Responsible and sustainable investment ‘the new norm’
Nigel Green, CEO and Founder of deVere Group expects environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing to be the norm in under five years.
As the world sees increasingly negative effects from global warming, Nigel Green CEO and Founder of deVere Group predicts that environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing - whilst already on the rise - will become the new norm in under five years.
“Global awareness has skyrocketed about environmental, social and governance considerations over the last 12-18 months, in part due to the activism of the likes of Greta Thunberg, Extinction Rebellion and Jane Fonda, and due to the growing media coverage of climate change and its serious effects,” comments Green.
Currently the US and Europe are leading the charge when it comes to investment in ESG, accounting for 80% of the responsible investing market. Green highlights that one of the most compelling reasons for responsible investing being the ‘new norm’, is due to an increasing amount of evidence and ongoing research that ESG-related strategies can regularly outperform the market.
“It would not be unreasonable to assume that those companies that offer ESG-compliant investment could ultimately become some of the world’s most valuable companies. Could they take over from the current big tech firms? I would not be surprised. The investment world is evolving perhaps more rapidly than it has in decades due to the rise and rise of responsible and impactful investing,” concluded Green.
SEE ALSO:
Leading companies in the United States driving ESG investments include:
Bank of America
As part of its efforts to drive sustainable business activities, the bank has issued US$6.35bn on corporate green bonds, issued five corporate green bonds, underwritten - via its subsidiary - US$48bn in green bonds for over 100 clients and invested in clean energy projects.
Plug and Play
Most recently Plug and Play - known for its investment in PayPal and Dropbox - has invested in Mixmove, an innovative startup provider of software solutions for logistics to drive sustainable operations.
HP
Furthering its commitments to sustainability, HP has committed to investing US$200mn over the next five years into water-based ink towards the end of 2019. “We will be dedicating resources toward continued innovation and industry disruption to accelerate safer, simpler and more sustainable water-based printing technologies that meet the quality, performance and economics needed by these markets,” commented Santi Morera, general manager and global head of graphics solutions, HP Inc.
For more information on business topics in the United States, please take a look at the latest edition of Business Chief USA.
