A big talking point in the investment world is the financial resilience of companies with high ESG ratings—and therefore the overperformance of ESG portfolios comprising these companies—since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. An NYU Stern meta-analysis of this question looking at more than 1,000 papers between 2015 and 2020 confirmed this trend, but also stated that this evidence was driven by correlation analysis and not evidence of causation. They also make the point that, while ESG metrics are encouraging, they are not enough to achieve real-world impact on their own. Moreover, companies and their investors may hold different views and use different methods when assessing ESG-related areas. These issues are now more important than ever before given the growing momentum behind the ESG movement and the realities of the post-Covid landscape.
To dig deeper into this topic, Economist Impact has carried out two global surveys, one of asset owners and one of companies. Access the research findings here.
I also moderated a webinar on “The ESG Conundrum” to discuss critical questions, including:
• Which ESG metrics are viewed as key by investors and which ones are companies publishing?
• Why is stewardship important to move beyond box-ticking and towards system-wide change?
• How can companies and their investors find common purpose in ESG?
You can watch the webinar here:
