In the latest Compexity Premia podcast we cover recent Livewire articles and: debate whether the RBA is going to blow the housing bubble back up with interest rate cuts; discuss new RBA research that blames the central bank for the rapid house price growth between 2012-2017 (contrary to what the... Show More
In this new research paper, members of the quantitative research and portfolio management teams at Coolabah Capital Investments (CCI) present new evidence on whether the claimed alpha and beta benefits of ESG filters in both the global equities and corporate bond markets exist. You can download a full copy of... Show More
January this year brought the sad news that Jack Bogle had died. Mr Bogle, the founder of the Vanguard Group, was the great pioneer of passive investing. Since he began to promote index-tracking funds in the 1970s, there’s been a huge increase in their use. This increase accelerated with the... Show More
Factoring in environmental, social and governance into your appraisal of a company not only helps find more profitable investments, but can also help you avoid blow-ups. This was the view shared by Peter Rutter, Head of Global Equities, Royal London Asset Management, when we asked him about his investment process. Show More
WHEB Asset Management is a UK based fund manager at the forefront of the growing movement in Impact Investing, they are also leaders in measuring the impact associated with their investments. For example, if you invested $100,000 with WHEB over 2017 you would have avoided the CO2 emissions created by... Show More
In Paisley 80 years ago, a woman became ill after being served ginger beer from a bottle containing a decomposing snail. The ensuing claim for damages resulted in a lengthy legal process resulting in success for the claimant. This precedent created a legal risk associated with poor quality service and... Show More
Sunday 22nd April was International Mother Earth Day, a day designed to highlight the need for a collective responsibility to promote harmony with nature and the Earth to achieve a just balance among the economic, social and environmental needs of present and future generations of humanity. This year was as... Show More
Whether you’ve heard of it or not, ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) investing is already big business. Bank of America claims it has doubled in the past few decades1 and the US$1.3tn Government Pension Investment Fund of Japan intends to more than triple its portfolio allocation to ESG investments from... Show More
Many quants and hedge fund managers are sceptical of the value of ESG (Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance) data. It certainly makes reasonable sense that traditional ESG data tends to be the domain of long-term investors. Show More
Climate change has financial implications that are too big to ignore. Companies that do not anticipate regulatory developments may be at risk of a higher cost of capital, more expensive regulation or redundant assets. At Capital Group, we recognise that corporate decisions have the potential to cause harm to people... Show More
Today's edition of the Daily AGM note is now available at this link https://subscriber.theexecutiveremunerationreporter.com.au/archives/15149 Rio Tinto's shareholders overwhelmingly voted in favour of the shareholder requisitioned resolution on climate change with more than 99% voting in favour of it across the plc and ltd AGMs. The note is updated continuously throughout... Show More
Further to my original note on Rio Tinto's 2015 results, https://subscriber.theexecutiveremunerationreporter.com.au/archives/14462 Rio Tinto has released its 2015 Annual Report and AGM materials (plc 14 April; ltd 5 May). I take a look at the remuneration outcomes in this note. https://subscriber.theexecutiveremunerationreporter.com.au/archives/14701 I had some difficulty in reconciling the narrative disclosures to... Show More
Following its recent announcement of $4.7 billion in capital initiatives including the pro-rated renounceable entitlement offer (the retail entitlement offer booklet was released today), the company and its two executive directors have agreed to withdraw resolutions 8 and 9 from the AGM. These two resolutions sought shareholder approval to grant... Show More
AGL Energy's 2015 AGM was today. All but the shareholder requisitioned resolution passed on polls with strong support. The resolution to amend the constitution to impose climate change disclosure obligations failed to pass with only 5.20% of votes for the amendment. This was always the likely outcome. As observed in... Show More
In an earlier wire https://www.livewiremarkets.com/wires/28972 I noted Origin Energy's 2015 AGM agenda includes a shareholder resolution to amend the constitution to introduce new climate change reporting obligations on the company. I look at the company's reconciliation of its current disclosures to the disclosures sought by the resolution in the attached... Show More
In an earlier wire on AGL Energy's upcoming 2015 AGM on 30 September 2015, https://www.livewiremarkets.com/wires/28893 I identified a shareholder requisitioned resolution seeking to insert climate change related disclosure obligations in the constitution. AGL Energy's announcement today of its signing onto the We Mean Business Coalition http://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/ is a step in... Show More
Origin Energy's 2015 AGM on Wednesday 21 October 2015 includes a section 249N requisition from a small group of shareholders proposing a resolution to amend the constitution to include a requirement for annual reporting relating to emissions management, generation portfolio resilience to IEA scenarios http://www.iea.org/publications/scenariosandprojections/ as well as information on... Show More
In recognition of growing demand for investments satisfying Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) mandates, the past week has seen ANZ Bank launch its first Green Bond. This bond issue forms part of ANZ’s commitment to support the transition to a lower carbon economy. Show More
In December 2013, we formed a Stranded Assets Working Group (SAWG) to assess the risks associated with potential fossil fuel asset stranding. The SAWG's assessment of the issues concluded that although the risks are real, complex and potentially material to long-term investment value, there are a number of related and... Show More
Today marks a special day for our business, as we launch our eight annual Responsible Investment and Stewardship report, and seek to challenge the impression that investing responsibly requires a performance sacrifice. This year's report focuses on providing in depth insight into how responsible investment and stewardship adds value to... Show More