With sustainable investing becoming more prevalent, more investors are factoring environmental, social and governance (ESG) data into their decision-making.
This year, we expect to see continued issues from the pandemic and its associated economic and societal implications.
For investors trying to position and navigate their portfolios through the uncertainty, considering ESG can provide a valuable perspective on the material factors affecting companies in 2021.
It is important to note that ESG factors are neither static nor exhaustive, but rather they highlight challenges companies might face and which investors may want to understand.
Environmental factors
The pandemic may have moved environmental awareness down the global agenda as they focused on more pressing issues. However, climate breakdown has continued relentlessly and will likely regain pace as output recovers.
With hopes of a vaccine being distributed soon, we expect more attention to return to environmental factors, notably in carbon emissions and biodiversity.
Social factors
Social factors have generally not received the same attention as environmental and governance ones. The comprehensive and pervasive effects of the pandemic across industries and countries seem to have made social factors more universal and a priority for investors.
How companies managed their relationships – with employees, suppliers, customers and in its communities – became immediately evident and comparable. We expect, as the economy attempts to recover, attention to grow next year in two areas in particular: employee safety and labour management.
Governance factors
Even before the rise of using ESG factors, governance has been a long-standing, non-financial consideration for many investors. It covers a broad range of corporate activities such as board and management structures, shareholder rights management, remuneration and incentives, board diversity, corporate policies and standards, information disclosure and ethical behaviours.
With hopes of a vaccine being distributed soon, we expect more attention to return to environmental factors, notably in carbon emissions and biodiversity
Last year, we saw widespread calls for more gender and racial equity along with social justice and reversal of globalisation. While these issues will continue into, and beyond, 2021, two aspects are material for investors – the robustness of corporate governance and alignment of executive remuneration.
Using ESG to select quality investments
The reality is investors consider a variety of factors when deciding whether to select, or hold, an investment. Adding ESG factors can enhance existing investment processes by including non-financial information – hopefully to make more informed investment decisions.
Traditionally, investors’ primary data points have been financial ones, with sources such as annual reports, management presentations and earnings statements. Several traditional performance indicators may be disrupted this year, therefore, relying solely on this information may limit the ability to select companies that will perform better in such challenging conditions.
The core premise is that by considering ESG factors, an investor can take account of a broader set of data to make a better judgement about the financial performance and longer-term value of a company. However, not all factors are equally relevant to all companies.
Given the wide range of ESG issues a company may face, an investor should narrow them to a set that is most relevant and translates into financial performance, impacting either free cash flow or eventually the cost of external financing. This materiality is important to identify which of these factors will influence, positively or negatively, a firm’s business model and value drivers.
Having determined the material ESG factors, investors can identify where a company can be at risk or have an advantage relative to its peers. For example, organisational practices and culture can affect a licence to operate or make a company more or less prone to scandals or fines.
By introducing leading environmental sustainability practices, greater operational effectiveness can be achieved. Or greater connection with employees and customers can be made through a company’s market positioning and activities.
Additionally, investors also have various options in how they assess and integrate ESG considerations into investment practices. While “ESG investing” is generally discussed as a homogeneous practice, there are substantial differences in investors’ approaches. At the broadest, two methods emerge – screening or incorporation.
Screening on ESG factors relies primarily on using either a single metric or a rating, which are a composite assessment of the relevant data points, calculated through weighing mechanisms. Investors can use the ratings from various agencies (such as MSCI, Sustainalytics, FTSE Russell or Refinitiv) or develop their in-house rating systems.
Incorporation, on the other hand, is a more nuanced approach, where investors include ESG factors into their investment assessment, discussion and decision-making. This can mean using ratings as part of the process, but they also tend to delve into the accompanying qualitative research reports and underlying data to the factors. With an incorporation approach, ESG becomes one of the factors to inform decision-making rather than a rigid, filtering one.
If investors can use ESG insights to understand better the complexities of associated risks and opportunities in how companies operate, they can position their portfolios accordingly. Additionally, more widespread use of such considerations and requirements to report such data may help encourage companies to make a positive change in how they operate on these factors.
In what looks like being a low-return era for investors, ESG integration provides additional tools for investors to select companies and build portfolios with the aim of generating long-term returns for 2021 and beyond.
Damian Payiatakis is the head of sustainable and impact investing at Barclays
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Four reasons global stock markets are falling right now
There are many factors worrying investors right now and triggering a rush out of stock markets. Here are four of the biggest:
1. Rising US interest rates
The US Federal Reserve has increased interest rates three times this year in a bid to prevent its buoyant economy from overheating. They now stand at between 2 and 2.25 per cent and markets are pencilling in three more rises next year.
Kim Catechis, manager of the Legg Mason Martin Currie Global Emerging Markets Fund, says US inflation is rising and the Fed will continue to raise rates in 2019. “With inflationary pressures growing, an increasing number of corporates are guiding profitability expectations downwards for 2018 and 2019, citing the negative impact of rising costs.”
At the same time as rates are rising, central bankers in the US and Europe have been ending quantitative easing, bringing the era of cheap money to an end.
2. Stronger dollar
High US rates have driven up the value of the dollar and bond yields, and this is putting pressure on emerging market countries that took advantage of low interest rates to run up trillions in dollar-denominated debt. They have also suffered capital outflows as international investors have switched to the US, driving markets lower. Omar Negyal, portfolio manager of the JP Morgan Global Emerging Markets Income Trust, says this looks like a buying opportunity. “Despite short-term volatility we remain positive about long-term prospects and profitability for emerging markets.”
3. Global trade war
Ritu Vohora, investment director at fund manager M&G, says markets fear that US President Donald Trump’s spat with China will escalate into a full-blown global trade war, with both sides suffering. “The US economy is robust enough to absorb higher input costs now, but this may not be the case as tariffs escalate. However, with a host of factors hitting investor sentiment, this is becoming a stock picker’s market.”
4. Eurozone uncertainty
Europe faces two challenges right now in the shape of Brexit and the new populist government in eurozone member Italy.
Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, which has offices in Dubai, says the stand-off between between Rome and Brussels threatens to become much more serious. "As with Brexit, neither side appears willing to step back from the edge, threatening more trouble down the line.”
The European economy may also be slowing, Mr Beauchamp warns. “A four-year low in eurozone manufacturing confidence highlights the fact that producers see a bumpy road ahead, with US-EU trade talks remaining a major question-mark for exporters.”
MATCH INFO
What: 2006 World Cup quarter-final
When: July 1
Where: Gelsenkirchen Stadium, Gelsenkirchen, Germany
Result:
England 0 Portugal 0
(Portugal win 3-1 on penalties)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
FULL%20FIGHT%20CARD
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%3Cp%3EThe%20influx%20of%20talented%20young%20Afghan%20players%20to%20UAE%20cricket%20could%20have%20a%20big%20impact%20on%20the%20fortunes%20of%20both%20countries.%20Here%20are%20three%20Emirates-based%20players%20to%20watch%20out%20for.%0D%3Cbr%3E%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EHassan%20Khan%20Eisakhil%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EMohammed%20Nabi%20is%20still%20proving%20his%20worth%20at%20the%20top%20level%20but%20there%20is%20another%20reason%20he%20is%20raging%20against%20the%20idea%20of%20retirement.%20If%20the%20allrounder%20hangs%20on%20a%20little%20bit%20longer%2C%20he%20might%20be%20able%20to%20play%20in%20the%20same%20team%20as%20his%20son%2C%20Hassan%20Khan.%20The%20family%20live%20in%20Ajman%20and%20train%20in%20Sharjah.%0D%3Cbr%3E%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EMasood%20Gurbaz%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EThe%20opening%20batter%2C%20who%20trains%20at%20Sharjah%20Cricket%20Academy%2C%20is%20another%20player%20who%20is%20a%20part%20of%20a%20famous%20family.%20His%20brother%2C%20Rahmanullah%2C%20was%20an%20IPL%20winner%20with%20Kolkata%20Knight%20Riders%2C%20and%20opens%20the%20batting%20with%20distinction%20for%20Afghanistan.%0D%3Cbr%3E%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOmid%20Rahman%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EThe%20fast%20bowler%20became%20a%20pioneer%20earlier%20this%20year%20when%20he%20became%20the%20first%20Afghan%20to%20represent%20the%20UAE.%20He%20showed%20great%20promise%20in%20doing%20so%2C%20too%2C%20playing%20a%20key%20role%20in%20the%20senior%20team%E2%80%99s%20qualification%20for%20the%20Asia%20Cup%20in%20Muscat%20recently.%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
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In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
Pox that threatens the Middle East's native species
Camelpox
Caused by a virus related to the one that causes human smallpox, camelpox typically causes fever, swelling of lymph nodes and skin lesions in camels aged over three, but the animal usually recovers after a month or so. Younger animals may develop a more acute form that causes internal lesions and diarrhoea, and is often fatal, especially when secondary infections result. It is found across the Middle East as well as in parts of Asia, Africa, Russia and India.
Falconpox
Falconpox can cause a variety of types of lesions, which can affect, for example, the eyelids, feet and the areas above and below the beak. It is a problem among captive falcons and is one of many types of avian pox or avipox diseases that together affect dozens of bird species across the world. Among the other forms are pigeonpox, turkeypox, starlingpox and canarypox. Avipox viruses are spread by mosquitoes and direct bird-to-bird contact.
Houbarapox
Houbarapox is, like falconpox, one of the many forms of avipox diseases. It exists in various forms, with a type that causes skin lesions being least likely to result in death. Other forms cause more severe lesions, including internal lesions, and are more likely to kill the bird, often because secondary infections develop. This summer the CVRL reported an outbreak of pox in houbaras after rains in spring led to an increase in mosquito numbers.
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