Northern Trust, April 2013: Two big trends in institutional investing right now revolve around increasing exposure to emerging markets and environment, social and governance (ESG) screens. Allocation to emerging markets grew 30% in the last three years alone, according to research by the Ethical Investment Research Services (EIRIS).
AXA Investment Managers: Until a few years ago, it was rare for investors to consider environment, social and governance (ESG) factors for asset classes beyond traditional equity and corporate fixed income. Today, investors increasingly express interest in ESG analysis that can be applied to asset classes such as sovereign debt. This interest has only been amplifi ed by the euro zone crisis, which has brought the evaluation of sovereign issuers’ credit worthiness to the fore. In this research, AXA Investment Managers present two ways that investors may incorporate ESG factors into a sovereign debt portfolio using a new country ESG analysis framework.
Ecclesiastical Investment Management. Managing actual and potential human rights risk has become critical for some businesses operating in ‘high-risk, high-impact’ sectors. Globalised operations and supply chains have considerably heightened the risk, and getting it wrong can have catastrophic effects on reputation and the ‘licence to operate’. In this Amity Insight, we look at the international context for protecting and respecting human rights – and how business is affected.
EIRIS: This report combines investors’ insights with data from EIRIS’ Emerging Markets Service to explore the strong currents that are carrying forward corporate performance and disclosure on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues in emerging markets. The report surveys global investors to assess what changes, if any, there have been since 2009 in the level of investment in emerging markets and in those ESG issues that interest responsible investors the most. Analysis focuses on 800 companies spread across 30 emerging economies.