Sustainable investing is booming. The investment industry is fast approaching a point where one-third of global assets under management are invested with a sustainable objective. But do sustainable investment products do what investors expect them to do? How can an investor tell if their investments are having the social impact they want? Does that impact come at a financial cost? And how can investors weave their way through the web of confusing acronyms, conflicting agency ratings, and the mass of fund offerings, confident that they can recognize and avoid corporate greenwashing? Larry Swedroe and Sam Adams cut through the fog and bring clarity on all of this and more—providing investors with a firm plan for truly sustainable investing. The authors first define sustainable investing, illuminating the differences between ESG, SRI and impact investing, and reveal who is currently investing sustainably and why. They then move on to a comprehensive review of the academic research. What does the data really say about risk and return in sustainable investing? What performance can you genuinely expect from sustainable investments? And how are today’s sustainable investors using their influence to drive positive changes for society and the environment? Finally, this book arms you with a practical guide to investing sustainably, including how to effectively choose your asset allocation strategy, and select the managers and funds through which your money can create the change you want to see in the world. Your Essential Guide to Sustainable Investing is the definitive go-to resource that investors have been waiting for.

The vast majority of invested assets do not consider environmental, social or governance (ESG) factors. Socially responsible investing (SRI) emerged to address these challenges, but it remains largely deployed in "negative strategies" such as sector screening, and continues to be a small investment niche, largely due to perceptions about potential underperformance.Sustainable investing is a new, more positive investment construct, described as "an investment discipline that explicitly considers future social and environmental trends in financial decision making, in order to provide the best risk-adjusted and opportunity-directed returns for investors. By anticipating these trends ahead of the market, sustainable investing seeks to identify 'predictable surprises' that can help maximize value over the long term."This concise guide by one of the sector's leading experts: Disentangles the terminology around SRI and describes a new, positive, opportunities-oriented paradigm for sustainable investing Showcases funds and strategies that are delivering outperformance within ecological limitsSets out the key megatrends and scenarios which investors need to consider, and Offers a practical guide to constructing a sustainable portfolio. This is absolutely essential reading for investors, fund managers and analysts who need to get up to speed on sustainable investing.

A seminal shift has taken place in the world of investing. A clear and overarching reality has emerged which must be solved: financial considerations must factor in sustainability considerations for ongoing societal success, while sustainability issues equally need to be driven by a business case. As a result, investment practices are evolving, especially towards more positive philosophies and frameworks. Sustainable Investing brings the reader up to speed on trends playing out in each region and asset class, drawing on contributions from leading practitioners across the globe. Implications abound for financial professionals and other interested investors, as well as corporations seeking to understand future investment trends that will affect their shareholders’ thinking. Policymakers and other stakeholders also need to be aware of what is happening in order to understand how they can be most effective at helping implement and enable the changes arguably now required for economic and financial success. Sustainable Investing represents an essential overview of sustainable investment practices that will be a valuable resource for students and scholars of sustainable banking and finance, as well as professionals and policymakers with an interest in this fast-moving field.

This book reviews the latest methods of sustainable investing and financial profit making and describes how ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) analysis can identify future business opportunities and manage risk to achieve abnormal returns. Megatrends such as climate change, sustainable development and digitalisation increase uncertainty and information asymmetry and have an impact on the future returns on investments. From a profit perspective, it is largely about how ESG factors affect the long-term value added by companies and the valuation of companies in the financial markets. Although sustainability provides an opportunity for abnormal returns, this phenomenon must be considered in a critical light. The book describes the risks and limitations associated with the accountability and availability of ESG data and tools. This book provides both academic findings and practical models for assessing the sustainability of investees and introduces practical tools and methods to make ESG analysis practice. It focuses on the ESG analysis of equity investments and fund investments in institutional investment organizations and provides a handbook for all investment analysts who are involved with investment decisions. Readers will benefit from understanding the methods, opportunities and challenges that professionals use in their ESG analysis with cases, interviews and practical tools for both institutional and private investors.

Sustainable Investing is fast becoming an essential method of generating long-term returns, moving beyond the negative approaches to socially responsible investing that have dominated the field. This book, our second on the subject, provides over 15 case studies of leading global investors and companies demonstrating how they successfully apply sustainability aspects to their core strategies. Learn from prominent thought leaders Dan Esty and Paul Hawken among others who have contributed key chapters. Our chapter on performance shows clearly how these strategies have been working once negative approaches are parsed out by those examining fund returns. This book also examines in great depth what data exists, and what's on the horizon, to best measure & capture sustainability successfully. Regional perspectives, including 3 chapters on Asia, and focuses on Canada, Australia, Africa & India are also included, as is a look across asset classes. Sustainable Investing, when performed with a positive perspective, has been outperforming the mainstream, unlike negative approaches designed to match benchmark returns. From eco-efficiency to sustainability-driven innovation and beyond, investors of all shapes & sizes need to know how best to position themselves for the radical market shifts underway.

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.

"Can investors do well financially and do good for the world? Should they try? Many assume that investors "don't care who wins" as long as they are making money. For some investors, this mindset still rings true. Yet, many other investors challenge this stereotype and prefer to "make money mean more." Thus, they have dual goals: making money and doing good. This viewpoint, called sustainable investing, has gained considerable momentum in the last few decades. Sustainable investing delivers value by balancing traditional investing with environmental, social, and governance-related (ESG) insights to improve long-term outcomes. Some view sustainable investing as critical to the sustainability of investing. The book aims to demystify sustainable investing for "average" investors. It uses a question-and-answer format to examine whether such investments have a place in investor portfolios. Each chapter also contains insightful and amusing quotes by investment professionals and others. The book includes six chapters. Chapter 1 examines the changing investment landscape. Chapter 2 explores corporate social responsibility and the evolving responsibilities and obligations of a business. Chapter 3 focuses on the roles of social and religious values in shaping sustainable investing. Chapter 4 discusses the many investment options available to sustainable investors, such as stock, bonds, mutual funds, and exchange-traded funds. Chapter 5 reviews the performance implications of sustainable investing. This research-oriented chapter investigates the intriguing question, "Can sustainable investors have their cake and eat it too?" Finally, Chapter 6 ends by focusing on building a portfolio with a purpose"--