PRI

ESG investment

ESG investment


Kartei Details

Karten 49
Sprache English
Kategorie Finanzen
Stufe Universität
Erstellt / Aktualisiert 04.05.2022 / 10.05.2022
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How to incorporate ESG in Investment Decision 

Integrate (material ESG factors)

Screen (positive, norm, negative)

Thematic

Examples of E factors, data and ratios

E-factors

  • Climate change
  • Water scarcity and security
  • Energy security
  • Deforestation
  • Biodiversity loss

Data                                                                                  Ratios

  • Total GHG emission                                              Water intensity (consumption unit per asset, sales, etc.)
  • Total Energy consumption                                     GHG intensity (ditto)
  • Total Waste                                                            Energy intensity (ditto)
  • Total fines
  • No of spills

Examples of S factors, data and ratios

Social factors                                                                                      Data

  • Community concerns (eg. health impacts from ops)               # of workplace safety violations
  • Supply chain issues (eg. child labour)                                    # of community protests or incidents
  • Labour relations (eg. gender)                                                 # and cost of product recalls
  • Product safety
  • Trade practices (bribery and corruption)
  • Community involvement (infrastructure dev. )

Social ratios

  • % of women in workforce and mgt
  • lost time incident rate
  • unionisation rate
  • employee turnover rate

Examples of G factors, data and ratios

Factors                                                                                       Data

  • Board accountability (eg. independence of board)          # of board meetings
  • Internal control (eg. independence of audit comm.)         board meeting attendance
  • Financial disclosure (eg. inappropr account. policies)     # of audit committee meetings
  • Shareholder rights (eg. voting rights)
  • Remuneration (eg. LT incentives)
  • Corp. litigation (eg. consumer prot. issues)

 

Ratios

  • % of independent directors
  • % of female board members
  • Av CEO to worker pay

Go into detail of how to incorporate ESG in Inv. Decisions

INTEGRATION 

  • of material ESG factors
  • Risk, Return and opps
  • Assess materiality

SCREENING

  • positive, norms based, negative

THEMATIC

  • certain ESG outcomes
    • IMPACT 100% ESG outcomes with possibly financial tradeoff
  • Examples
    • Project bonds
      • Funds allocated to specific projects
    • Revenue bonds
      • Typically issued by states, municipalities or government agencies to finance income-generating projects such as public transport
    • Green labelled bonds (use of proceeds)
      • Asset linked for ring-fenced future investments (unspecific) that qualify as green (as defined by issuer)
        • Corporates
        • Finance industries
        • Agencies and local authorities
    • Securitised green bonds
      • Backed/secured by income from loans/leases on green assets
    • Climate themed bonds
      • Broader definition for climate change solutions

How to integrated ESG factors in an integrated analysis. No right and wrong, but quote 4 integration techniques

Fundamental strategies

  • adjust forecasted financials or valuations for expected impact of ESG factors

Quantitative Strategies

  • integrate ESG factors alongside factors such as value, size, momentum, growth, and volatiliy

Smart Beta Strategies

  • create excess risk-adjusted returns ??

Passive strategies

  • adjust weights in portfolio to certain ESG risks

 

A possible practical integration by stages

1. Qualitative Analysis (ID key issues, then ID material ESG factors)

  • Economy, Industry, Co Strategy, Quality of mgt
  • --> assessing ESG Materiality, ID Co' ESG factors, Summary of material ESG factors

2. Quantitative Analysis

  • Financial FC, Models
  • --> Sector comparison, Deep dive into water related risks, assessment results, now how will ESG identified impact financial modelling and investment decisions
  • --> scoring and rating, Integrating ESG into DCF, ESG Macro modelling

3. Investment Decision

  • Buy/Increase/Hold/maintain/sell/decrease/dont invest

4. Active Ownership

  • Co engagement/voting

Stewardship?

=active ownership, i.e. the us of investors influence as owners of secucrities. to maximize LT value, incl. value of common economic, social and E assets

Stewardship tools

  • Engagement (good engagement id's relevant ESG issues, sets objective, tracks, mitigates...)
  • Voting
  • Other
    • being on investee boards
    • as service provider
    • contributing to public goods
    • Litigation as escalation tactic

why should investors be active owners (stewardship)

  • Improving risk return
  • Fiduciary duty
  • Regulation (comply or explain basis)
  • Focus on Real-World Outcomes
  • Universal ownership

Engagement

  1. in the context of RI, Engagement refers to interactions between investors and current and potential investees, service providers and other stakeholders
  2. Co engagements are ultimately undertaken to influence the ESG practices of investee co, improve S outcomes and/or public discourse
  3. Engagement can be carried out on a one-to-one basis, collaboratively, or via a service provider
  4. Engagement can take the form of letters, emails, phones or meetings. 

Engagement dynamics that create value for both co and investors

  • Communicative
  • Learning
  • Political

Determining engagement policies (what could sequence look like?)

  • Exposure (what are largest holdings9?
  • Filter further by geography or market
  • Look at materiality of ESG factors
  • Real-world impact (i.e. highest value at risk or highest potential of impact)
  • Consultation with cients/beneficiaries

What is Transition Pathway Initiative? 

Launched in 2017, is a corporate climate action benchmark that ranks 415 co based on their mgt of GHG, as well as risks and opps to the low carbon transition. --> can be used to trigger Engagement in a positive and negative sense, ie. other co having to catch up.

Different types of Engagement and quote some examples that drive proactivve E. 

  • Issue focused (eg. climate change)
  • Co focused (what are most relevant ESG risk of co, and then enter into discussion with them)
  • Proactive
  • Reactive

Climate change, labour standards in supply chain, deforestation, palm oil procurement, remuneration, CEO chair separation 

Components of a voting policy?

Outlines how an investment manager exercises voting rights on behalf of its clients. It includes typically following aspects:

  • Scope of voting activities (ie. positive list or negative, where it will not vote)
  • Voting guidelines (how to vote on specific issues)
  • Oversight of voting activities (who is responsible for implementation of voting policy)
  • Proxy voting execution
  • Reporting on voting

Voting as part of an ongoing dialogue

  • pre-AGM
  • at AGM
  • post-AGM

Voting principles:

High-level statement of investors' voting philosophy and active ownership priorities

Stewardship in listed equity

  • engagement
    • research issues (esg)
    • select companies to engage with (eg. problem co)
    • set objectives
    • engage (meeting, emails, letters, visits)
    • Escalate if necessary (collaboration, file shareholder resolution, vote agains directors) --> submit an item for AGM agenda
  • voting 
  • investment decision

stewardship in fixed income

  • Engagement
  • Investment decision

Active onwership 2.0

 

+ example?

= PRI's for more effective and ambitious stewardship with 3 central elements

  • Outcomes (positive in a real-world)
  • Common goals (focus on larger, global systemic risks, such as climate or corruption)
  • Collaborative action

 

CLIMATE ACTION 100+

=investor initiative to ensur the world's largest co GHG emitters take necessary action to climate change. It is a strong example of a coordinated and collaborative engagement to influence ESG practices. 

includes 100 "focus co" responsible for  2/3 of annual industrial CO2 emissions

in 2018 another 61 companies were added to focus list = (+) list

 

3 tasks of 100+:

  • implement strong governance frameworks
  • actions to reduce GHG along value chain
  • Enhance co disclosure  (i365!!)

Scope 3 GHG are usually the most material up- and downstream emissions

 

One reason for the increased importance of Stewardship is the rise of large passive investment managers, who are also universal owners, and as such have limited ability to divest and therefore have a greater exposure to systemic (Sustainability) risks.

Passive investing: = rules-based investment instead of discretionary investment decisions. So equity indices, etc. 

What is contrary to Investment Funds (=collective investment portfolios with well-defined inv. strategy or asset class)

Separately Managed Accounts (SMAs), owned by individual clients and managed based on their specific investment requirements. 

Eselsbrücke für 6 PRI principles

INactive DISC PROMOTES C PR

  • incorporate ESG in Decision and Analysis
  • active ownership and practices
  • disclose ESG 
  • promote acceptance and implemetation in financial industry
  • Collaborate to enhance effectiveness
  • Progress report on implementing the Principles

Key pillars of successful implementation of RI

  • Philosophy and policy
  • Investment process
  • Attitudes and Beliefs
  • Responsibilities
  • Incentives and competencies
  • Research resources

Possible components of an RI policy

  • Purpose & Definitions
  • Scope (all assets? selected? sectors?..)
  • Legal and regulatory factors (fiduciary responsibility)
  • Engagement (how will investees be engaged)
  • Implementation & Monitor
  • Responsibilities
  • Reporting
  • Review (How and when will policy be reviewed)

Examples for tools for reporting RI activity on 3 levels

Organisational level

  • PRI (annual requirement to report on RI)
  • GRI (for financial industry)
  • TCFD (translate non-financial info about climate change to financial metrics)

Fund Level

  • GRESB (asses and benchmark ESG performance of real assets
  • EU taxonomy (is an economic activity S?)

Investment Level

  • SASB (industry standards)
  • GRI Standards
  • IRIS catalogue of ESG and impact metrics

What are elements of RI?

  • Incorporate ESG issues in investment decisions
  • active ownership (voting and engagement)
  • transparency
  • constructive engagement with public policy

business case for ESG analysis

- for investment team

- for managment and client team

Investment teams

  • pricing externalities
  • intangible factors (not on b/s such as quality of mgt, capacity for innovation, safety, reputation, governance...)
  • Managing idiosyncratic risks (good mgt will have fewer controversial business practices)
  • Generating outperformance

Sr mgt and client teams

  • fiduciary duty
  • increasing demand for RI
  • Universal owner principle

What are ESG issues broken down

E

  • Climate change
  • resource depletion
  • water scarcity
  • waste and pollution
  • deforestation

S

  • Huri
  • Modern slavery and child labour
  • Working conditions
  • Health and safety
  • employee relations

G

  • Bribery and corruption
  • Executive pay
  • board diversity and structure
  • lobbying and donations
  • Tax strategy

Levels of ESG Analysis

  • Global ESG (megatrends)
  • Regional
  • Industry
  • Co

International relevance

Anyone offering financial products in the EU, regardless of where the manufacturer of such products is based must comply with the disclosure obligation in the Taxonomy Regulation. The EU Taxonomy will be therefore be influencing international reporting frameworks over time.

The EU has created an international platform on S Finance (PSF), which will encourage coordination on the development and harmonization of taxonomies between its members. 

na

Helpful framework on how E issues impact a product or service

1. Material inputs for products

2. Manu process

3. Issues related to product use

4. End-of-product-life issues

Main two risks regarding climate change

  • Physical risks
  • Transitions risks (techn. changes, regulaton change, disruptive innovation

Global CO2 emissions by sector (PAIT)

  • Power generation 25%
  • Agriculture 24%
  • Industry 21% (iron & steel, cement, chemicals, waste, other)
  • Transport 14%
  • Buildings 6%

What are NDC?

Nationally determined contributions to Paris Agreement

5 dimension of the SDGs

People, prosperity, planet, partnerships, peace

Agency theory

owner and manager do not have same interests --> need to be aligned

What theories are applicable for Corporate Governance

  • Agency Theory
  • Stakeholder theory (voice of all stakeholders)
  • Stewardship (work together for a common goal)

6 Pillars of good corporate governance

 

what are good frameworks

  • shareholder representation
  • Board independence
  • Transparency
  • Risk mgt
  • Executive remuneration
  • Sustainability

Inernational Corporate Governance Network (ICGN)

OECD

Three approaches to incorporate ESG in investment practices

  • integration
  • Screening
  • Thematic

Tool to assess materiality?

SASB materiality map (for i365)