We are now publishing our ESG links on a monthly basis. You can check out the previous set of links including a look at the rise of indexed ESG ETFs.
Quote of the Day
"In many circles, ESG is being marketed as not only good for society, but good for companies and for investors. In my view, the hype regarding ESG has vastly outrun the reality of both what it is, and what it can deliver, and the buzzwords are not helpful."
(Aswath Damodaran)
Chart of the Day
Blackrock and Vanguard don’t have a great record when it comes to voting on climate change resolutions.
Fossil fuels
- For big institutions going fossil-free is harder than it looks from the outside. (institutionalinvestor.com)
- Cambridge University plans to rid its endowment of all direct and indirect fossil fuel investments by 2030. (institutionalinvestor.com)
Carbon
- Blackstone Group ($BX) wants to reduce the carbon emissions of new acquisitions by 15% within the first three years of ownership. (wsj.com)
- General Mills ($GIS) is planning to be carbon neutral by 2050. (msn.com)
- Google ($GOOGL) aims to be carbon-neutral by 2030. (ft.com)
Food
- Climate campaigners are turning their focus to the food chain, especially meat. (ft.com)
- Beverage makers have not done a great job meeting plastics recycling goals. (ft.com)
Gender equity
- To the surprise of nearly everyone, banking is made inroad on women in leadership positions. (wsj.com)
- BNSF Railway named Kathryn Farmer the first female CEO of a major American railway. (wsj.com)
- There has been little headway made for women among the portfolio manager crowd. (citywireselector.com)
- Studies show that sexual harassment is bad for business and a company's stock price. (klementoninvesting.substack.com)
Racial justice
- Fortune 100 companies have committed $3.3 billion to fight racism since George Floyd's death. (axios.com)
- Why are black CEOs still a rarity among America's largest companies? (wsj.com)
Shareholder resolutions
- The SEC is making it harder for investors to submit proposals for a vote at companies’ annual meetings. (wsj.com)
- Vanguard has been voting against company management more often. (ft.com)
ETFs
- A closer look at the newly launched Vanguard ESG U.S. Corporate Bond ETF ($VCEB). (mutualfundobserver.com)
- Negative screening is no longer sufficient for ESG ETFs. (ft.com)
Ratings
- Where ESG ratings fail: the case for new metrics. (institutionalinvestor.com)
- Self-reported ESG data get you only so far. (reuters.com)
ESG
- Jordan N. Boslego, "The truth is, ESG is such a broad and haphazard concept that without strong fiduciary standards, it risks becoming a convenient excuse for those same fund managers to underperform their benchmarks while also charging higher fees." (blogs.cfainstitute.org)
- Why is the Dept. of Labor trying to kill off ESG investing in 401(k) plans? (marketwatch.com)
- How NDAs became the tool of choice to cover up corporate misdeeds. (fortune.com)
- Is there a benefit to companies when CEOs talk about ESG? (klementoninvesting.substack.com)
