Responsible Investing serves as a holistic resource on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing for undergraduate and graduate programs. It provides a thorough background and history of ESG investing, as well as cutting-edge industry developments, introducing the reader to the rapidly evolving field of responsible investing. Building on the first edition, this second edition provides updates where appropriate, as well as new emphasis on the development of standards in terminology and metrics. Opening with the background of ESG investing, the book discusses the development of ESG risks and provides an overview of ESG rating systems. It outlines the current position of ESG investing in portfolio management through granular analysis, offers insight into common investor concerns about ESG investments, presents qualitative theories, and reviews literature modeling ESG investment performance. Finally, the authors provide readers with a foundation on the development of financial models measuring risk and return, which can be used to evaluate the performance of ESG investments. This edition features updated statistics and a new chapter on regulation, reporting, and taxonomy in ESG investing, as well as new international case studies. Following a summary approach, Responsible Investing is a valuable textbook, providing a context in which upper-level students of ESG investment and sustainable finance can specialize.

In the face of the recent financial crisis there is increased focus on long-term investment strategies. This is particularly true for institutional investors who manage our retirement savings. Simultaneously there is increased demand that financial assets be invested with an understanding of long-term environmental and social sustainability. Responsible investing provides a long-term sustainable investment strategy that values environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in investment decision-making. Responsible Investing has always had a broad mandate. Put simply, it is a long-term sustainable investment strategy that seeks to reduce risk in investment portfolios through managing ESG issues in today’s corporations. The Next Generation of Responsible Investment explores this topic in an edited volume intended for those with an interest in finance and business.

This book is about fiduciary law’s influence on the financial economy’s environmental performance, focusing on how the law affects responsible investing and considering possible legal reforms to shift financial markets closer towards sustainability. Fiduciary law governs how trustees, fund managers or other custodians administer the investment portfolios owned by beneficiaries. Written for a diverse audience, not just legal scholars, the book examines in a multi-jurisdictional context an array of philosophical, institutional and economic issues that have shaped the movement for responsible investing and its legal framework. Fiduciary law has acquired greater influence in the financial economy in tandem with the extraordinary recent growth of institutional funds such as pension plans and insurance company portfolios. While the fiduciary prejudice against responsible investing has somewhat waned in recent years, owing mainly to reinterpretations of fiduciary and trust law, significant barriers remain. This book advances the notion of ‘nature’s trust’ to metaphorically signal how fiduciary responsibility should accommodate society’s dependence on long-term environmental well-being. Financial institutions, managing vast investment portfolios on behalf of millions of beneficiaries, should manage those investments with regard to the broader social interest in sustaining ecological health. Even for their own financial self-interest, investors over the long-term should benefit from maintaining nature’s capital. We should expect everyone to act in nature’s trust, from individual funds to market regulators. The ancient public trust doctrine could be refashioned for stimulating this change, and sovereign wealth funds should take the lead in pioneering best practices for environmentally responsible investing.

One of the most important activities of enterprises today is responsible entrepreneurship. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities can help to forge a stronger bond between employees and corporations, can boost morale, and can help both employees and employers feel more connected with the world around them. Moreover, the growing importance of this concept results from the fact that it is perceived as an effective tool for increasing competitiveness, improving the image of the company, or contributing to the generation of higher profits. In today’s world, an active commitment to social responsibility is becoming more common for a company. CSR and Socially Responsible Investing Strategies in Transitioning and Emerging Economies is an essential reference source that identifies the scale and scope of implementation of CSR and socially responsible investing strategies and standards in companies operating in different transitioning and emerging economies as well as assessing the global effects of these activities. Featuring research on topics such as economic growth, responsible investing, and business ethics, this book is ideally designed for managers, executives, directors, corporate professionals, government officials, industry leaders, academicians, students, and researchers in the fields of international economics, international business, marketing, finance management, and public relations.

The Responsible Investor is a practical introductory guide for private as well as institutional investors and financiers interested in environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues. The authors have academia, advisory, asset management, asset owner and central bank backgrounds, bringing diverse perspectives and extensive senior-level experience in implementing Responsible Investment across different types of portfolios. Together, they have distilled what can seem a complex area into a clear guide to the topic, accessible to readers who don’t necessarily have prior in-depth knowledge in the field of Responsible Investment but are interested to know more. The book presents the development of Responsible Investment, its different approaches and the drivers of Responsible Investment, as well as the implementation opportunities in different asset classes. The book introduces Responsible Investment trends that investors can take into consideration in their investment decisions. In addition, the book covers ESG data and assessment, impact and reporting for Responsible Investments. This book suits both rookies and veterans – be they private investors, managers of investment funds or institutional investors or financiers. It is also valuable reading for students in finance, Responsible Investment and corporate social responsibility as an accessible overview of the topic.

Socially responsible investing (SRI) is an investment approach that combines investors’ financial as well as nonfinancial goals in the security selection process. Technically, investors can engage in SRI either by directly investing in companies that implement corporate social activities or by investing their money in SRI funds, which apply screening criteria to select securities. The screening process applied by the SRI funds has led to controversy among academics regarding whether the use of SRI screens in the security selection process influences the financial performance of the funds. The empirical study analyzes whether or not the screening process applied by such funds influences their financial performance. Previous research mostly has focused on analyzing the performance of SRI equity funds established in the United States. The study at hand not only includes SRI equity funds, but also SRI balanced and fixed income funds established in Europe, the biggest market for SRI globally. The study provides unexpected results that are not only of interest for investors, who want to get a better understanding of the effect on the financial performance of their portfolios in case SRI funds are added. The results are also relevant for SRI fund managers, who are interested in promoting their funds and attracting (new) investors, and for academics, whose research interests are e. g., located in the fields of SRI, fund portfolio performances and market efficiencies.

The UN-supported Principles for Responsible Investment initiative has led to around a third of the world’s financial assets being managed with a commitment to invest in a way that considers environmental, social or governance (ESG) criteria. The responsible investment trend has increased dramatically since the global financial crisis, yet understanding of this field remains at an early stage. This handbook provides an atlas of current practice in the field of responsible investment. With a large global team of expert contributors, the book explores the impact of responsible investment on key financial actors ranging from mainstream asset managers to religious organizations. Offering students and researchers a comprehensive introduction to current scholarship and international structures in the expanding discipline of responsible investment, this handbook is vital reading across the fields of finance, economics and accounting.

This book integrates socially responsible investment into modern portfolio theory from a multi-criteria perspective. Socially responsible investment is a “new deal” championed by the institutional investment and bank sectors, agents that influence mutual funds and other collective investment schemes and which fear that financial strategies without ethical constraints can harm sustainable growth and prosperity. The book shows how to combine financial criteria such as profitability and risk with non-financial criteria such as the protection of the ecosystem, responsible consumption of energy, and healthcare campaigns. The book’s first part presents critical issues in ethical investment, while the second explains in detail the application of goal programming techniques for SRI funds, illustrating their use in actual cases. Part three demonstrates how compromise programming can be applied in the contexts of portfolio selection and risk management. Finally, in its fourth part the book examines the application of other decision-making support methods like the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) framework, the Reference Point Method, and soft computing techniques for portfolio selection.

Covering pertinent areas of sustainable and responsible investment (SRI) this forward-looking book examines SRI in developing markets including its evolution, principles and concepts. It explores the drivers and challenges in developing economies and analyses the theoretical underpinnings to critical issues pertaining to SRI.

Dieses neue Nachschlagewerk präsentiert mehr als 500 Informationsquellen zum Thema ethisch und sozial verantwortliche Investitionen. Es wendet sich an Informationsspezialisten, die im Bereich Wirtschaftsinformationen für den privaten wie öffentlichen Sektor tätig sind. Der Titel ist für alle, die mit Investitionsmanagement betraut sind oder relevante Informationen zu diesem Gebiet benötigen, eine unschätzbare Quelle aktueller Daten, handelt es sich doch um das umfangreichste Nachschlagewerk, das bislang zu diesem Thema veröffentlicht wurde. Das Buch deckt alle zentralen Bereiche innerhalb der sozial verantwortlichen Investitionen (SRI) ab: Umwelt, Menschenrechte, Arbeitsbedingungen, Tierschutz, Rüstungsfragen, Lebensmittelsicherheit, sexuelle Ausbeutung, Gesundheit, Sicherheit und Tabak. Die Informationsquellen zu jedem dieser Aspekte wurden einzeln ausgesucht, gründlich hinsichtlich der behandelten Themen analysiert und bewertet sowie mit vollständigen Kontaktangaben versehen. Das Spektrum der Quellen reicht von Büchern und Zeitschriften zu Websites und professionellen Einrichtungen. Der konkurrenzlose und benutzerfreundlich gestaltete Titel bietet allen, die im Bereich ethisch und sozial verantwortlicher Investitionen tätig sind, eine Auswahl der besten einschlägigen Informationsquellen.