The conversation about ESG is changing...
[For Investors] "the [ESG] debate has moved beyond the initial stages - of negative screening of undesirable stocks and then positive screening for progressive companies - to a third stage where it is viewed as fundamental to long-term investing" [Ron O’Hanley CEO of State Street Global Advisors]
...and it is moving to the mainstream
“ESG metrics have matured to the point where they can help mainstream investor beat their benchmarks”
[Derek Bingham; Goldman Sachs]
Interest in ESG has increased exponentially in recent years. We see an emerging consensus expressed by both equity and also debt investors that complementing conventional financial risk analysis with ESG considerations provides a more complete view and as such leads to better investment decisions.
Proper integration of ESG, however, is often challenging.
=> Investors are facing a broad range of financially significant ESG risks over the short, medium and long-term (which include systemic, systematic, stock specific and values related risks).
=> They also explore ways to find Alpha in ESG. Even though not easy, this is only a part of the challenge.
=> The consistency of the integration at both strategic asset allocation level as well as across all individual allocations,
=> selection of a method for the integration (e.g. top-down or bottom-up),
=> understanding of trade-offs involved with each of the choices
are only a few considerations that asset managers and asset owners need to take into account….
It can often appear overwhelming and time consuming – we are delighted to help. Please contact us
Why ESG Nexus?
You have internal teams, whose sole responsibility is to look at ESG. You are brainstorming with your peers and working with organisations that focus on sustainable investing so why work with ESG Nexus?
In his interview with David Letterman [1], Barack Obama gave an example of an experiment carried out during the Egyptian revolution of 2011. Participants of this experiment – a liberal, a conservative and a moderate - were asked to do a Google search by typing Egypt on their own computers. The top answer for a conservative came back as ‘Muslim brotherhood” for a liberal was ‘Tahrir square’ and for moderate ‘vacation spot on the Nile’.
The point of the experiment was that our own biases are reinforced by the feedback-loop that we are creating for ourselves. In the interview, it was explained why politics become more polarized as a result of such a ‘reinforcing mechanism'. We work with the Financial Sector and companies that provide services to the sector and see similar 'reinforcing mechanisms' that apply to sustainability. This may be positive, but it also brings a strong focus on the lack of good data, comparability, and tools for analysis. If you, however, intend to wait until all of these are ironed out and standardised, you are very likely to miss out on a number of opportunities and indeed we are already seeing a number of emerging solutions and a variety of methodologies.
Through working with experts across the value creation chain we can offer a broad perspective and are also happy to work with you through time consuming details.
We will be delighted to talk to you. Please contact us
ESG Nexus assists by:
- Collaborating with you on selecting optimal methodologies for ESG integration and consistency of its implementation across strategic asset allocation and individual investment portfolios
- Project Managing the Implementation
- Assisting with
- developing appropriate monitoring and reporting frameworks,
- implementation of TCFD
- and delivery on SDGs
- Building Materiality Maps/ Identifying and Mapping an impact of material ESG issues on your investment portfolios and strategic asset allocation
Our Founder
Dana Hanby is the Founder of ESG Nexus – a portal that brings experts and users together, fostering innovation through Sustainability and facilitating the development of solutions, which not only respond to but also create new trends. Dana has experience in New Market Entry, Business Expansion, and Development with the expertise in Financial Environmental markets.
Her responsibilities have included Global Sales Lead for Energy and Environmental products and services for the second largest derivatives exchange in the World; Development and management of Global ESG implementation program for an industrial PLC; She has also worked closely with the World Bank to put forward financial solutions with the aim of increasing liquidity and efficiency in the Climate Market in her role as Chair of “Ratings and ICaR (Reserve)” Group for the Climate Market and Investment Association.
Dana holds an MBA with the focus on Strategy and Finance and a Masters of Science (EE). She also holds PMI accredited qualifications in Project Management. As behavioural science permeate multitude of sectors – from Financial to Consumer facing Industries, she has also obtained a Diploma in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and has become a Silver Member of the International Association of Neuro Linguistic Programming and Coaching.
