How are investors integrating ESG into their decision making

An estimated $12 trillion of U.S. assets were managed under a sustainable investing strategy in 2018 and the popularity of these types of investments has continued to grow. There is an increasing amount of information available for sustainability minded investors to consider, as well as evolving risks. 

This unique episode is a recording from the GreenBiz 20 conference, where EY’s Rich Goode facilitated a panel discussion on how investors are integrating ESG into their decision making. The panel participants were, Verity Chegar, Director and ESG Integration Team Lead for BlackRock Sustainable Investing, Ramsay Huntley, Sustainable Finance Strategist responsible for sustainable innovation at Wells Fargo, and Courtney Thompson, Vice President of Global Sustainable Finance at Morgan Stanley and Elodie Timmermans, Senior Manager in EY’s climate change and sustainability practice.

Key Takeaways

• Investors use ESG ratings and rankings to meet their purpose.  Three general categories include: single score ratings, single-issue data providers, and high frequency data/AI.
• Continually work to improve transparency. It helps you to manage your story and can help provide context for one-dimensional ratings. If there are metrics you are unable to report on currently, it is better to explain why than to avoid the topic.
• A great first step to building an effective ESG program is to start with a sustainability materiality assessment this guides both strategy and disclosure

For your convenience, full text transcript of this podcast is also available. Read the transcript.