachutes, and poison pills. Highlights from this section: · There is no consensus on the exact list of ESG issues and their materiality. · The ESG issue that gets the most attention from institutional investors is climate change, in particular their portfolio companies’ exposure to carbon risk and “stranded assets.” · Investors should be positioning themselves for increased regulation, with the regulatory agenda being more ambitious in the European Union than in the United States. Readers might come away from this survey skeptical about the potential for ESG investing to affect positive change. I prefer to characterize the current state of the literature as having a “healthy dose of skepticism,” with much more remaining to be explored. Here, I hope the reader comes away with a call to action. For the industry practitioner, I believe that the investment industry should strive to achieve positive societal goals. CFA Institute provides an exemplary case in its Future of Finance series (www.cfainstitute.org/research/future-finance). For the academic community, I suggest we ramp up research aimed at tackling some of the open questions around the pressing societal goals of ESG investing. I am optimistic that practitioners and academics will identify meaningful ways to better harness the power of global financial markets for addressing the pressing ESG issues facing our society.


Socially Responsible Investments

Socially Responsible Investments

Author: Mario La Torre

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2018-12-27

Total Pages: 173

ISBN-13: 3030050149

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This Palgrave Pivot aims to build a bridge between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainable finance in financial markets. It investigates classic CSR topics in the light of a modern conception of sustainability. The first part emphasizes four relevant topics in the CSR panorama of financial institutions: banks remuneration practices; human capital disclosure; the impact of environmental performance on banks, and finally, the institutional investors’ attitude towards socially responsible investments (SRIs). The second part explores CSR practices within the financial markets and discusses risk-return profiles of SRI and non-SRI indexes in different time frames. It investigates whether thematic social responsible funds obtain different risk-return than traditional funds, and finally, assesses whether equity crowdfunding could foster social innovation. This book is aimed at scholars and students who are interested in social impact investing and practitioners involved in the social impact market.


Socially Responsible Investment in a Global Environment

Socially Responsible Investment in a Global Environment

Author: Hung-Gay Fung

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Published: 2010-01-01

Total Pages: 191

ISBN-13: 1849805237

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The authors have done an excellent job explaining the development and practice of Socially Responsible Investment (SRI). Under the recent recognition of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Asia and its strong emphasis by US and European corporations, this book provides important guidance to students and professionals who are interested in the effects and implications of SRI. This book is truly informative and should be on the reading list of all fund managers and CFOs of international corporations which are serious about CSR. Louis T.W. Cheng, Hong Kong Polytechnic University Individual investors and corporate heads have the responsibility to keep abreast of major changes in the marketplace. Socially responsible investment is one of those changes. Fung, Law and Yau provide, in a single source, a great opportunity to get up to date on an area that will be a force for years to come. I encourage any thoughtful investor or manager to read this book. Thomas Schneeweis, University of Massachusetts Amherst, US Socially responsible investment (SRI) is becoming increasingly popular and can be potentially rewarding to all parties concerned. This book discusses the opportunities, challenges, and practices of SRI in a global financial environment in a consistent and integrated framework of risk management. It also covers a wide variety of environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) issues related to various participants, such as values-based retail, institutional investors, corporations, banks, supranational agencies, and non-governmental organizations. Readers are provided with the perspectives of SRI from various players in the financial community from values-based investors to fiduciaries to supranational agencies. The authors analyse the incorporation of ESG issues into investment practices within a regulatory, legal, reputational, and operational risk management framework. Academics, corporate executives, government regulators and policymakers, bankers, and non-governmental organizations involved with sustainable development will find much of interest in this book.


Socially Responsible Finance and Investing

Socially Responsible Finance and Investing

Author: H. Kent Baker

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2012-08-31

Total Pages: 528

ISBN-13: 1118237013

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A detailed look at the role of social responsibility in finance and investing The concept of socially responsible finance and investing continues to grow, especially in the wake of one of the most devastating financial crises in history. This includes responsibility from the corporate side (corporate social responsibility) as well as the investor side (socially responsible investing) of the capital markets. Filled with in-depth insights and practical advice, Socially Responsible Finance and Investing offers an important basis of knowledge regarding both the theory and practice of this ever-evolving area of finance. As part of the Robert W. Kolb Series in Finance, this book showcases contributed chapters from professionals and academics with extensive expertise on this particular subject. It provides a comprehensive view of socially responsible foundations and their applications to finance and investing as determined by the current state of research. Discusses many important issues associated with socially responsible finance and investing, like moral hazard and the concept of "too big to fail" Contains contributed chapters from numerous thought-leaders in the field of finance Presents comprehensive coverage starting with the basics and bringing you through to cutting-edge, current theory and practice Now more than ever, we need to be mindful of the social responsibilities of all investment practices. The recent financial crisis and recession has changed the financial landscape for years to come and Socially Responsible Finance and Investing is a timely guide to help us navigate this difficult terrain.


Socially Responsible Investment

Socially Responsible Investment

Author: Russell Sparkes

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2003-03-14

Total Pages: 422

ISBN-13: 0470856580

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Over recent years there has been rapid consumer-led growth in investing in socially responsible companies to the extent that it has had an influence on corporate policies. New regulations recognise the public interest by requiring all pension funds to declare their ethical policy. Investors can no longer just consider the financial aspects of a company before investing but also have to consider the complex world of ethical investments. Should the ethical policy take precedence over the financial aspects? Should policies be inclusive or exclusive? What percentage of a company's income has to come from unacceptable sources before the source is excluded? Should any exclusion policy also extend to those involved in selling or transporting goods deemed unacceptable? This is the first book to look at socially responsible investment from the perspective of the institutional investor, who will be led through the complex dilemmas of socially responsible investment with practical examples and advice.


Compelling Returns

Compelling Returns

Author: Scott J. Budde

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2008-09-09

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 047024058X

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Achieve competitive financial returns and make a difference at the same time by applying the information in Compelling Returns: A Practical Guide to Socially Responsible Investing, a well-rounded guide to socially responsible investing (SRI). Understand the basics of SRI and discover how you can align your values with your investments by choosing from three basic strategies. Learn to implement these strategies in your investment portfolios and combine your newfound knowledge with the basic principles of successful investing. An up-to-date directory of companies involved with SRI is included.


Socially Responsible Investment. ECG Factors

Socially Responsible Investment. ECG Factors

Author: Julian Popov

Publisher: GRIN Verlag

Published: 2018-02-20

Total Pages: 22

ISBN-13: 3668641315

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Akademische Arbeit aus dem Jahr 2017 im Fachbereich BWL - Bank, Börse, Versicherung, Note: 1.0, Henley Business School University of Reading, Veranstaltung: Topics in Finance, Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: Investors talk about increasing profits, minimising transaction costs or how to evade taxes most effectively, but very few investors consider if the company contributes something to society, treats employees with respect or tries to reduce harm to environment; in fact - they do not invest socially responsible. But what is socially responsible and how can firms be obtained which make the grade? This essay provides a short overview about the history of Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) and its terminology. Furthermore, different investment strategies are explained in order to understand the depth and the variety of possibilities using these strategies. Knowing these facts, the main reason for investors to invest lies within the nature of things: the return. Every good intention will be flood by the opposite, if the good intention does not perform well and the sinner stocks achieve excess returns. The overall opinion about SRI and the most common theory is that the SRI approach is underperforming the market, as the investor is restricted in stock selection, which decreases the possible level of diversification eventually leading to a lower risk-return level. But do SRI portfolios underperform the market, respectively the "Sin Stocks"? Moreover, this paper tries to use statistical approaches to approve or disapprove the abovementioned theory. By regressing the returns of the biggest social index, the KLD 400, against the returns of the S&P500 and the biggest Sin Stocks Fund, called VICEX, an informed choice will be possible. Furthermore, the investment approaches will be analysed in the overall context of their long-term performance and possible explanations for under- and overperformance. In addition, this essays appendix provides an approach of investing, fulfilling the criteria of SRI and the ESGs, which stands for environmental, social and corporate governance criteria. This project deals with the increasing amount of refugees coming to Germany and the consequent lack of real estate supply. This lack of supply causes difficulties regarding the integration process, which will eventually lead to a separation of the community and increasing appeal of right wing populists.