When deciding whether to pursue a project, a company’s CEO and CFO are likely to ask, “what’s the expected return on investment?” (Note: to head off the emails that statement might generate, we acknowledge that the preferred approach is to compute a project’s net present value, but we’ll leave it to corporate finance textbooks to
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Workplace stress is not a new phenomenon. The term “stress” (borrowed from physics) was first applied to humans in the 1920s, and the American Institute of Stress developed its Workplace Stress Scale in 1978. Post-pandemic, there are new aspects to workplace stress for employers to consider. For example, “hybrid workplace anxiety” (we think we just
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Let’s face it – although sustainable investing has gained global recognition and support over the past decade, for some people the ESG glass remains half-empty. That’s not because of politics – for the most part, investors around the world understand that environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues matter because they can affect companies’ bottom line,
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Governments and corporations issue green bonds to fund projects with positive environmental impacts, such as developing renewable energy, improving energy efficiency, controlling pollution, providing clean transportation, constructing or retrofitting green buildings, improving wastewater management, and supporting climate change adaption. According to the Climate Bonds Initiative, annual issuance of green bonds more than tripled in the
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The basic premise of incorporating environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors into an investment analysis is that an investment’s value can be affected (positively or negatively) by those factors. There are many reasons this makes sense, across all three pillars of E, S, and G, and volumes have been written on the topic. Just to
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When you first hear the term “modern slavery” it might sound like an exaggeration intentionally designed to arouse strong emotions and perhaps push an agenda. Or perhaps you think it is something from the plot of a dystopian novel. We wish that were true. Unfortunately, it was not taken from fiction or invented by some
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The body of research on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) scores and stock returns is large and growing. A search on GoogleScholar using that phrase shows that since 2018 alone, roughly 11,700 academic articles have been published on what ESG scores reveal about stock returns, or whether ESG scores have any consistent relationship with stock
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Here’s something we’ll bet you already know: there has been pushback in certain circles against investing based on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria. While often described as “anti-ESG”, some—not all, but some—of that pushback is not actually an objection to ESG per se. It stems from a suspicion that some asset managers, mutual funds,
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ESG is getting more private. No, we don’t mean that ESG topics are becoming secretive, quite the contrary! By “private” we mean “private markets.” Sustainable funds and sustainable investing (not one and the same, but that’s a different topic!) are becoming more common in the private equity (PE) arena. This is notable for a few
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Most mid-sized and large companies have a CEO, COO, CFO, CTO, CIO, CMO, and a CHRM (or some other title that covers the HR function). In recent years, many have added a CSO – Chief Sustainability Officer, but others are not yet familiar with the term. Some may wonder what the role entails and may
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Certain industries tend to grab most of the headlines when it comes to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues. The fossil fuel industry immediately comes to mind, as do the other extractives. Consumer-facing and manufacturing companies get a good deal of attention, too. Of course, every industry can improve its sustainability and help people and
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Most of us would readily agree that Europe offers various things that are unmatched in other parts of the world – great cuisines, rich histories, beautiful villages – and, of course, precedent-setting guidance on sustainability reporting. Recently, the EU parliament adopted the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), with 525 votes in favor, 60 against, and
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We work with all types of investment firms, corporations and fintech platforms around the world. Find out how OWL can meet your need for ESG data and analytics today.
