Disability inclusion is shaping up to be the next frontier of ESG investing.
Investors are pushing companies to create more welcoming workplaces for employees with disabilities, whether they use a wheelchair or have a mental illness. Twenty-two institutions managing $2.8 trillion (Dh10.3tn) of assets urged corporations in late May to review their policies and set hiring targets, among other steps. Last year’s call to action, the group’s first, featured 15 supporters running $1tn.
Companies worldwide are confronting the dearth of diversity in their ranks, which some investors argue affects financial results. It also underscores the promise of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which marked its 30th anniversary on Sunday. The law seeks to unlock opportunities for people with disabilities by barring discrimination because of physical or mental impairments.
“You’ve seen really a groundswell of interest,” said New York Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, who oversees the state’s $210.5 billion public-employee retirement fund. Shareholders are seeing that “while the ADA was enacted, there’s still a lot of work to do to realise the goals of that”.
ESG investors have historically focused on environmental issues and, in part due to the corporate blow-ups of the 2008 financial crisis, on governance. In recent years, gender and equality have also become salient issues.
Among investors, disability inclusion hadn’t enjoyed the same prominence. The cause got a boost following a 2018 Accenture report showing companies could access a talent pool of 10.7 million people if they provided accessible technologies or re-skilling programmes, among other initiatives.
Companies that committed to the effort achieved 28 per cent higher revenue on average and double the net income than peers over a four-year period, according to Accenture’s study.
This year, the New York pension fund and its $76bn Massachusetts counterpart changed their proxy voting guidelines to add disability inclusion as one of the factors by which they will assess companies.
Mr DiNapoli has sent letters to 82 firms urging them to join the Disability Equality Index, a benchmark that tracks progress toward friendlier workplaces for people with mental or physical impairments.
The push resulted in 24 corporations agreeing to participate or at least consider doing so, according to the comptroller. The 2020 edition of the index covered 247 companies, up from 48 at its inception in 2014.
More data will make it possible to continue assessing the performance of companies with welcoming policies, a key step in making disability inclusion more mainstream among investors, according to Drew Schechtman, head of ESG strategy at Voya Investment Management, which oversees $214bn of assets.
“We need more eyes on that – more investment due diligence on that as a thesis,” Mr Schechtman said. “To do that, you need transparency.”
Covid-19 has highlighted disparities for people with disabilities. At the height of pandemic-related job losses, 18.9 per cent of Americans with disabilities were unemployed, compared with 14.3 per cent for the rest of the population, according to unadjusted April data from the Bureau of Labour Statistics. The jobless rate for people with disabilities has recovered more slowly as states reopen.
3%20Body%20Problem
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KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
The%20specs
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Your Guide to the Home
- Level 1 has a valet service if you choose not to park in the basement level. This level houses all the kitchenware, including covetable brand French Bull, along with a wide array of outdoor furnishings, lamps and lighting solutions, textiles like curtains, towels, cushions and bedding, and plenty of other home accessories.
- Level 2 features curated inspiration zones and solutions for bedrooms, living rooms and dining spaces. This is also where you’d go to customise your sofas and beds, and pick and choose from more than a dozen mattress options.
- Level 3 features The Home’s “man cave” set-up and a display of industrial and rustic furnishings. This level also has a mother’s room, a play area for children with staff to watch over the kids, furniture for nurseries and children’s rooms, and the store’s design studio.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Specs – Taycan 4S
Engine: Electric
Transmission: 2-speed auto
Power: 571bhp
Torque: 650Nm
Price: Dh431,800
Specs – Panamera
Engine: 3-litre V6 with 100kW electric motor
Transmission: 2-speed auto
Power: 455bhp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: from Dh431,800
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates, Etihad and Swiss fly direct from the UAE to Zurich from Dh2,855 return, including taxes.
The chalet
Chalet N is currently open in winter only, between now and April 21. During the ski season, starting on December 11, a week’s rental costs from €210,000 (Dh898,431) per week for the whole property, which has 22 beds in total, across six suites, three double rooms and a children’s suite. The price includes all scheduled meals, a week’s ski pass, Wi-Fi, parking, transfers between Munich, Innsbruck or Zurich airports and one 50-minute massage per person. Private ski lessons cost from €360 (Dh1,541) per day. Halal food is available on request.
Read more about the coronavirus
Company%20Profile
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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
LILO & STITCH
Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders
Director: Dean Fleischer Camp
Rating: 4.5/5
What is an ETF?
An exchange traded fund is a type of investment fund that can be traded quickly and easily, just like stocks and shares. They come with no upfront costs aside from your brokerage's dealing charges and annual fees, which are far lower than on traditional mutual investment funds. Charges are as low as 0.03 per cent on one of the very cheapest (and most popular), Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, with the maximum around 0.75 per cent.
There is no fund manager deciding which stocks and other assets to invest in, instead they passively track their chosen index, country, region or commodity, regardless of whether it goes up or down.
The first ETF was launched as recently as 1993, but the sector boasted $5.78 billion in assets under management at the end of September as inflows hit record highs, according to the latest figures from ETFGI, a leading independent research and consultancy firm.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five largest providers BlackRock’s iShares, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisers, Deutsche Bank X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
While the best-known track major indices such as MSCI World, the S&P 500 and FTSE 100, you can also invest in specific countries or regions, large, medium or small companies, government bonds, gold, crude oil, cocoa, water, carbon, cattle, corn futures, currency shifts or even a stock market crash.
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
INDIA'S%20TOP%20INFLUENCERS
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Wayne Rooney's career
Everton (2002-2004)
- Appearances: 48
- Goals: 17
Manchester United (2004-2017)
- Appearances: 496
- Goals: 253
England (2003-)
- Appearances: 119
- Goals: 53
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
