ESG Investing Insights

• According to a KPMG Australia report, investment managers are increasingly focusing on a company's environment and contamination guidelines.
• These investment managers are also looking at the governance framework that firms have established to prevent corruption.
• They are also assessing whether the company board is diverse and if it is taking more forceful tax positions.
• Based on the most recent poll from Morgan Stanley that involved 1,000 investors, 75% mentioned that they are focusing on sustainable investments.
• Around 71% of them are confident that firms that prioritize environmental and social metrics will reap better returns.
• Companies are now turning to their board to improve their ESG oversight and make ESG a priority given the increasing interest of investors in this area.
• Companies are also working on enhancing the monitoring and communications process around their ESG initiatives.
• Companies are now being advised to discuss any ESG concerns with their investors to ensure continued support from the latter.
• Company boards are also advised to establish the right ESG metrics early on.
• Firms can also link the pay of their executives to ESG results.
• Business areas also advised to ensure that their ESG scores are high in order to attract investors.
• Companies are also encouraged to continue to establish good ESG practices to entice more investors.

Summary of Findings:

• Our one hour of research provided some of the top considerations that investors have when considering ESG investing.
• We also presented how companies are responding to investors' increasing interest in ESG investing.
• We also provided some of the changes that companies are making to attract more ESG investments.