Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Investing

Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Investing: A Balanced Analysis of the Theory and Practice of a Sustainable Portfolio presents a balanced, thorough analysis of ESG factors as they are incorporated into the investment process. An estimated 25% of all new investments are in ESG funds, with a global total of $23 trillion and the U.S. accounting for almost $9 trillion. Many advocate the sustainability goals promoted by ESG, while others prefer to maximize returns and spend their earnings on social causes. The core problem facing those who want to promote sustainability goals is to define sustainability investing and measure its returns.

This book examines theories and their practical implications, illuminating issues that other books leave in the shadows.

• Provides a dispassionate examination of ESG investing
• Presents the historical arguments for maximizing returns and competing theories to support an ESG approach
• Reviews case studies of empirical evidence about relative returns of both traditional and ESG investment approaches

Upper-division undergraduates through professionals working in quantitative economics, portfolio management, and economic sustainability

1. Introduction: Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Investing
2. Socially Responsible Investing, Impact Investing, Religious Values Investing: Defining and Contrasting the Alternative Investing Styles
3. ESG at a Firm Level: Theories of the Firm
4. Fiduciaries: Making Investment Decisions for Beneficiaries
5. Overview of Financial Markets
6. Financial Markets: Equities
7. Financial Markets: Bonds
8. Shareholder Activism
9. Defining and Measuring ESG Performance
10. ESG in Managing Institutional Investor Funds
11. ESG in Managing University Endowments
12. ESG in Managing Sovereign Wealth and Government Sponsored Funds
13. ESG in Managing Family Offices
14. ESG in Religious Values Investing
15. ESG in Impact Investing
16. Conclusions and Outlook for the Future