Climate | Article
28 March 2022 - Much of the confusion around sustainable investing stems from a lack of clarity on the goals of sustainable or ESG-labeled funds. Clear definitions, along with transparency into investment selection criteria, would help to avoid the common disparities between investors’ expectations and fund managers’ goals.
Earnings Guidance | Article
25 February 2022 - Quarterly EPS guidance is inherently short-term, but more companies returned to the practice last year.
Stakeholder Capitalism, Governance, Policy and Geopolitics | Article
19 January 2022 - Political uncertainty needn’t capsize an organization’s long-term strategy. Rather, through good governance and investing in stakeholder engagement, businesses can cut through the noise of what’s expected of them and stay true to their purpose.
Stakeholder Capitalism | Article
18 January 2022 - On 11 and 18 January, FCLTGlobal brought together global CEOs representing investors and companies to discuss multi-stakeholder capitalism and how stakeholder strategies are being integrated into long-term decision making. Participants identified several key issues across the investment value chain that need attention for a multi-stakeholder approach to be put into practice.
Article
10 January 2022 - Recent regulatory shifts and financial uncertainty due to COVID-19 has changed how companies are spending their money, including on share buybacks.
Climate | Article
24 November 2021 - Will shorter holding periods have an impact on climate change efforts?
Innovation | Article
10 November 2021 - Corporate R&D spending increased significantly during the pandemic, setting the stage for a future boom in innovation and value creation. Is this a sign of the winners just pulling ahead of the rest?
Climate | Article
27 October 2021 - A lack of “decision useful” climate disclosures has been a cause for discontent on both sides of the investment value chain.
Risk and Resilience, Governance | Article
21 October 2021 - By Allen He Oversight boards and their investment teams often speak different languages when it comes to risk. The often repeated pattern is one of in depth discussions without clarifying long-term implications – not seeing the forest through the trees. Then, inevitably, board members are surprised by portfolio movements in the face of market stress events. Boards can take on a very short-term focus during such periods of uncertainty, often to the extent of losing confidence in the management team or their strategy and wanting to...
Climate | Article
12 October 2021 - Thanks to decades of advocacy, some very real climate-related disasters, and meaningful progress on the global policy and regulatory stage, climate consciousness is finally in vogue with mainstream companies and investors.
Metrics | Article
1 October 2021 - Investors look for sustainability and non-traditional metrics from companies they invest in, but what if they held themselves accountable in the same way? This piece is from a blog series written by members of the Global Future Council on Investing exploring factors shaping the investment portfolio of 2040.
Stakeholder Capitalism, Metrics | Article
23 September 2021 - By Ariel Babcock CFA, Allen He CFA, and Devin Weiss Intuitively, many companies understand the importance of strategically investing in their employees. Past academic research has found employees contribute materially to the long-term value creation of a corporation. For instance, the “100 Best Companies to Work in America” had significantly higher stock returns than industry averages. Higher firm investment in intangible assets is associated with higher revenue, and strong relationships have been demonstrated between employee satisfaction, productivity, and loyalty to the consumer base. Given the links between...