ESG

The Exchange: Dov Seidman

4 August 2020

The founder of LRN, a technology and education firm that advises global corporations on culture, governance, ethics and other matters chats with Rob Cox to discuss the importance of moral leadership, an issue that has taken on increased importance during the Covid-19 crisis.

James Murdoch headlines broader ESG challenges

2 August 2020

The one-time heir apparent to his father’s media empire quit the board of Wall Street Journal publisher News Corp. He cited clashes over content and strategy. If the ultimate insider can’t have much sway at a company, imagine how hard it is for outsiders such as BlackRock.

Corona Capital: Ford narrows the gap

30 July 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: The Detroit automaker put in a better second-quarter performance than expected. That’s good news for under-pressure CEO Jim Hackett – and allows Ford to close some of the distance to rival GM.

All sides could gain from $42 bln NorNickel reset

28 July 2020

An agreed management shakeup would protect the role of CEO Vladimir Potanin, who holds 35% in the Russian miner, and dodge legal disruption. Rusal, with 28%, could eke out more control. Other investors would get a better-run company, and a lower risk of ecological catastrophe.

Hydrogen investing is a lottery worth playing

22 July 2020

The element has huge potential as a carbon-free energy source. Prior false dawns, sky-high valuations and the difficulty of identifying which companies will endure are causes for investor caution. But the scale of the opportunity means there’s also a risk of missing out.

Green laggards face a rising tide of short selling

15 July 2020

A new BNP Paribas fund will hedge investments in companies embracing the energy transition by betting against shares in refuseniks. Shorting ESG sinners isn’t easy, and has even caused controversy. But as disclosure improves it can play a growing role in sorting sheep from goats.

BlackRock warrants a spot on its climate watchlist

14 July 2020

The $6.5 trln asset manager voted against 53 companies for environmental missteps in the past 12 months and put 191 more on notice. It’s much better than the previous year, and necessary after CEO Larry Fink’s call to climate arms. But BlackRock’s own role needs monitoring too.

Boohoo investors sense its strategic straitjacket

8 July 2020

The fast fashion retailer’s shares have slumped again, despite a plan to fix its supply chain. The wider issue is that a doubling of UK clothing makers’ pay could halve Boohoo’s EBITDA margins. Other steps – offshoring more production or hiking prices – are problematic too.

Corona Capital: Texas hold it

7 July 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: The iconic State Fair of Texas has been canceled as coronavirus cases in the region soar. The decision adds some $500 mln to the Lone Star State’s economic and human toll from the pandemic.

Time for Boohoo bosses to put on an ESG hair shirt

6 July 2020

The 4 bln pound retailer has been accused of sourcing clothes from UK workshops which don’t pay minimum wage or observe Covid-19 restrictions. Betting that consumers and investors don’t care is old hat. Adding ESG metrics to its bumper bonus plans would make them more palatable.

Norilsk Nickel underlines funds’ ESG blind spot

2 July 2020

The Russian miner had a bad pollution record even before it leaked 21,000 tonnes of fuel in the Arctic Circle. Passive investors like BlackRock have pledged to engage more closely with ESG miscreants. But when the company is controlled by oligarchs, they may just be ignored.

Corona Capital: Drug hoarding, Vacation-free world

1 July 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Stockpiling of Covid-19 treatment remdesivir may come back to haunt the Trump administration, while a forecast of $3.3 trillion in lost tourism is more than an inconvenience for some national economies.

Activists are ready to play, but lack playbook

30 June 2020

JPMorgan reckons market conditions have been ripe for pushy investors to set their sights on new target companies. The pandemic fallout could force lots of changes and deals. Yet traditional activist ideas and a near-exclusive focus on shareholder value may not cut it.

Virus inflates allure of Abu Dhabi gas pipelines

23 June 2020

The emirate’s oil giant ADNOC has sold 49% of its infrastructure arm to investors including GIC and Brookfield. A $21 bln valuation is higher than mooted before Covid-19. That’s probably because the virus has made a combination of secure assets and leverage even more appealing.

BP’s greener credentials sharpen focus on dividend

15 June 2020

The energy giant is writing off up to $17.5 bln after slashing long-term oil price forecasts. BP’s green transition would get an extra boost if it cut dividends to spend more on low-carbon output. But as Royal Dutch Shell has found, that irks investors it needs to keep sweet.

Norilsk Nickel hits investors when they’re down

11 June 2020

The miner’s biggest shareholder Vladimir Potanin wants to cap 2020 dividends at 25% of forecasts. ESG-conscious foreign investors will have blanched after it leaked 21,000 tonnes of fuel. They’ll be even less keen on cutting payouts by a lot more than the apparent cleanup costs.

Dixon: We need green deals, but will we get them?

18 May 2020

There’s a growing investor consensus that post-pandemic recovery plans should be green. But what should those “green new deals” look like? How should they be funded? And how can governments be pressurised to play ball?

Sustainable investing’s virus halo is premature

18 May 2020

Environmental, social and governance-focused funds outperformed peers in the first quarter, new BlackRock research suggests. Steady inflows are encouraging given the fear investors would ditch ESG in a crisis. But one quarter alone is not enough to judge the sector.

Climate fight will survive pandemic’s mixed legacy

14 May 2020

Covid-19 distilled into weeks the havoc global warming will cause over years. Going green will help states avoid a permanent version of stranded airline, oil and other assets. The challenge is to balance short-term jobless worries with the need for a sustainable economic future.

Guest view: Climate change is the next Covid-19

30 April 2020

The failure to properly plan for the coronavirus outbreak has made dealing with it much harder. As former White House energy and climate adviser John E. Morton argues, the cost of addressing damaging global warming will be similarly increased unless governments show leadership.