Do Employees Value ESG Initiatives?

By Ming D. Leung, Ben Lourie, Chuchu Liang and Chenqi Zhu August 30, 2023 by renholding

While environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives undeniably shape corporate reputations and stakeholder perspectives, a crucial question arises: Does the modern workforce truly value these efforts? At one end of the spectrum, critics argue that employees might prioritize job security, …

Navigating the Complexities of ESG

By Christos Cabolis, Maude Lavanchy and Karl Schmedders August 28, 2023 by renholding

In recent years, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) themes have taken center stage in the business world. As of October 2022, 8,000 firms globally have aligned themselves with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s Race to Zero campaign, …

How ESG Ratings Can Affect a Firm’s Cost of Equity

By Alessio Galluzzi, Reuben Segara and Fergus O’Donnell August 3, 2023 by renholding

CEOs and institutional investors have increasingly embraced Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) considerations and used them in deciding where to invest. According to the Sustainable Investment Forum, the value of U.S. sustainable assets rose from $6.6 trillion in 2014 to …

How ESG Is Weakening the Business Judgment Rule

By Thilo Kuntz May 8, 2023 by renholding

The importance of environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) is on the rise, with legislators, regulators, and non-governmental actors around the world creating laws and standards on ESG. Though most of the action has occurred in Europe, ESG is gaining …

The ESG Gap

By Sharon Hannes, Adi Libson and Gideon Parchomovsky January 3, 2023 by renholding

In recent years, demand for companies to promote environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) values has increased dramatically. Investment in ESG-oriented mutual funds (green funds), rose globally by 53 percent in 2021 to $2.7 trillion (Kishan, 2022). Bloomberg forecasts…

Exequity Discusses Board Committee Oversight of ESG

By Ben Burney and Emily Brown March 30, 2022 by renholding

Over the past two years, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) matters have become an increasingly important issue in the boardroom. This trend is accelerating today as a growing number of investors and stakeholders expect companies to both produce strong stock …

Does Sustainable Investing Matter to the Market?

By Claire Economidou, Dimitrios Gounopoulos, Dimitris Konstantios and Emmanuel D. Tsiritakis December 7, 2021 by renholding

The value of an investment is no longer just about financial returns. A growing number of investors and other corporate stakeholders are calling for their money to go toward stocks or funds that are both profitable over the long term …

The Role of the External Auditor in Managing Environmental, Social, and Governance Reputation Risk

By Tamara A. Lambert and Bright Asante-Appiah July 14, 2021 by renholding

Companies are under increasing pressure to manage their reputations on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues. Some companies have lost revenue, gone bankrupt, been boycotted by customers, or otherwise suffered a decline in value because of a negative reputation on …

The New Separation of Ownership and Control: Institutional Investors and ESG

By Paul G. Mahoney and Julia D. Mahoney April 20, 2021 by renholding

In recent weeks, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has devoted considerable attention to environmental, social and governance, or ESG, matters. It has requested public comment on climate disclosure proposals, appointed a senior policy advisor for climate and ESG, and …

ESG Incidents and Shareholder Value

By Simon Glossner March 19, 2021 by renholding

Corporations increasingly integrate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues into their business practices and signal this by committing to sustainability initiatives, such as the UN Global Compact or the 2019 Business Roundtable Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation. This …

The Agency Costs of Sustainable Capitalism

By Anna Christie March 12, 2021 by renholding

At the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2020, Larry Fink – the chief executive of the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock – wore a climate change-themed scarf. It featured the “warming stripes” visual, where the color …

How Department of Labor Rules on ESG Leave Undirected Votes Adrift

By Neil Whoriskey February 26, 2021 by renholding

Just before year end, the Department of Labor finalized its new rules on ESG investing and voting for retirement and pension funds. The rules sharply restrict the ability of the fiduciaries of retirement and pension funds to make investments based …

The Duty of Care for Board Members Should Include Competence in ESG

By Tensie Whelan February 18, 2021 by renholding

It is becoming clearer to investors and corporate managers that material environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) issues need to be managed as part of an organization’s business strategy. Climate change, racism, economic inequality, water scarcity, cybersecurity threats – these …

Addressing ESG in 2021: Who Is in Charge?

By Samuel G. Liss January 29, 2021 by renholding

Over the course of 2020, market forces drove corporations and institutional investors to make expansive commitments to their purpose and social responsibility. This fueled companies in many regions to publish lengthy reports under the ESG moniker (Environmental, Social and Governance). …

A Critique of the Sustainable Corporate Governance Report from the European Commission

By Mark Roe, Holger Spamann, Jesse Fried and Charles Wang November 9, 2020 by renholding

In July 2020, the European Commission published the “Study on directors’ duties and sustainable corporate governance” by EY. The report purports to find evidence of debilitating short-termism in EU corporate governance and recommends many changes to support sustainable …

ESG, Common Ownership, and Systematic Risk: How They Intersect

By John C. Coffee, Jr. September 14, 2020 by renholding

This brief column will assert that three developments that seem unrelated are in fact closely related and may soon impact U.S. corporate governance with the force of a freight train. This column summarizes a longer article just posted by this …

Does Environmental and Social Disclosure Affect Innovation at Companies?

By Brian Gibbons August 26, 2020 by renholding

Companies are typically not compelled to disclose environmental and social (E&S) information because this information does not meet the materiality standard used in many jurisdictions. However, some shareholders have an explicit mandate to screen potential investments based on E&S criteria. …

Caremark and ESG

By Leo E. Strine, Jr., Kirby M. Smith and Reilly S. Steel August 3, 2020 by renholding

Climate change, economic insecurity and inequality, and worries that some companies and industries have grown too large, concentrated, and powerful have heightened concern about whether business entities conduct themselves in society’s best interests. The profound human and economic harm of …

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