ESG
Systemic Impact and ESG Investing in Smart Cities
Feb 2nd, 2021 | Filed under: Infrastructure, Newly Added, Artificial Intelligence, Operationally Intensive Real Assets, ESG, Other Topics in A.I.What is a smart city? By definition, a smart city is “a city that uses technology and data purposefully to make better decisions and deliver better quality of life.” Technology is intricately embedded into the everyday life of city dwellers through network devices, applications, and widely distributed usage. The combinationRead More
Lenders: Project Financing Availability is Key to EGD’s Success
Jan 24th, 2021 | Filed under: Real Estate, Infrastructure, Newly Added, Institutional Investing, Other Issues in Private Investments, Operationally Intensive Real Assets, ESG, Institutional Asset Management, Private Investments, Real AssetsEUPOPEAN GREEN DEAL – TOWARDS A ZERO-CARBON URBAN ENVIRONMENT, Part 5 By Christos Angelis, CAIA – Director at Masterdam This is the fifth article in this series. For Part 1, please click here. LENDERS TO PLAY A MAJOR ROLE IN THE SUCCESS OF EGD As discussed in previous articles, theRead More
Green Bonds: Going Green Fast
Jan 13th, 2021 | Filed under: Newly Added, Other Issues in Private Investments, ESG, Other Topics in A.I.By Aswini Bajaj, CA, CS, CFA, FRM, CAIA, CIPM, CCRA, CIRA, CIIB, AIM & Team Leveraged Growth Introduction Since the mid-20th century, mankind has faced the problem of self-induced climate change which has caused ecological havoc and is now also impacting the economy. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates thatRead More
The New ESG Guardians: Sovereign Investment Funds to Shape the Future Digital Economy
Jan 12th, 2021 | Filed under: Newly Added, Institutional Investing, ESG, Institutional Asset Management, Allocating to A.I., Other Topics in A.I.By Winston Ma, CFA & Esq – Adjunct Professor, NYU School of Law Who holds the power in financial markets? For many, the answer would probably be the large investment banks, big asset managers and hedge funds that are often in the media’s spotlight. But more and more a newRead More
ESG and Its Growing Influence in the Timberland Investment Sector
Dec 17th, 2020 | Filed under: Private Equity, Newly Added, Natural Resources and Land, Other Issues in Private Investments, ESG, Commodities, Private Investments, Real AssetsBy Chung-Hong Fu, Managing Director, Research Timberland Investment Resources, LLC As interest in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues increases, investors and investment managers are working to define and refine what ESG means and what ESG engagement looks like in the context of their portfolios and the asset classes inRead More
Using ESG as a Risk Management Tool
Dec 10th, 2020 | Filed under: Newly Added, Risk management, The Global Economy & Currencies, Emerging markets, ESG, Risk Management Strategies & Processes, Other Topics in A.I.In the first half of 2020, a period dominated by the spread of the Covid-19 virus and by the shut-down of economic activity in country after country around the world, investing with an eye to environmental, social, and governance issues proved valuable as a risk management measure, according to anRead More
European Green Deal: Towards a Zero-Carbon Urban Environment (Part 4)
Dec 3rd, 2020 | Filed under: Real Estate, Infrastructure, Newly Added, Socially responsible investing, Alternative energy, Operationally Intensive Real Assets, Alternative Investments in Context, ESG, Climate change, Emerging Alternative Investments, Private Investments, Real Assets, SRI and Clean EnergyPart 4: Real Estate Developers: Hostage of Trophy Hunting Investors & Certification Standards? By Christos Angelis, CAIA – Director at Masterdam This is the fourth article in this series. Please read Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3. THE RELEVANCE OF THE EUROPEAN GREEN DEAL FOR DEVELOPERS Real estate development in the EuropeanRead More
The New Generation of Behavioral Finance
Nov 26th, 2020 | Filed under: Newly Added, Risk management, Asset allocation, Behavioral finance, Socially responsible investing, Asset Allocation Models, ESG, Economics, Risk Management Strategies & Processes, Hedge Funds, Macroeconomics, Finance & EconomicsMeir Statman, a professor of finance at Santa Clara University and a consultant to Avantis Investors, has focused his scholarly efforts for decades on behavioral finance, and those efforts have given us a recent book on the subject, Behavioral Finance: The Second Generation. In Statman’s view the first generation ofRead More
Growing a Green Decision Tree—Machine Learning and ESG
Nov 23rd, 2020 | Filed under: Newly Added, Technology, Artificial Intelligence, ESG, Machine Learning, Other Topics in A.I.Assuming that the growth of environmental, social, and governance-based investing is not yet at, but is approaching, a tipping point, and assuming that knowing that tipping point with precision will yield alpha, can machine learning help find it? That is the question posed in a recent paper by the globalRead More
What Is the Future of Alternatives?
Nov 17th, 2020 | Filed under: Private Equity, Newly Added, Institutional Investing, Asset allocation, Asset Allocation Models, ESG, Institutional Asset Management, Hedge Funds, Private Investments, Other Topics in A.I.By Grant Murgatroyd, senior writer EMEA at Preqin Preqin predicts that alternative assets under management will rise to $17.2 trillion in 2025. We believe the COVID-19 induced slowdown in 2020 will be temporary and lead to a larger, more efficient, and more sustainable industry. Assets under management (AUM) in alternativesRead More
OECD Works on Sorting Through the ESG Ratings Systems
Nov 8th, 2020 | Filed under: Newly Added, Risk management, Socially responsible investing, ESG, ETFs, Risk Management Strategies & Processes, SRI and Clean Energy, Other Topics in A.I.A report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development critiques “current market practices” in connection with Environmental, Social, and Governance investing. It says that the bewildering ratings, investment terminology, and individual metrics, “present a fragmented and inconsistent view of ESG risks and performances.” On the bright side, the OECDRead More
European Green Deal: Towards a Zero-Carbon Urban Environment (Part 3)
Nov 5th, 2020 | Filed under: Real Estate, Newly Added, Alternative energy, ESG, Climate change, Real Estate Equity Investments, Real Assets, SRI and Clean EnergyPart 3: Real Estate Tenants: Free Riders or Simply Uninformed? CHRISTOS ANGELIS, CAIA – Director at Masterdam This is the third article in this series. Please read Part 1 & Part 2. BLAME GAME BETWEEN TENANTS & LANDLORDS The European Green Deal (EGD)[i] is expected to be a catalyst forRead More
Micro Financing as a Sustainable Investment
Oct 26th, 2020 | Filed under: Microfinance, Newly Added, Socially responsible investing, Alternative Investments in Context, ESG, Emerging Alternative Investments, Other Topics in A.I.Micro finance is a very contested subject within the realm of ESG investing. The idea, for which a Bangladeshi, Muhammad Yunus won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2006, is that very small loans to very small-scale entrepreneurs within large populations that have historically gone unbanked, and in particular that haveRead More
From impact intention to impact management: Are you ready for the change?
Sep 7th, 2020 | Filed under: Newly Added, Asset allocation, Asset Allocation Models, Other Issues in Private Investments, Alternative Investments in Context, ESG, Private Investments, Other Topics in A.I.By Sara Olsen and David Pritchard of SVT Group and Yuwei Shi of Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey *Please take a moment to complete the brief survey at the conclusion of this article. Every investment generates or destroys social and environmental value, aside from financial return. One ofRead More
ESG Hedge Fund Managers and the Agency Problem
Sep 1st, 2020 | Filed under: Hedge Fund Industry Trends, Hedge Fund Strategies, Newly Added, ESG, Hedge Funds, Other Topics in A.I.Economists in general, and scholars of finance in particular, have long been concerned with the “agency problem,” the conflict of interest inherent in any relationship where X is expected, and perhaps required by law or contract, to act in the best interest of Y. The problem exists because, for example,Read More
EUROPEAN GREEN DEAL: TOWARDS A ZERO-CARBON URBAN ENVIRONMENT
Aug 20th, 2020 | Filed under: Newly Added, Socially responsible investing, The Global Economy & Currencies, Alternative Investments in Context, ESG, Economics, Climate change, Macroeconomics, SRI and Clean Energy, Finance & Economics, Other Topics in A.I.Part 1 of a multi-part series: The Role of the EU, National Governments & Local Authorities By Christos Angelis, CAIA – Director at Masterdam INTRODUCTION In light of the exciting developments in the European Union regarding the European Green Deal (EGD)[1] presented in the end of 2019, it would beRead More
What Covid-19 Teaches Us About Resilience
Aug 18th, 2020 | Filed under: Newly Added, ESG, Macroeconomics, Other Topics in A.I.In late February and early March, we witnessed what the European Corporate Governance Institute calls an “an exogenous and unparalleled” crash, during which the S&P 500 shed one-third of its value, dropping from approximately 3,300 on Feb. 20 to close at 2,200 one month later. This provided a natural experimentRead More
Impact Investing Won’t Save Capitalism, But Its Example Might
Jul 22nd, 2020 | Filed under: Private Equity, Social investing, Newly Added, Asset allocation, Socially responsible investing, Equity Types of Private Equity, Asset Allocation Models, Other Issues in Private Investments, ESG, Private Investments, SRI and Clean Energy, Other Topics in A.I.By Michael O’Leary and Warren Valdmanis GIIN’s 10th Anniversary report highlights new records, but what’s the endgame? When the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) issued its first survey a decade ago, the term “impact investing” had only been coined three years earlier. Just 24 investors responded. In GIIN’s tenth anniversaryRead More
Looking For Sustainability in Energy SDG Credits
Jul 9th, 2020 | Filed under: Newly Added, Socially responsible investing, ESG, SRI and Clean Energy, Finance & Economics, Other Topics in A.I.A new report by two analysts at Robeco discusses sustainability trends in energy credits, especially in the era of Covid 19. The analysts acknowledge the demand collapse that is keeping crude oil, and accordingly alternatives fuels, at very low values. Their focus is on what lies ahead for energy credits.Read More
‘Expectations Will Increase’ on E(E)SG
Jun 30th, 2020 | Filed under: Newly Added, Asset allocation, Asset Allocation Models, ESG, Allocating to A.I., Other Topics in A.I.Adam O. Emmerich of the corporate and securities law firm Wachtell Lipton in a recent memo cautioned the firm’s corporate clients that the expectations on them with regard to transparency on environmental, social, and governance matters will increase in the months ahead. His emphasis is on the social part ofRead More
SAVING THE WORLD BY ‘TECHNOLOGIZING’ INSTITUTIONAL INVESTMENT
Jun 21st, 2020 | Filed under: Newly Added, Alternative data, Institutional Investing, Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Alternative Investments in Context, ESG, Endowments & Foundations, Climate change, Institutional Asset Management, Machine Learning, Other Topics in A.I.By Ashby Monk, Executive and Research Director at Global Projects Center, Stanford University & Dane Rook, Research Engineer at Global Projects Center, Stanford University “The world needs institutional investors to save society as we know it.” Say these words to your mother, and she may check your temperature; say them at aRead More
UK Stewardship Code: Stepping Up as Corporate Guardians
Jun 14th, 2020 | Filed under: Newly Added, Institutional Investing, ESG, Institutional Asset Management, Other Topics in A.I.It has been 10 years since the United Kingdom introduced a Stewardship Code, drawn up by its Financial Reporting Council (FRC), a quasi-governmental agency. The code was meant to remedy some of the inadequacies in the system of corporate governance that, it was thought, the crises of 2007-2008 had revealed.Read More
How Often Do Investors Google ‘Climate Change’?
Jun 2nd, 2020 | Filed under: Newly Added, Socially responsible investing, Alternative Investments in Context, ESG, Climate change, Other Topics in A.I.Two scholars at Copenhagen Business School, Denmark have devised what they call a “text-based sustainability sentiment measure,” that is, a quantification of when and to what extent concerns about climate change are rising amongst investors, with a likely consequence for the success of an ESG-oriented trading policy. The authors areRead More
The Algorithms that will Find the ESG Tipping Point
Apr 16th, 2020 | Filed under: Newly Added, Technology, Artificial Intelligence, ESG, The A.I. Industry, Machine Learning, Other Topics in A.I.A recent literature review conveys the state of scholarly understanding of ESG alpha.It also discusses how machine learning may help alternatives managers to track, and at the right time to pounce upon, a critical tipping point. Joachim Erhardt, a managing director at Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW) and an independent scholar, startsRead More
Hedge Funds, Sustainable Investing, and the Data Gap
Apr 12th, 2020 | Filed under: Newly Added, ESG, The A.I. Industry, Hedge Funds, Other Topics in A.I.KPMG and CREATE have collaborated on a new report on the involvement of hedge funds in sustainable investing, which they define as investing that aims at three interlocking results: avoid harm and mitigate ESG risks; benefit all stakeholders; and contribute solutions to societal problems. The involvement of hedge funds inRead More
Machine Learning, Quant Models, and ESG factors: Who Uses Them and What Data Do They Mine?
Apr 9th, 2020 | Filed under: Newly Added, Alternative data, Technology, Artificial Intelligence, CAIA Alternative Viewpoints, ESG, Machine Learning, Other Topics in A.I.Keith Black, PhD, CFA, CAIA, FDP, Managing Director of Content Strategy, CAIA Association CAIA Association and FDP Institute recently had a conversation with Mike Chen and George Mussalli. Dr. Chen is the director of equity investments and Mr. Mussalli is the managing director and CIO of equity investments at PanAgora.Read More
The Unmasking of ESG
Apr 6th, 2020 | Filed under: Newly Added, What about beta?, ESG, SRI and Clean Energy, Other Topics in A.I.By Bill Kelly, CEO, CAIA Association PPE has entered the global vernacular, courtesy of another (deadly) acronym now known as COVID-19. The latter needs no additional introduction, as the former (Personal Protective Equipment) has been one of the many combat weapons to staunch the relentless march of what is now a global pandemic. Of the many things we are learningRead More
Wedding ESG with Modern Portfolio Theory
Mar 29th, 2020 | Filed under: Newly Added, Socially responsible investing, ESG, The A.I. Industry, Other Topics in A.I.Three executives at AQR Capital have proposed a new variant on modern portfolio theory, an elaboration of the classical idea of an efficient frontier. The idea, going back to Markowitz’ 1952 paper, is that there exists a set of possible portfolios such that each achieves the best possible risk-return tradeoff.Read More
ESG ETFs: A Warning About Opacity
Mar 15th, 2020 | Filed under: Newly Added, Liquid Alts, ESG, ETFs, The A.I. Industry, Liquid Alternative Investiments, Other Topics in A.I.A recent paper by two legal scholars warns of the absence of transparency, of the opacity, that investors may face in ESG funds and ESG exchange-traded funds. “Buyer Beware: Variation and Opacity in ESG ad ESG Index Funds,” is the work of Dana Brackman Reiser and Anne M. Tucker, whoRead More
Are there any ‘real’ ESG unicorns?
Mar 10th, 2020 | Filed under: Private Equity, Debt Types of Private Equity, Newly Added, Venture capital, Equity Types of Private Equity, ESG, The A.I. Industry, Private Investments, Other Topics in A.I.Unicorns (privately owned start-ups with a valuation of at least $1 billion) have long been the great sought-after beasts of the VC and PE worlds. But are they good for the planet? The unicorn boom was driven by the combination of easy credit and old-fashioned hype, combined with the wayRead More
ESG vs Low-Carbon Investing
Mar 1st, 2020 | Filed under: Newly Added, Liquid Alts, ESG, ETFs, The A.I. Industry, Liquid Alternative Investiments, Allocating to A.I., Other Topics in A.I.By Nicolas Rabener of FactorResearch @FactorResearch INTRODUCTION Investors seeking exposure to global equities with a low carbon footprint could consider the iShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon ETF (CRBN) or SPDR MSCI ACWI Low Carbon ETF (LOWC). CRBN has $500 million of assets under management, compared with $90 million for LOWC.Read More
Wall Street Tackles Sustainable Development Goals
Feb 25th, 2020 | Filed under: Retail Investing, Newly Added, Institutional Investing, Socially responsible investing, ESG, The A.I. Industry, Institutional Asset Management, SRI and Clean Energy, Other Topics in A.I.In 2015 the United Nations defined 17 Sustainable Development Goals [no poverty, no hunger, health & well-being, etc.] along with 169 targets that were devised to allow for quantitative measurement of progress. It also set 2030 as the bull’s eye for the attainment of the goals. Since governments alone areRead More
Lessons from CAIS 2020
Feb 11th, 2020 | Filed under: Debt Types of Private Equity, Newly Added, Institutional Investing, Socially responsible investing, Equity Types of Private Equity, Artificial Intelligence, CAIA Alternative Viewpoints, Alternative Investments in Context, ESG, Economics, Climate change, Institutional Asset Management, Hedge Funds, Macroeconomics, Private Investments, Personalities in AI, SRI and Clean Energy, Allocating to A.I., Other Topics in A.I.John Bowman, CFA, Senior Managing Director at CAIA Association “You’re a kite dancing in a hurricane, Mr. Bond.” (Mr. White to 007, Spectre) Despite the crystal blue island water, softly rolling Caribbean tide, and perfect skies outside the hotel all week, I opened my conference wrap-up panel reminding delegates forRead More
Climate: The ‘OUR’ Between Dog and Wolf
Feb 10th, 2020 | Filed under: Newly Added, Institutional Investing, Media Coverage of Hedge Funds, Socially responsible investing, The Global Economy & Currencies, What about beta?, Alternative Investments in Context, ESG, Economics, Climate change, Institutional Asset Management, Hedge Funds, Macroeconomics, Private Investments, SRI and Clean Energy, Finance & Economics, Other Topics in A.I.By Bill Kelly, CEO, CAIA Association While this week’s post may harken to a certain book written by John Coates, there is a different play on the metaphor at work here, with our wheezing planet spinning in the center. Consider the wolf: powerful, aggressive, and risk-seeking. The wolf is alsoRead More
Biofuels and Deforestation: A CSR/ESG Cautionary Tale
Feb 9th, 2020 | Filed under: Newly Added, Alternative energy, ESG, Energy, Climate change, The A.I. Industry, Commodities, SRI and Clean Energy, Other Topics in A.I.The Republic of France, in March 2019, decided that it would no longer consider fuel made from palm oil to be a “biofuel,” effective as of January 2020. So that redefinition is now in effect. Meanwhile, the EU recently set tariffs on palm oil coming in from Indonesia or Malaysia:Read More
Beyond the Meat; Beyond the Traditional
Feb 6th, 2020 | Filed under: Private Equity, Newly Added, Equity Types of Private Equity, CAIA Alternative Viewpoints, ESG, Hedge Funds, Private Investments, Allocating to A.I., Other Topics in A.I.By Aaron Filbeck, CFA, CAIA, CIPM, Associate Director, Content Development at CAIA Association Building the Burger I love when our industry uses analogies to describe investment concepts, so I must applaud one of the introductory pieces to JPMorgan’s 2020 Global Alternatives Outlook. In their introduction to the report, the authorsRead More
The Case for ESG as a Performance Additive
Feb 4th, 2020 | Filed under: Retail Investing, Newly Added, Institutional Investing, ESG, The A.I. Industry, Institutional Asset Management, Other Topics in A.I.Sustainability-sensitive investing has a net positive impact on performance, according to a paper released by Robeco. According to the paper written by Chris Berkouwer, a Robeco equity analyst, ESG was responsible for 20% of the outperformance of a Robeco fund over a period of three years. His findings are presentedRead More
SASB + TCFD = Common ESG Disclosure Standards?
Jan 26th, 2020 | Filed under: Newly Added, Institutional Investing, Risk management, ESG, Climate change, The A.I. Industry, Institutional Asset Management, Risk Management Strategies & Processes, Macroeconomics, Risk Management & Operations, Other Topics in A.I.The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), a non-profit organization has developed industry-specific standards across environmental, social, and governance topics, working toward a consensus on the sorts of disclosures that the issuers of securities should and will make to their investors. In November 2018, SASB released complete standards for 77 industries.Read More
ESG: Why the Ratings Diverge
Jan 20th, 2020 | Filed under: Newly Added, Socially responsible investing, The Global Economy & Currencies, Business News, ESG, The A.I. Industry, SRI and Clean Energy, Allocating to A.I., Other Topics in A.I.A recent MIT Sloan research paper looks at the degree to which various environmental, social, and governance (ESG) ratings diverge and why. The paper is the work of Florian Berg and Roberto Rigobon, both of MIT Sloan, and Julian F. Kolbel, who is affiliated with the University of Zurich’s departmentRead More