Once seen as niche, environmental, social and governance (ESG) is now a dominant market force. And while many clients understand the concept of ESG, some are less sure about how it applies to them as an individual investor.
At our recent Investor Summit, Wealth Director Laura DeVoy and ESG Research Specialist Brian Flavin explored the ESG landscape and explained how investors can align their money with their values, benefiting their portfolios and the planet – for current generations and those to come.
Key points:
- The concept of ESG is nothing new, in fact, it is centuries old. At its simplest, ESG investing involves applying environmental, social and governance principles to traditional investing techniques.
- The acceleration of ESG trends in recent years has been driven by the coronavirus pandemic, climate change, the global financial crisis, which gave impetus to stewardship and governance issues, and a plethora of megatrends, including globalisation and digitalisation, among others.
- We talk about the ‘spectrum of capital’ to explain the different approaches to investing – spanning traditional financial investing, where there is little or no regard for ESG principles, to impact-only investing, where generating societal objectives is the sole objective. In the middle of the spectrum of capital is responsible and/or sustainable investing – and that’s where Goodbody sits.
- At Goodbody, we have developed an approach to sustainable investing which is based on three pillars: integration, screening and a principles-based investing approach.
Want to learn more about ESG? Watch the video below.
Missed the Goodbody Investor Summit? Catch up now!
On 30 September, we held the inaugural Goodbody Investor Summit, bringing together some of our brightest minds for a morning of engaging panel discussions and thought-provoking sessions.
Our virtual event delved into the key issues and themes shaping the investment landscape – from inflation and negative interest rates to environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing and the art of picking great companies.
Missed the Investor Summit or want to revisit a topic? Watch the sessions here.
