In exploring this question we reached out to leading experts in the ESG investing industry to find out their responses, and this is what we found…
QUESTIONWhat progress in ESG investing inspires you today?
ANSWERPeter Fusaro, Partner & Head of ESG and Impact AV Group and Founder, Wall Street Green Summit
ANSWERThe Covid crisis has created a unique opportunity to rebuild society where human health and welfare come first. I am particularly inspired by the hundreds of thousands of young people throughout the world who are ready and capable of helping to do the heavy lifting required to accelerate sustainibility in clean energy, sustainable agriculture, clean water, a regenerative economy, and social justice. ESG investors get read for this inflection point!
QUESTIONWhat progress in ESG investing inspires you today?
ANSWERBob Dannahuser, CFA, FRM, CAIA & Senior Advisor, The Investment Integration Project
I’ve had a front-row seat to sustainable investing over the course of my career and have seen it evolve from something driven more by marketing to something beginning to become rooted in investment analysis and strategy. And while cynical voices remain (and are well worth listening to, for they make us better), I’m gratified that environmental issues in particular are much more mainstream. The pandemic, an awful episode with catastrophic impact for so many, offers an opportunity for social issues to join that trajectory to become a more routine component of what drives investor decisions, as the systemic, disruptive effects of income inequality, worker rights, and a fragile healthcare system become more prominent to more of us.
QUESTIONWhat progress in ESG investing inspires you today?
ANSWERChris Stearns, CFP & Financial Advisor at Conte Wealth Advisors, LLC
ANSWER”The welfare of any segment of humanity is inextricably bound up with the welfare of the whole. Humanity’s collective life suffers when any one group thinks of its own well-being in isolation from that of its neighbours…” – The Universal House of Justice.
QUESTIONWhat progress in ESG investing inspires you today?
ANSWERDr. Gillian Marcelle, Resilience Capital Ventures
ANSWERESG investing has great potential to contribute to sustainable development and improved livelihoods for persons living in communities with high climate risk and vulnerability. I am seeing slow movement in mainstream and alternative financial institutions, understanding how an ESG investment philosophy can be good for both the bottom line and society. Finding ways to accelerate these changes keeps me motivated and inspired.
QUESTIONWhat progress in ESG investing inspires you today?
ANSWERJeffrey Gitterman, Co-Founding Partner and creator of Sustainable and Impact Investing Services at Gitterman Wealth Management, LLC
ANSWEROne of the things lacking in ESG data has been information on racial inequality at the corporate level for both pay equity and management opportunities, as well as board seats. George Floyd protests have exposed this lack of disclosure and we are starting to shed some light on better corporate disclosure. You can’t manage what you don’t measure.
QUESTIONWhat progress in ESG investing inspires you today?
ANSWERWilliam Burckart, Co-Founder and President, The Investment Integration Project; co-author of 21st Century Investing: Redirecting Financial Strategies to Drive Systems Change (2021)
ANSWERMore and more, investors—big and small, individual and institutional—are beginning to extend their embrace of ESG investing to include the context (or systems) in which they operate. In doing so, these investors are charting a path forward for the financial community to better manage and solve the complex and interconnected social and environmental challenges like income inequality and climate change that are increasingly threatening returns across all asset classes.
QUESTIONWhat progress in ESG investing inspires you today?
ANSWERDorri McWhorter, CEO, YWCA Metropolitan Chicago
ANSWERIt is inspiring to see investors actively seeking new impact investing strategies across different asset classes. At the same time, we are witnessing social impact organizations actively creating new vehicles and strategies! I am excited that engagement is coming from both the finance industry and social impact organizations with the objective to use finance as a tool to accelerate the pace of change.
QUESTIONWhat progress in ESG investing inspires you today?
ANSWERPhil Kirshman, CFA, CFP & Founder at Impact Metropolis
ANSWERI’m inspired by the energy of the next generation, which seems to be significantly more thoughtful about how investment capital will be deployed in the future than their parents and grandparents were. I’m inspired by the rigor with which many are approaching the field today, in terms of evaluation, analysis, and impact measurement of the investable universe. Finally, I’m inspired by the authenticity and commitment of many of the practitioners of the impact investment field, older and younger, who are seeking ways to make a measurable positive difference in the world.
QUESTIONWhat progress in ESG investing inspires you today?
ANSWER Aisha Williams – ESG Investment Advisor, RJK Associates
ANSWERI’m inspired by the continuing shift in attitudes towards investing sustainably as awareness is increasing among younger investors of the source of investment returns, which in turn is prompting a shift towards ESG mandates such as the European Commission’s Action Plan on Sustainable Finance. In The UK, climate risk concerns have prompted the Financial Conduct Authority to consult on proposals that will require financial firms to disclose how they handle climate risk and other ESG criteria. The continual progress in ESG investing, supported by institutional mandates, clearly shows the realization that the adoption of ESG investing needs to be proactive in order to aid in the reshaping of the investment landscape towards responsible and sustainable investing.
