A meta study evaluating the findings of 2,200 empirical studies, this is one of the most important ESG white papers published over the last several years. 90% of the studies identified a neutral or positive relationship between ESG and financial performance, with the large majority positive. The positive relationships were stable over time, further establishing the [...]
Jeremy Grantham returns to a topic he first addressed in 2013. Not a discussion for the faint of heart, Grantham systematically addresses various underlying biological and ecological trends. He draws the trend lines forward to illustrate how we appear poised to undermine our ability to thrive in the future. His frustration with systemic intransigence is as [...]
According to the International Labour Organization, in 2016 40.3 million people were victims of modern slavery, including 24.9 million in forced labor and 15.4 million in forced marriage. This is the largest number of people enslaved at any time in history. A crime that disproportionately affects women and girls, forced labor is deeply embedded in many [...]
A continuation of research McKinsey first published in 2015, this updated report (January 2018) uses a wider data set to revisit the same financial metrics and more. The results reinforce the growing body of research that finds gender and racial diversity positively correlated with superior financial performance. http://www.revelio.com/delivering-through-diversity_mckinsey_012018/
If you ever wondered about how systemic factors interconnect to impact women, then this is the read for you. It’s a fascinating explanation of how the researchers (with the support of PRIO & GIWPS) identified what systemic factors are linked to women’s well being, and then aggregate them to provide widely differing country profiles. http://www.revelio.com/wps-index-report-2017-18/
Christine Lagarde famously quipped, “If Lehman Brothers had been a bit more Lehman Sisters … we would not have had the degree of tragedy that we had as a result of what happened.” Not surprising, the IMF chief knew what she was talking about. According to an IMF paper published in September, 2018, the presence of [...]
For those curious about sustainability articles written from the French perspective, this recap of the 10 most read articles on Novethic offers several thought provoking twists on climate stories less reported, or less visible, in the English language press. http://www.novethic.fr/actualite/social/consommation/isr-rse/les-10-articles-les-plus-lus-sur-novethic-en-2017-145249.html
The New York Times collected their biggest stories of the year in a feature called "2017: The Year in Climate". This is a great catch up for those who haven't kept up with the NYT's climate reporting throughout the year. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/12/06/climate/year-end-review.html
This issue of the JEI tackles the many questions around data and sustainable investing. Lack of universal standard, subjectivity, and inconsistency of measurement and disclosure are just a few of the challenges addressed in the many white papers herein. Beyond that, several papers discuss what data investors need, but are not getting, and suggest areas for [...]
The implications of climate change should be of concern to everyone. Those entrusted with investing or managing the assets of others, especially long horizon pension assets, bear the fiduciary responsibility to consider the potential investment implications of climate change. This paper, published in 2015 by The Economist's Research Intelligence Unit with support from Aviva, is every [...]
