Taking ESG Investing Mainstream
Incorporating ESG factors into mainstream investing has grown on an absolute level, but relative adoption remains low against the entire market. While it takes time for markets to adjust, part of the reason for the delayed integration is the asymmetrical approach to investing for value and investing for values. This is changing. With reliable data
Episode 108: The Nuclear Option
Exploring the pros and cons of nuclear energy with Nate and Yates.
Episode 106: The Unlikely Intersection of Sustainability and Dividends
All investors are searching for yield, and mitigate risk with the dividend shield. But dividends that have a payment history often come from companies that aren’t quite green. We start from a place of carbon pricing, with a solution for both green and income investors alike.
The Unexpected Intersection of Sustainability and Dividends
Sustainable investing and long-term investing share significant overlap. Investors use both approaches to seek specific positive change over broad periods of time. Without financial returns, sustainable investing is futile, and blue-chip, dividend paying stocks are a critical component of many successful long-term investment strategies. These established companies tend to be more carbon-intensive for a number
ESG Conflicts? What Would Adam Smith Say?
A respected idea in economics, known as the “universal ownership theory,” states that some actions that could maximize value for an individual company may not be optimal for its shareholders. Huh? Stick with us – we’ll explain, and show why this is relevant in the ESG arena. The whole is different than the sum of
Return on Sustainability Investing
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
Good News for Companies that Embrace Sustainability
For those who argue that investing in efforts to fight climate change interferes with a company’s duty to shareholders, a recent study by EY has some disappointing news. The study reports that “companies that take decisive action to combat climate concerns are benefiting from unexpected financial value in areas like revenue growth and earnings.” EY
Doing Well by Doing Good – The Triple Bottom Line
Improve the world and make money by doing so. Is this mostly public relations fluff and wishful thinking, or does it really work? In this article, we discuss what “doing well by doing good” and the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) mean and offer some examples that we find inspirational. Spoiler alert: this is not about
25 Reasons Sustainable Investing Makes Economic Sense
ESG/Sustainable Investing has become a political issue for some, and there is a misperception that asset managers are willing to accept lower returns in order to pursue ESG goals. The truth is, while a small percentage of ESG investment funds are set up to do that (look for the word “Impact”), the vast majority do
Why Spending to Fight Climate Change Makes Economic Sense – A Non-political, Logical Analysis by a Famously Rational Guy
Carl Sagan once wrote, “For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.” In other words, he dealt in facts. For those who are not old enough to remember Carl Sagan, he was an astronomer, planetary scientist, cosmologist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist, and
People are Asking…Does “ESG” Actually Matter?
Okay, we admit it. The title of this article may qualify as click-bait. Why would we, a company with “ESG” in our name, ask whether ESG actually matters? Of course, the things the letters E, S, and G stand for matter to businesses. Climate change and the rapid loss of biodiversity clearly matter – they
The U.S. Inflation Reduction Act and the Just Transition
The Inflation Reduction Act passed by the United States Congress provides almost $370 billion to fight climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting green technology. That includes $60 billion for developing the nation’s renewable energy infrastructure such as solar panels and wind turbines, and provides tax incentives for nuclear power production, electric vehicles, and energy
