scholarly journals Measuring the sustainability of investment funds: A critical review of methods and frameworks in sustainable finance

2021 ◽  
pp. 128016
Author(s):  
Ioana-Stefania Popescu ◽  
Claudia Hitaj ◽  
Enrico Benetto
Keyword(s):  
Critical Review ◽  
Investment Funds ◽  
Sustainable Finance

scholarly journals Dirty Banking: Probing the Gap in Sustainable Finance

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1745 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Urban ◽  
Dariusz Wójcik
Keyword(s):  
Investment Banks ◽  
Business Services ◽  
Investment Funds ◽  
Secondary Markets ◽  
Business Opportunity ◽  
Sustainable Investment ◽  
Sustainable Finance ◽  
Commercial Loans ◽  
The Government ◽  
Sustainable Investments

In 2016, the Global Sustainable Investment Alliance estimated the market for sustainable investments to have reached 22.89 trillion USD of assets under management. While financial institutions have embraced the idea of sustainable finance as a business opportunity, they have arguably done little, but to piggy-back on investors’ demand. Today, it is not unusual for a single firm to retail fossil free investment funds and concomitantly offer commercial loans towards fracking, coal, and Arctic drilling. This paradox is underpinned by a major gap in the way sustainability has permeated primary and secondary markets which, we argue, calls for a serious rethinking of the sustainability transition in finance. This article proposes two contributions in this direction. First, we develop an original conceptualisation of finance as a socio-technical system to discuss the dynamics that both hinder and promote a transition from mainstream to sustainable finance. Second, we propose to study how investment banks integrate sustainability in their underwriting services. To do so, we filter through close to half a million of debt and equity underwriting deals (2005–2017) using the Government Pension Fund Global of Norway’s list of 153 excluded companies. Our results suggest that investment banks do not shy away from underwriting companies that have been flagged for major environmental, social, and governance misconduct, neither do they restrain from underwriting companies providing contentious products, such as tobacco, coal, and nuclear weapons. Moving forward, we suggest ways to address this problem and call for further research on the responsibility and agency of finance and advanced business services firms in sustainability transitions.

Rethinking the Prospects of Sustainable Finance and Challenges of Agribusiness Transformation in Nigeria

2022 ◽  
pp. 312-332
Author(s):  
Lukman Raimi ◽  
Morufu Oladimeji Shokunbi ◽  
Rabiu Olowo
Keyword(s):  
Data Analysis ◽  
Financial Support ◽  
Investment Funds ◽  
Agricultural Growth ◽  
Development Indicators ◽  
The World ◽  
Cereal Production ◽  
Sustainable Finance ◽  
Green Investment ◽  
World Development

The chapter explicates the need to rethink the prospects of sustainable finance (SF) for agribusiness transformation in spite of the challenges facing the sector in Nigeria. It extends to highlighting the implications of the nexus on entrepreneurship development. After a triangular data analysis using the world development indicators (2000-2016) and scholarly articles, the authors found that the prospects of SF are enormous: (1) Nigeria has a modest agricultural growth performance in the crop, food, livestock, and cereal production that could support SF; and (2) SF options such as green loans, green bonds, green credit, green investment funds, green mortgage scheme, and other green financial support instruments could be suitable for agribusiness transformation in the country. Also, the content analysis revealed there are 13 challenges facing agribusiness transformation in the country, and these have harmed the vegetation, farmland, and ocean leading to low productivity. The authors contribute to the literature by identifying SF options as a game-changer for agribusiness transformation.

scholarly journals Sustainable Finance and COVID-19: The Reaction of ESG Funds to the 2020 Crisis

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (23) ◽  
pp. 13253
Author(s):  
Fabio Pisani ◽  
Giorgia Russo
Keyword(s):  
Event Study ◽  
Sustainable Growth ◽  
Garch Models ◽  
Portfolio Risk ◽  
Investment Funds ◽  
Sustainable Investment ◽  
Sustainable Finance ◽  
Risk Protection ◽  
Contagion Risk

We investigated the financial performance of a sample of sustainable investment funds in terms of returns, volatility, and contagion risk during the financial crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to conduct a more reliable analysis, we considered a homogenous sample composed of 30 funds declaring the same benchmark (the MSCI Europe index). The Morningstar Sustainability ESG rating was used to determine the level of sustainability of each fund. Both the GARCH models and the event study suggest that funds with a higher ESG rating were able to outperform other funds during the COVID-19 period. These funds had a greater level of resilience and exhibited a lower level of risk contagion during the pandemic. These instruments appear to assume the role of risk protection and should be considered a means of both promoting sustainable growth and minimizing portfolio risk.

Semi-synthesis as a tool for broadening the health applications of bioactive olive secoiridoids: a critical review

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuela Oliverio ◽  
Monica Nardi ◽  
Maria Luisa Di Gioia ◽  
Paola Costanzo ◽  
Sonia Bonacci ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Critical Review ◽  
Natural Compounds ◽  
Effective Strategy ◽  
Synthetic Analogues ◽  
Health Applications ◽  
Natural And Synthetic

Semi-synthesis is an effective strategy to obtain both natural and synthetic analogues of the olive secoiridoids, starting from easy accessible natural compounds.

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