thursday march 9, - bloomberg.com...thursday march 9, 2017 march 9, 2017 top u.s. esg funds find...
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Thursday
March 9, 2017
March 9, 2017
Top U.S. ESG Funds Find Returns in Small Caps, TechBy Emily Chasan and Justin MortonU.S.-based ESG-focused investors outperformed with small caps last year and expectthe financial and technology sectors to beat peers in 2017, according to Bloomberg's first ever of funds with a sustainability bias.ranking
The which holds about 30 stocks and focuses on three- Parnassus Endeavor Fund,year return, ranked as the top ESG fund through Dec. 31, 2016. The rankings looked at funds with a five-year track record, and at least $100 million in assets, weighting performance over one, three, and five-year periods.
ESG is still a relatively new strategy with hundreds of new funds launching around the world in the past few years. The top 15 U.S. performers — from a universe of 27 established U.S. ESG funds ranked by Bloomberg — shared some common themes.
Many outperformed with a higher allocation to small cap stocks, riding a wave that carried the S&P Small Cap 600 Index up around 180 percent last year. Since most
ESG funds are also set up for long-term positions, firms that bet on a few big names built momentum and rose in the ranking, according to Bloomberg data analyst Lyndsay Maggin.
Parnassus' Core Equity Fund, which scored seventh in the ranking saw strong momentum behind picks like Applied Materials Inc. and Micron Technology Inc., according to fund manager Todd Ahlsten. The Parnassus Endeavor Fund, which ranked first, had an even larger position in those names, he said.
Many of the large-cap focused indexes in the sectors had big bets on names in the technology and finance space, where fund managers said ESG disclosure is better and that they can tap into broad economic trends while underweighting energy.
The rankings also reveal some symbiosis between ESG as a tool for picking small cap stocks, even though ESG disclosure is often less transparent at small companies.
"One of the challenges and opportunities in small caps is that it's an inefficient market," Nathan
, portfolio manager at the fund, said in an interview, noting about Moser Pax Small Cap80 percent of the fund's performance over its nine years was driven by the firm's ESG-driven stock selection. "If you think about the vast majority of funds that don't use ESG factors, I think we have an edge," he said.
Several ESG managers, however, said they are facing a quandary this year, as they have often built low-risk strategies in a market that rewards risk. "Investors seem to be risk seeking," said a portfolio manager at William Apfel, Walden Asset Management."There is still opportunity to make money in this market. Managed the right way, ESG aspects really do make a difference."
See full and on the following pages…rankings fund manager outlooks
"Women are building wealth as fast as, if not faster than, men. Connecting with them was one of our goals."
— , head of wealth John Amore
management advice at , whose UBS new VC
targets health, education and fund
environmental companies led by or co-
managed by women
Quote of the Week
Number of the Week
EightThe number of the world's largest oil companies that are responsible for as much of the climate-damaging pollution into the atmosphere spewedas the entire U.S., according to the non-profit group CDP.
Buyside Outlook: Top trade ideas from the best-performing U.S. ESG funds.
Investing: Mariner Investment is trying a new impact Group
strategy to promote green investment: taking on risk from "dirty" loans so banks can free up capital to devote to new "green" loans.
Environment: Saudi Aramco's green energy push could widen the appeal of its IPO, but is it a good idea?
Royal Bank of ScotlandSocial: leads financial services firms on paid maternity leave in the U.S.
Governance: Board diversity advocates aren't giving up on disclosures.
Inside
Ranking
Leading ESG Funds Lag Index This Year
Source: Bloomberg. For a live chart run on the Bloomberg G #SF.BRIEF 63terminal or click on the chart.
As the stock market has rewarded risk this year, ESG portfolios are trailing benchmark indexes like the Russell 3000.
Sustainable Finance 2 March 9, 2017
RANK FUND TICKER MANAGER(S) SCORE* ASSETS ($M)
1-YEAR TOTAL
RETURN (%)
3-YEAR TOTAL
RETURN (%)
5-YEAR TOTAL
RETURN (%)
1 Parnassus Endeavor PARWX US Jerome Dodson 100.0 2,508 21.4 14.1 18.9
2 Calvert Small Cap CCVAX USChristopher Madden, Jade Huang, Michael McLean, J. Griffith Noble
81.6 322 20.0 8.3 15.6
3 Parnassus PARNX USJerome Dodson, Ian Sexsmith, Robert Klaber
77.4 776 13.5 9.3 17.1
4 Parnassus Mid Cap PARMX US Matthew Gershuny, Lori Keith 74.5 1,491 16.1 8.6 14.2
5 Pax Small Cap PXSCX US Nathan Moser 74.0 797 17.9 6.7 14.6
6 TIAA-CREF Social Choice Equity TICRX US Jim Campagna, Lei Liao 66.0 2,381 13.3 6.9 13.2
7 Parnassus Core Equity PRBLX US Todd Ahlsten, Benjamin Allen 65.7 14,798 10.4 7.9 14.2
8 Walden Equity WSEFX US William Harris Apfel 62.1 182 11.8 7.0 12.1
9 Neuberger Berman Socially Responsive NBSRX US Ingrid Dyott, Sajjad Ladiwala 61.1 2,231 10.1 6.6 13.2
10 Sentinel Sustainable Core Opportunities MYPVX US Helena Ocampo 58.0 365 9.7 6.0 12.4
11 Pax ESG Beta Quality** PWGIX USRan Leshem, Robert Tymoczko, Michael Branch, Annie Tan (Aperio Group) and David Loehwing (Pax)
55.5 194 6.5 6.9 12.5
12 Walden Asset Management WSBFX US William Harris Apfel 50.9 101 9.1 5.6 9.2
13 Pax Global Environmental Markets PGRNX USBruce Jenkyn-Jones, Hubert Aarts (Impax Asset Management)
49.0 348 10.6 2.0 10.8
14 Calvert Equity Portfolio CSIEX USRobert Walton Jr., Jeffrey Miller, Joseph Hudepohl, Lance Garrison (Atlanta Capital Management)
47.0 2,071 2.3 5.6 12.1
15 Calvert Balanced Portfolio CSIFX USVishal Khanduja, Brian Ellis, Christopher Madden, Jade Huang, Charles Gaffney
46.0 681 7.7 4.7 8.3
Source: Bloomberg
Ranking
Top U.S. ESG Funds
Methodology: Includes open-end funds with ESG as a general attribute in the fund prospectus, total assets of at least $100 million and a five-year history. Total
returns and assets are as of Dec. 31, 2016. Funds are either the primary or class A shares.
*Includes one-year, three-year and five-year returns, weighted equally.
**Effective June 30, 2016, Pax Growth Fund renamed Pax ESG Beta Quality Fund. Performance prior to that date is for predecessor fund.
— Yvette Romero and Laurie Meisler
Buyside Outlook
Sustainable Finance 3 March 9, 2017
Buyside Outlook
Tech, Health Care Among Top Trades for Best-Performing U.S. ESG InvestorsCompiled by Emily Chasan and Justin MortonWhat propelled ESG funds last year, and what they expect for 2017. Comments have been edited and condensed for clarity.
Todd Ahlsten, Parnassus Core Equity
ESG Strategy: When we're looking to invest in a company, it's got to be sustainably more relevant and important in our lives long-term — it helps us avoid fads, but also gives us a growth component.
Top Trade: We've done extremely well on the semiconductor industry. A couple of highlights were Applied and These are companies that are really innovative. They say data is the new Materials Micron Technology.
oil. Applied Materials has really helped the fund's performance for several years. We've recently reduced our position in the company due to valuations. Micron Technology has also had fantastic performance.
Contrarian Idea: Gilead Sciences right now is one of our top five holdings.The stock has fallen because their Hepatitis C drug is now seeing slower sales. Gilead cured the whole initial pool of sick patients and now the remaining patients are less sick. That's made predicting their Hepatitis C business very hard. I think it's incredibly undervalued. Wall Street is valuing their pipeline at zero and we think it's worth much more.
Joe Hudepohl, Atlanta Capital Management, Calvert Equity Portfolio ESG Strategy: Calvert research analysts rate all stocks on E, S and G criteria. portfolio Atlanta Capital
managers construct a 45-55 name portfolio of the highest conviction stocks meeting both Calvert and Atlanta capital criteria.
Top Trade: Google has also been one of our larger positions. When we think about the Internet businesses Google is one of the best. In the U.S., Google has one of the biggest advantages because the more people search, the more information Google has, and the better search results they can provide. It will be pretty impossible for another company to replicate that in the search business. We own Visa and Mastercard, but Visa has been our bigger position. We have a long-term belief in the movement of payments from cash to credit cards. We think that is a long-term trend with more than a decade of growth behind it.
Nathan Moser, Pax Small CapESG Strategy: Small caps have had an incredibly strong run. They outperformed the S&P 500 by in excess of
900 basis points last year. ESG gives us added insight to the overall quality of the management and added risk control.
Top Trade: — the apparel retail company. There are lots of concerns about what's going on in retail Carter'sworld — the effect, the potential for a border adjustment tax — we think management is taking the right Amazonsteps to work through some of those. The balance sheet is very strong. We think over time we can see its free cash flow being returned to investors through either higher dividends or more shareholder repurchases.
Contrarian Idea: A REIT called They focus on medical office buildings. REITs have sold Physicians Realty.off of late over concerns that interest rates will go materially higher. Investors may not be paying close enough attention to what is going on.
Continued on next page…
Source: Parnassus
Source: Calvert
Source: Pax
Sustainable Finance 4 March 9, 2017
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Buyside Outlook…
Jim Campagna and Amy O'Brien, Nuveen, TIAA-CREF Social Choice Equity
ESG Strategy: [AO] We are trying to give our investors the experience of the Russell 3000 through a high-quality ESG company universe. We know that companies are increasingly looking at whether or not they are included in these funds as a measure of validity to their own ESG and sustainability efforts.
Momentum Driver: [JC] In the energy sector, we had an overweight in some of the oil and gas equipment manufacturers. We can't own the large oil companies, but some of these equipment manufacturers did well, like and National Oilwell Varco Baker Hughes.
Top Trade: [JC] In the high-tech sector, is not part of our investment universe, Applebut and are. We see an overweight in those companies to mitigate Microsoft Alphabetrisk that exists because we don't hold Apple.
William Apfel, Walden Equity & Walden Asset ManagementESG Strategy: We're looking for companies with prudent capital management, financial strength and
business models that we think can be sustained. If we select companies that have a better than average chance of doing well when the market is concerned about risk, they should also perform well in periods of market strength. The trick is just not to overpay.
Top Trade: We have a pretty large helping of financial companies and lenders. We are underweight energy. If you look at their cash flow statements, they are spending more on their operations than they are generating. Many of these companies are cash flow negative. The market's been kind for the most part in allowing these companies to raise capital, but that's gotten tougher.
Contrarian Idea: We are explicitly avoiding ESG ranking systems. We want to look at companies holistically. How do you weigh employee hiring versus how you operate in communities, versus a healthy product profile?
Ingrid Dyott, Neuberger Berman Socially ResponsiveESG Strategy: We typically have 30 to 40 companies in our portfolio. We're looking for high-quality
companies with good secular growth, solid returns on invested capital, good balance sheets, and managements in tune with the relevant risks and opportunities in their business. ESG is part of the core fundamental analysis.
Top Trade: Over 80 percent of the returns in our fund last year came from our top 10 holdings — our highest conviction names. Our largest holding is Many of the businesses in our portfolio have the Texas Instruments.ability to pass through costs.
Investing Theme: When we look at what we bought last year, the new additions to the portfolio had the underlying theme that they were secularly-advantaged businesses that had some type of near-term cyclical worry. History has shown us that if we're patient and we're right about the structural advantage of the business model, we will get paid from both earnings growth and valuation.
Continued on next page…
Source: Nuveen, TIAA-CREF
Source: Walden Asset Management
Source: Neuberger Berman
Sustainable Finance 5 March 9, 2017
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Buyside Outlook…
Helena Ocampo, Sentinel Sustainable Core OpportunitiesESG Strategy: One of the big drivers of the fund has been the move from purely negative screening to
incorporating positive screening. We've really started moving the fund to investing in companies that have good ESG attributes. We're mostly invested in large caps. I believe that has helped us over time. The availability of information is just a lot more in the large-cap space.
Top Trade: It's just a great company that has embedded in its culture to be good about the Unilever. environment, to take a really good look at their supply chain and into how well they treat their employees. Their products have become environmentally efficient over time. People have responded to that. They are buying products that are more environmentally-friendly.
Momentum Driver: Microsoft doesn't come to mind initially as the most sustainable company, but they actually publish a really strong corporate and social responsibility report. They have not been embroiled in any big lawsuits. They have very strong corporate governance. They are measuring a lot of their environmental impact and they are trying to reduce it. Technology companies, because they have access to all that data and
information, find it easier to report on ESG.
Bruce Jenkyn-Jones, Impax Asset Management, Pax Global Environmental MarketsESG Strategy: Every company we are investing in is effectively providing a solution to an environmental
problem. At the stock picking stage, we are obviously looking for companies with great financial characteristics in terms of returns and business models, but we are also integrating the non-financial risks of businesses.
Contrarian Idea: Automotive is a contrarian opportunity. There's a perception that there are bargains because there is going to be a decline in some of the mainstream internal combustion engine-based technologies. We are trying to find companies that have been sold down or have an attractive valuations, but are well-geared in to the electrification of vehicles.
Top Trade: We are looking for companies that are really innovating in buildings and energy efficiency — bringing big data and software, and integrating the Internet of things. Those markets are going to grow very well in the next few years.
Steve Falci, Pax ESG Beta QualityESG Strategy: This fund was converted last June from a large cap U.S. Growth strategy that was managed to
a smart beta strategy that we've made our ESG beta quality fund. It is designed to be run by a quantitative process and consistently overweight U.S. large caps — stocks with stronger ESG profiles, higher profitability, higher earnings quality, lower risks and lower valuation. It's a multifactor strategy. We are targeting between 135 and 200 names overtime.
Momentum Driver: This strategy has been around for eight months. The markets we've seen have been more speculative and less focused on risks, so it's been challenged in its earlier days. Our focus on lower risk has detracted, particularly In the third quarter of the last year where risky stocks were rewarded. Over the long run, we believe having a lower-risk component will provide value.
Investing
Source: Sentinel
Source: Pax
Source: Pax
Sustainable Finance 6 March 9, 2017
Investing
By Emily ChasanImpact investors are trying a new strategy to promote green investment: taking on risk from "dirty" loans so banks can free up capital to devote to new "green" loans.
Credit Agricole's investment banking arm and New York-based hedge fund Mariner a $3 billion synthetic securitization risk transfer deal Investment Group announced
March 6 for the bank's infrastructure loans. The deal includes a commitment by the bank to use the $2 billion of freed up regulatory capital associated with those loans for new lending to green sectors, such as renewable energy, energy efficiency, public transport and sustainable waste management.
"We are freeing up this capital that has been devoted to plain old infrastructure loans and the bank will redeploy it in pro-climate lending activities," lead Andrew Hohns,portfolio manager for the infrastructure investment strategy at Mariner, said in an interview. Mariner, which signed the in 2015, Principles for Responsible Investment has been incorporating more ESG and impact strategies into its portfolios, Hohns said. The firm describes its infrastructure portfolio as an impact investment, he said.
Mariner is providing junior credit protection to infrastructure loans already existing in Credit Agricole's portfolio, including some fossil fuel loans, Hohns said. The bank committed to report regularly on its new green investments as part of the deal.
Mariner Deal Frees Up Bank Capital For Green Loans
By Ainslie ChandlerFund manager is trying to raise as much as 250 million pounds ($304.9 Iona Capitalmillion) for a fund to invest in renewable energy projects.
The London and Manchester-based firm that currently manages about 350 million pounds is targeting gross returns of 13 percent on Iona Environmental Infrastructure
, which will continue the firm's strategy of backing biogas projects, according to its IV LPco-founder The firm has set a 200 million pound target and a 250 million Mike Dunn. cap on the fund, which is expected to start holding closes within months, Dunn said.
Biomass for Iona's energy projects is retrieved from sources including the forestry industry, agriculture and household waste. The strategy is backed by a system of government tariffs for biogas producers aimed at reducing the U.K.'s carbon footprint.
These tariffs are unlikely to be threatened by the U.K.'s potential exit from the European Union, Dunn said in a March 7 phone interview. The EU in 2016 set measures to ensure that biomass used for energy production is from sustainablesources after 2020.
Iona Seeking Up to $305 Million For Bioenergy
Investors wanting to make a difference with their money now have a new way to do it: an exchange-traded fund that invests in global green bonds.
Van Eck Associates Corp., which manages more than $40 billion, is starting the first debt ETF designed for those who want to help the planet. The fund will begin by investing in about 40 securities issued to finance environmentally sustainable projects, according to head of ETF Ed Lopez, product management and marketing at Van Eck. There are at least $170 billion of green bonds outstanding, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
“People are more aware of climate change,” Lopez said by phone last week. “That drives the demand for investments that follow.”
ETFs that pair a conscience with a profit are exploding. BlackRock Inc. and are Nuveen Asset Managementamong managers that have started more than 15 such products in the last 12 months.
Van Eck’s fund started trading on Monday with a 40-basis point expense ratio, data compiled by Bloomberg show. That fee is 3 basis points more than the average paid on debt ETFs in the U.S.<full story on Terminal>
— Rachel Evans
ETFs With a Heart Embrace Green Debt
Quoted: What's Propelling U.S. Sustainable Finance in the Trump Era?Compiled by Lananh Nguyen and Emily Chasan. Quotes have been edited and condensed for clarity.
Vincent Reinhart, chief economist, Standish Mellon Asset Management, ata press briefing in New York, March 1:
"The federal government pulling back in terms of its environmental policies isn't going to change what the state of California does. In fact, states may step in more aggressively, which means that there will be a very uneven frontier of return
''opportunities.
States "Step In"
Jamie Lewin, head of product strategy and performance management at BNY Mellon Investment Management, at a press briefing in New York, March 1:
"I ironically see this as a tipping point to accelerate ESG rather than hold it back. [The Trump administration's stance on climate change is] going to crowd in more investing rather than crowd it out."
"Crowd In"Matthew Arnold, head of social and sustainable finance, JPMorgan, at a Baker McKenzie lunch in New York, March 2:
"Red states are windy and sunny, so there's bi-partisan support for the ITC and PTC [renewable energy tax credits]. But coal is not declining because of carbon regulation. It was natural gas in my opinion that killed coal. It wasn't the EPA."
"It Wasn't the EPA"
Environment
Sustainable Finance 7 March 9, 2017
Environment
Saudi Aramco's Green Energy Push Seen Widening Appeal of IPOBy Anna HirtensteinAramco is the world’s largest oil company, but when it sells shares next year its foray into renewables is what may lure investors who would otherwise be forced to stay away.
Saudi Arabian Oil Co., as it is formally called, is considering investments of as much as $5 billion in renewable energy, part of the kingdom’s effort to reduce the amount of oil feeding domestic energy needs.
That program and signs that King Salman’s government is finally making good on its vows to dramatically expand use of photovoltaics underpin the credibility of Aramco’s embrace of environmental and sustainability goals, measures that investors increasingly are looking for.
“They immediately open themselves up to a larger pool of investors,” said Scott
, partner at the deal advisory Gehsmannservice of the accounting and consulting firm . “If a company is looking at PwCraising capital, they typically must have a strategy around sustainability. If they don't have one, it can be perceived as a negative.”
Whether greening Aramco’s IPO would boost the value of the offering is an open question.<full story on Web>
Energy News in Brief
U.K. Coal Use at Lowest Level Since The Victorian Era The U.K.’s carbon dioxide emissions fell by 5.8 percent in 2016 after coal use plunged by a record 52 percent, according to an analysis by Carbon Brief Ltd. <full story on Terminal>
— Mathew Carr
Germany to Pit Wind Against Solar in New 400 Megawatt Auction The resolve of Chancellor Angela
government to make clean Merkel'senergy more competitive as it dials down subsidies gained new impetus in a plan to pit wind against solar in a large auction. <full story on Terminal>
— Brian Parkin
Social
Better Off Staying Out of the Sun: Gadfly
Consider , the Russian oil major. This is a company with more than 43 Rosneft Oil Co.billion barrels of oil equivalent in proved reserves (Exxon's clock in at just less than 20 billion) and favored access to one of the biggest reservoirs of untapped oil outside of the Middle East. Yet, at $105 billion, its enterprise value is just more than a quarter of Exxon's, and it trades on a lower Ebitda multiple than — which is famous for, Petroleo Brasileiro SAamong other things, being at the center of Brazil's biggest-ever corruption scandal aiming for the biggest IPO ever, also wants to hand out some green-Saudi Aramco,shaded prospectuses. Aramco hopes a mooted $5 billion investment in solar panels will tempt the sort of investor who might otherwise pass on a company that supposedly has more than 10 times the proved oil and gas reserves of If so, It's a bad Exxon Mobil Corp. idea. This isn't to say Saudi Arabia, the country, shouldn't be investing in solar power. Saudi Arabia burns a lot of oil to produce electricity during its sweltering summers. That oil would be worth much more if exported, promising short payback times on solar farms there. The question is whether Saudi Aramco should be a big part of that effort. <full story on Web>
— Liam Denning, Bloomberg Gadfly
Climate Requires $14.6T Investment in Carbon-Free Power
Carbon-free energy sources are set for a boom, if policy and investments are driven by the will to prevent climate change. The world will need to spend around $14.6 trillion to install 10 terawatts of new zero-carbon technologies, including nuclear, solar, wind, hydro, biomass and geothermal, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. That is roughly 1.5 times the world’s total generating capacity today. <full report on Terminal>
— Elena Giannakopoulou, Bloomberg New Energy Finance
Sustainable Finance 8 March 9, 2017
Social
Royal Bank of Scotland Leads Financial Services Firms for Maternity LeaveBy Dana PardiniA lack of government-mandated maternity and paternity leave isn’t keeping some financial services companies from offering paid time off to their U.S. employees, according to data from the Bloomberg Financial Services Gender-Equality Index.
Of the companies in the 52-firm index that disclosed their leave policies, Royal
ranked first for Bank of Scotland Groupoffering its U.S. employees the most paid maternity leave, at 32 weeks. That’s far above the average paid maternity benefit of 10 weeks.
Bank of America offers the most paternity leave for male U.S. employees at 12 weeks, six times the average amount of leave offered by companies in the index who disclosed their policy.
To be listed in the index, Bloomberg invited companies in the financial-services industry to complete a voluntary survey that tracked statistics including maternity and paternity leave policies, as well as other gender-equality practices.
Read more in Bloomberg Reports: : This special report Women in Finance
looks at how countries are progressing toward gender equality. Bloomberg interviews top women in finance from around the world and maps out which countries are leading on gender pay parity, family leave and women on boards.
Continued on next page…
Note: Data is derived from the Bloomberg Finance Services Gender-Equality Index. It is available on the Terminal at and > by individual companies. Companies in the index not listed above either do BFGEI Index DES <GO> CF <GO
not have U.S. employees, did not provide information on maternity or paternity leave for U.S. employees or do not offer such benefits to employees in that country.
Sustainable Finance 9 March 9, 2017
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Social…
Maryland Tops U.S. States in Leadership Equality RankingBy Vincent Del Giudice, Wei Lu and Karen MoskowMaryland topped Bloomberg News' gender equality leadership ranking for the second year in a row, as the state continues to benefit from being close to three other state capitals and the federal government.
Massachusetts moved up five spots to No. 2, mainly because General Electric
relocated its Co. corporate headquartersto Boston from Fairfield, Connecticut, boosting the state’s corporate-governance score. The share of women business owners also rose. Rhode Islandjumped 14 spots to No. 3 on higher percentages of women directors and business owners.Mississippi and stayed at North Dakotathe bottom as No. 49 and No. 50.
Diversity “leads to better problem solving, better outcomes and in some cases better financial performance,” said
vice president of Brande Stellings,corporate-board services at , a Catalystnonprofit that promotes women in the workplace. <full story on Web>
Governance
Bloomberg News U.S. Gender-Equality Leadership Ranking
Source: Bloomberg News, Wei Lu
Leadership rankings reflect women on corporate boards and in state legislatures, advanced degrees, six-figure salaries and business ownership.
Sustainable Finance 10 March 9, 2017
Governance
Board Diversity Advocates Aren't Giving Up on Disclosures By Andrea Vittorio, Bloomberg BNABoard diversity advocates are hoping to keep the Securities and Exchange
's attention on an issue that Commissionhas gotten support from both investors and companies.
An SEC advisory committee called the , a trade Business Roundtable
association for chief executives of U.S. companies, endorsed diversity and its benefits for board effectiveness and long-term shareholder value in the latest version of its governance principles.
Companies are already required to say whether, and if so, how they consider diversity when assessing director candidates. The committee says those disclosures are generally vague and unhelpful to shareholders, employees and customers.
Under the committee's recommendation, companies would also need to report on how diverse their boards are. Just under 13 percent of
companies voluntarily disclosed S&P 500data about directors’ race or ethnicity in their most recent proxy statements, according to research from executive data provider Equilar Inc.
The census shows that women and minorities have made gains in the boardroom since 2012, but the pace of progress is slow. At the current rate, it
would take until 2026 for women and minorities to make up 40 percent of
board seats.Fortune 500<full story on Terminal>
Governance News in Brief
Obamacare Revamp Would Fatten Insurer Tax Break for CEO Pay Health insurance companies stand to gain a bigger tax break for CEO pay in the Obamacare revamp. The bill unveiled Monday would scrap the limitation for insurers on how much executive compensation is tax deductible. The new proposal lifts the guaranteed deduction to $1 million from $500,000 established by the Affordable Care Act.<full story on Terminal>
— Anders Melin
Proxy Advisers Will Get House Committee Attention The House Financial Services
will take a closer look at Committeecorporate governance regimes in the coming months, according to a panel Republican. Proxy access and the role of proxy advisers will garner committee attention as the panel considers legislative changes to that area of law,
(R-Ark.) told Rep. French HillBloomberg BNA. < on Terminal>full story
— Rob Tricchinelli
Norway, Sweden Have Most Board Positions Held By Women
Source: Egon Zehnder 2016 Global Board Diversity Analysis, Catalyst*Country has a women on board quota
State Street Pushes Big Companies For Female Directors
The world's third-largest asset manager is pressuring the roughly 3,500 companies it invests in to put more women on their boards. State Street Global Advisors, the asset management arm of State Street Corp., says it will vote against board members responsible for director nominations or governance at companies that fail to act on gender diversity. “A key contributor to effective independent board leadership is diversity of thought, which requires directors with different skills, backgrounds and expertise,” SSGA's Ron O'Hanley,president and chief executive officer, said in a March 7 statement issued on the eve of International Women's Day. “Today, we are calling on companies to take concrete steps to increase gender diversity on their boards and have issued clear guidance to help them begin to take action.” <full story on Terminal>
— Andrea Vittorio, Bloomberg BNA
Sustainable Finance 11 March 9, 2017
Indexes
Sustainable Finance 12 March 9, 2017
Maturity Schedule: Bonds Due
ISSUER MATURITY COUPON $ AMOUNT OUTSTANDING
International Bank for Reconstruction & Development 3/20/2017 0.25 757,724,000
European Bank for Reconstruction & Development 3/30/2017 0.50 15,053,881
The Toronto-Dominion Bank 4/3/2017 1.824 453,432,500
European Bank for Reconstruction & Development 4/18/2017 9.05 2,498,350Source: Bloomberg; SRCH <GO>
Indexes
Green Bonds
Calendar To Submit an Event, E-mail [email protected]
Global ESG Indexes
Source: Bloomberg. For a live version of this chart run on your terminal or click on the image above. G #SF.BRIEF 20
Green Bond Indexes
Source: Bloomberg. For a live version of this chart run on your terminal or click on the image above. G #SF.BRIEF 21
Low Carbon and No Carbon Indexes
Source: Bloomberg. For a live version of this chart run on your terminal or click on the image above. G #SF.BRIEF 22
Sustainable Finance 13 March 9, 2017
DATE(S) EVENT ATTENDEES OF NOTE LOCATION
March 15 Intro to Corporate ESG by Baruch College Hank Boerner, Governance & Accountability Institute; Hideki Suzuki, Bloomberg; Eric Kane, SASB
New York
March 15-16 Global Sustainable Capital Forum 2017 See website for details. Dublin
March 17 Drought Stress Testing for Financial Institutions See website for details. New York
March 21-22 Impact Summit Europe Al Gore, Generation IM; Katherine Brown, World Economic Forum The Hague
March 23-24 Impact Investing World Forum John Goldstein, Goldman Sachs; David Galipeau, UN Social Impact Fund London
March 26 International Corporate Citizenship Conference See website for details. Boston
March 27 Wall Street Green Trading SummitEvan Harvey, Nasdaq; Gabriel Thoumi, Climate Advisors; Colin Harris, New York Green Bank; Peter Fusaro, Global Change Associates
New York
March 27-28 Responsible Business Summit NY 2017 Jim Keane, Steelcase; Farooq Kathwari, Ethan Allen; Tom Glaser, VF Corp. New York
April 5 Water: Risk, Opportunity & Sustainability 2017 See website for details. London
April 13 CDP Spring Workshop 2017 Gillian Tett, The Financial Times, U.S. Managing Editor New York
April 24-25 The Future of Energy Summit See website for details. New York
April 25-26 Impact Capitalism Summit See website for details. Chicago
April 26-27 Ceres Conference 2017 See website for details. San Francisco
May 3-4Responsible Finance & Investment Summit 2017
See website for details. Zurich
May 7-10 Sustainatopia See website for details. San Francisco
May 9 Invest in Women Conference See website for details. Dallas
May 10-12 US SIF Annual Conference See website for details. Chicago
July 11-13 International Corporate Governance Network See website for details. Kuala Lumpur
Sept. 18-19 The Future of Energy Summit: EMEA Tord Lien, Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Norway; Antonio Luis Mexia, EDP London
Sept. 19 Sustainable Investment Forum See website for details. New York
Sept. 19-21 Verge 17 See website for details. Santa Clara
Sept. 25-27 PRI In Person See website for details. Berlin The "event" column links to websites, where available.
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