Following extensive research showing an improvement in risk-adjusted returns for companies with higher ESG ratings, we look beyond what a company’s ESG issues were to how that company dealt with them — and the impact that had on stock-specific risk.

The US Customs and Border Protection agency released operational guidance for importing companies on how to comply with the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), which was signed into law on December 23, 2021. The big ask for companies was for more supply chain transparency. We discussed what UFLPA means for the world’s economy and why supply chain transparency is still so difficult. Then we discussed the most recent ruling US Supreme Court ruling that limited the Environmental Protection Agency's ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.

In its infancy, ESG was all about long-only. But now short sellers are elbowing their way into the picture and prompting some intriguing questions. While regulators play catch-up, we spoke with key investors to figure out how best to report ESG impacts and ESG risks in long-short portfolios.

A spate of auditor resignations for real estate developers in China have prompted whispers of economic contagion. The real estate market in China is really important and if it were to collapse, then the world might go with it. We discuss what ESG has to do with the looming, potential crisis, and how the problems we are already seeing in the market could be fixed with better company governance processes.

We draw on our consultation with owners and managers of long-short portfolios to recommend best practices for fund-level ESG and climate reporting. 

We identify APAC’s ESG “trendsetters,” and the companies that may be at risk of lagging behind, for climate, biodiversity and supply-chain risks.   

This week we take a look at how rising sea levels are threatening a highly concentrated cluster of China’s manufacturing regions. And it’s not just a risk for local producers – some of the word’s largest companies trace their supply chains right into the middle of these risky hotspots. And then we revisit the question of carbon offsets and whether they can do more than soothe a strained conscience.

It’s not just Santa’s North Pole headquarters that are at risk from global warming. Around 75% of the world’s toys are made in China — most coming from the country’s coastal provinces which face an increasing threat of flooding as global temperatures rise.

In a sweeping overhaul of its private education sector, China issued new regulations that requires the USD 100 billion industry to register as a non-profit. The move threatened to wipe out billions of dollars of market capital for any publicly listed Chinese education company and ignited a debate around profits, education, and private capital. We discuss what the move means from a local standpoint, a market standpoint, and from an impact investor standpoint. Then we discuss the ongoing sexual harassment controversy at Activision Blizzard that led to thousands of employees walking out of their jobs in protest this week.

The APAC region’s ESG performance has suffered from a combination of low ESG adoption and awareness and limited ESG regulation and reporting. But marked improvements are surfacing in environmental and social performance in certain sectors

The APAC region is one of the richest in terms of ESG opportunities, such as renewables and electric vehicles, yet also one of the highest risk areas, with pollution and supply chain risk in abundance. The good news? Some of the highest risk markets in APAC have seen some of the biggest improvement in ESG scores in the past three years. We talk about what this means. And then we discuss what would happen to global emissions if everyone in the world drove electric vehicles for a year.