This book brings together thought leadership from academia and leading figures in asset management in key global jurisdictions, to pool together insights regarding the transformative visions and challenges for modern investment management, as well as best practices that realise the policy objectives in regulation and soft law. The world of investment management is being challenged by new legal, regulatory and soft law developments to demonstrate that their practices cohere with the long-term needs of the saving population as well as public interest needs in financing global sustainability and social development. The chapters in this book uniquely bring together the views of academia and practice on the key developments that can transform the law and practice of investment management, including the EU's new sustainable finance reform package, the UK Stewardship Code 2020, and developments in the US regarding the fit between fiduciary law for investment management and modern sustainability concerns. The book brings together the best of both worlds–critical thoughtful perspectives from academia and qualitative insight from the investment management industry. It will be of interest to researchers in law, investment management, business and management, practitioners in the investment management industry and their legal advisers, and policy-makers in the EU, UK and beyond who are grappling with the appropriate governance paradigms for bringing about more sustainable outcomes globally.

This survey examines the vibrant academic literature on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing. While there is no consensus on the exact list of ESG issues, responsible investors increasingly assess stocks in their portfolios based on nonfinancial data on environmental impact (e.g., carbon emissions), social impact (e.g., employee satisfaction), and governance attributes (e.g., board structure). The objective is to reduce exposure to investments that pose greater ESG risks or to influence companies to become more sustainable. One active area of research at present involves assessing portfolio risk exposure to climate change. This literature review focuses on institutional investors, which have grown in importance such that they have now become the largest holders of shares in public companies globally. Historically, institutional investors tended to concentrate their ESG efforts mostly on corporate governance (the “G” in ESG). These efforts included seeking to eliminate provisions that restrict shareholder rights and enhance managerial power, such as staggered boards, supermajority rules, golden parachutes, and poison pills. Highlights from this section: · There is no consensus on the exact list of ESG issues and their materiality. · The ESG issue that gets the most attention from institutional investors is climate change, in particular their portfolio companies’ exposure to carbon risk and “stranded assets.” · Investors should be positioning themselves for increased regulation, with the regulatory agenda being more ambitious in the European Union than in the United States. Readers might come away from this survey skeptical about the potential for ESG investing to affect positive change. I prefer to characterize the current state of the literature as having a “healthy dose of skepticism,” with much more remaining to be explored. Here, I hope the reader comes away with a call to action. For the industry practitioner, I believe that the investment industry should strive to achieve positive societal goals. CFA Institute provides an exemplary case in its Future of Finance series (www.cfainstitute.org/research/future-finance). For the academic community, I suggest we ramp up research aimed at tackling some of the open questions around the pressing societal goals of ESG investing. I am optimistic that practitioners and academics will identify meaningful ways to better harness the power of global financial markets for addressing the pressing ESG issues facing our society.

This book brings together thought leadership from academia and leading figures in asset management in key global jurisdictions, to pool together insights regarding the transformative visions and challenges for modern investment management, as well as best practices that realise the policy objectives in regulation and soft law. The world of investment management is being challenged by new legal, regulatory and soft law developments to demonstrate that their practices cohere with the long-term needs of the saving population as well as public interest needs in financing global sustainability and social development. The chapters in this book uniquely bring together the views of academia and practice on the key developments that can transform the law and practice of investment management, including the EU's new sustainable finance reform package, the UK Stewardship Code 2020, and developments in the US regarding the fit between fiduciary law for investment management and modern sustainability concerns. The book brings together the best of both worlds–critical thoughtful perspectives from academia and qualitative insight from the investment management industry. It will be of interest to researchers in law, investment management, business and management, practitioners in the investment management industry and their legal advisers, and policy-makers in the EU, UK and beyond who are grappling with the appropriate governance paradigms for bringing about more sustainable outcomes globally.

Your guide to investing for a more sustainable world Investing in one’s own future has always been a good financial move. But what if you want to ensure that the companies you have a financial interest in are also helping to improve the present and future of all of us—and of the planet? More than ever before, sustainable investors want to be confident that a company’s Environmental (net zero emissions target), Social (response to the Covid-19 pandemic), and Governance (no repeats of Enron and WorldCom) policies and actions are positively impacting the global outlook—and to identify ways that their dollar can incentivize business leaders to do even better. The worldwide rise of an Environmental, Socially Responsible, and Governance (ESG) approach to investing shows you’re not alone, and the $30+ trillion—and growing—committed in this way says it’s already become a transformative global movement. ESG provides a framework for evaluating companies that, unlike unrelated investment strategies, informs and guides sustainable investment. Even if you’re a novice investor, ESG For Dummies will allow you to hit this new investing landscape running, providing you with measurable ways to factor ESG into company performance, see how these are reflected in your investment return, and show how you can monitor companies to ensure your money is being put to ethical use. You’ll also become familiar with the big names to follow in the ESG world, how they’re already effecting positive change, and how you can help. Identify the drivers for each category of ESG Define and measure material ESG factors for investing success Understand principles for building a diversified sustainable portfolio Recognize material ESG factors effect on company performance ESG investing introduces powerful tools to do real and lasting good: this book shows you how to use them to help make everyone’s future, including your own, much more secure.

This edition of the OECD Sovereign Borrowing Outlook reviews developments in response to the COVID-19 pandemic for government borrowing needs, funding conditions and funding strategies in the OECD area.

This book addresses the welfare gains and costs of accumulating foreign exchange reserves and the implications for the functioning of the global financial system. The tremendous growth of central bank reserves has led to an increased focus on raising returns in addition to the traditional preference central banks have for maintaining liquid portfolios. Issues such as asset and currency diversification, the impact of new accounting rules and the profit distribution agreements with the government are analysed, adding new insights to the current debate on the optimal size of central bank reserves. This book brings together a wide range of experts from central banks, investment banks and the academic community.

This Research Handbook is a one-stop resource on global capital markets and the laws that regulate them. Featuring contributions from leading global experts, the Research Handbook delves into a range of issues including investment products such as equity finance; sustainable finance; fintech; impact investing; and private equity. It also provides analysis on institutional and procedural issues such as large and small companies' capital formation, the roles of institutional shareholders and information providers, and the practices and regulation of financial trading markets.