On ESG Investing: Heterogeneous Preferences, Information, and Asset Prices

via Zoom

Speaker: Prof. Lin Shen, Department of Finance, INSEAD, Fontainebleau, Fr. Abstract: We study how environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing reshapes in-formation aggregation by prices. We develop a rational expectations equilibrium model in which traditional and green investors are informed about financial and ESG risks but have different preferences over them. Because of the preference […]

Does sustainability generate better financial performance? Review, meta-analysis, and propositions

via Zoom

Speaker: Ulrich Atz, Stern School of Business, NYU Abstract: Sustainability in business and ESG (environmental, social, and governance) in finance have exploded in popularity among researchers and practitioners. We surveyed 1,141 primary peer-reviewed papers and 27 meta-reviews (based on ∼1,400 underlying studies) published between 2015 and 2020. Aggregate conclusions from a sample suggest that the […]

Cross-dispersion bias-adjusted ESG rankings

via Zoom

Speaker: Prof. Jean-Charles Garibal, Grenoble School of Management Abstract: We study the formation of ESG scores and rankings. In particular, we investigate the impact of aggregation rules when combining information on firms across categories, notably the E, S and G categories, into single ESG scores. Usual aggregation rules may bias scores toward the most dispersed […]

International market exposure to sovereign ESG

via Zoom

Speaker: Christian Morgenstern, School of Public Health, Imperial College London Abstract: We quantify equity and bond market sensitivity to sovereign ESG scores and their variations which, theoretically, is equivalent to evaluating the demand for ESG at the global scale. We do so by estimating a longitudinal model, at the issue level, that captures exposures to […]

The dilemma between ‘comply or explain’ and SRI, ESG methodology; transitional terminology

via Zoom

Speaker: Prof. Kazuyuki Shimizu, School of Business Administration, Meiji University Abstract:This paper tries to find out what the difference is between ESG and SRI. ESG developed from the SRI concept with “comply and explain” which was introduced in 1992, and it creates difficulties between their concepts and also can make difficulties for their methodological development. […]

Equity costs and risks in emerging markets: Are ESG and Sharia principles complementary?

via Zoom

Speaker: Stefan Pisera, Dept. of Economics & Statistics, University of Udine Abstract: By proposing a novel continuous and time-varying measure of Sharia compliance, we investigate whether it enhances the effects of corporate social responsibility, proxied by Environmental-Social-Governance scores, on firms' equity costs and market risks in emerging countries. We construct a large dataset of non-financial […]

Do lower ESG rated companies have higher systemic impact? Empirical Evidence from Europe and the United States

via Zoom

Speaker: Prof. Sandra Paterlini, Economics and Management, University of Trento Abstract: In recent years, companies have increasingly been characterized by environ- mental, social, and governance (ESG) scores, and investors and academics have raised questions concerning financial performance and investment risks. Now, as the European Banking Authority has acknowledged that ESG risks can potentially impact the […]

Risk-return performance of optimized ESG equity portfolios in the NYSE

via Zoom

Speaker: Prof. Javier Lopez Prol, Economics & Environmental Finance, Yonsei University (Mirae) Abstract: The literature on the risk-return performance of equity portfolios depending on their ESG score is mixed. While most studies use some variant of Fama-French, we optimize equity portfolios of the NYSE between 2018-2019 according to the Markovitz mean-variance framework depending on their […]

A Comparison of ESG and Credit Ratings

via Zoom

Speaker: Prof. Thierry Roncalli, Head of Quantitative Research, Amundi Institute; and Adjunct Prof. of Economics, University of Evry Abstract: In this talk, we analyze the construction of ESG ratings and investigate their time dynamics. For that, we build the migration matrix of ESG ratings and assess the probabilistic properties of the associated Markov chain. We […]

ESG compliant optimal portfolios: The impact of ESG constraints on portfolio optimization in a sample of European stocks

via Zoom

Speaker: Beatrice Bertelli, Dept. of Economics, Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia Abstract: The introduction of the Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) dimensions in setting up optimal portfolios has been becoming of uttermost importance for the financial industry. Given the absence of consensus in empirical literature and the limited number of studies providing performance […]