Institutional Investor (March 12)
“Sixty-eight percent of U.S. institutional investors do not use ESG in their portfolios.” They’ve been abandoning ESG as it “has become politicized, leading to state legislation banning the practice, lawsuits, and reputation concerns.” Elsewhere, in contrast, ESG investment is “forging ahead”. A recent global survey of 310 institutional investors, showed that “94 percent of European respondents have incorporated ESG into their investment process…. Within Asia, that portion is 86 percent.”
Tags: Banning, ESG, Global, Institutional investors, Investment, Lawsuits, Legislation, Politicized, Portfolios, Reputation, Survey Europe, U.S.
New York Times (January 20)
“The money flowing out of funds that invest in companies with environmental, social and governance principles has gone from a trickle to a torrent as investors sour on a sector hit by green-washing concerns, red-state boycotts and boardroom debates.” The phrase ESG “has become increasingly politicized” and has even “been scrubbed from the World Economic Forum’s official program in Davos, Switzerland, after being on the agenda in previous years.”
Tags: Boardroom debates, Boycotts, Davos, ESG, Funds, Green-washing, Invest, Investors, Money, Outflows, Politicized, Red state, Scrubbed, Sour, Torrent
Institutional Investor (March 10)
“A politicized debate over the use of environmental, social, and governance principles in investing has led more than a dozen states to propose legislation that forces institutional investors to boycott certain companies, or bars the use of ESG factors entirely.” While BlackRock “has drawn the most attention from ESG critics.” Still, the massive asset manager has remained “an outspoken supporter of sustainability” and changed very little in its 2023 investment stewardship plan. BlackRock simply “doesn’t seem fazed, even as legislation and divestments could cause allocators to pull billions of dollars from the firm.”
Tags: 2023, Asset manager, Bars, BlackRock, Boycott, Critics, Debate, Divestments, ESG, Institutional investors, Investing, Investment, Legislation, Outspoken, Politicized, Stewardship, Supporter, Sustainability
