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

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.

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1745 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Urban ◽  
Dariusz Wójcik

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.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Gietzelt

This book innovatively evaluates ‘sustainable investment funds’ against the background of the existing investment law, and it legally contextualises the current market situation. The central challenge as regards sustainable funds is the vagueness of non-economic investment criteria. After discussing the question of whether a universal statutory definition of non-economic criteria can be found, the analysis is dedicated to the interpretation of the non-economic criteria contained in privately drafted investment terms and conditions. The minimum requirements which the German Investment Act (KAGB) places on the use of such investment criteria are then evaluated. In addition, the study considers the regulatory requirements for sustainable investment funds, for instance the role of an ethics committee. Finally, it examines a capital management company’s civil liability for investing while in breach of contract.


Economies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 119
Author(s):  
Robiyanto Robiyanto ◽  
Bayu Adi Nugroho ◽  
Andrian Dolfriandra Huruta ◽  
Budi Frensidy ◽  
Suyanto Suyanto

This research investigated the performance of a dynamic portfolio that consists of sustainable/ethical stocks and gold. The main purpose of this study is to prove that the inclusion of gold in sustainable/ethical stocks portfolios could produce better performance. Therefore, the method used in this research, DCC-GARCH, was relaxing the basic assumptions in the theory of modern portfolio that is under the assumption of the normality of stock return and securities would have constant correlation. This research used data such as SRI-KEHATI Index (SKI) and Jakarta Islamic Index (JII) in Indonesia as a proxy for sustainable investments. Additionally, this research used gold from 2013 to 2019. This study is able to provide evidence regarding the ability of a dynamic portfolio to minimize the level of portfolio risk. However, this led a lower rate of return. Based on the OLS regression, gold is also proven as a weak safe haven for sustainable investment in Indonesia. Investors who believe in ethical investment may include gold in this time-varying approach when formulating the portfolio to reduce risk significantly. The inclusion of gold in portfolios could produce hedging effectiveness. Overall, this study supports some previous findings regarding the ability of gold as an instrument, which could reduce investment risk if involved in a portfolio.


2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 44-62
Author(s):  
Laura Gómez Urquijo

The objective of this article is to contribute to the discussion on the validity of new instruments to enhance cohesion in the European Union (EU). First, we question to which extent cohesion policy is submitted to the new economic governance. Second, we discuss this subordination affects the fulfillment of cohesion aims. This question is especially relevant due to the increase of inequalities in the current economic crisis and the great diversity among State Members (including social protection systems and expenses). Thus, our starting point is the new economic governance framework and its impact on the fulfillment of cohesion objectives. Statistical data are considered with this aim. Next, we will assess the role of European Structural and Investment Funds to eventually compensate public expense cuts, as well as its subordination to the macroeconomic government. This aspect will be contrasted through the study of Country Specific Recommendations given by the European Semester. Spanish El objetivo de este artículo es contribuir a la discusión sobre la validez de los nuevos instrumentos para fomentar la cohesión en la Unión Europea. Nos preguntamos en qué modo queda sometida la política de cohesión a la nueva gobernanza económica y cómo afecta a la efectividad para cubrir susfines. Esta cuestión es particularmente relevante ante el incremento de las desigualdades suscitado en la crisis económica actual. Por ello, nuestro punto de partida es el nuevo marco de gobernanza económica y su impacto en el cumplimiento de los objetivos de cohesión, considerando para ello datos estadísticos. A continuación, valoraremos, el papel de los Fondos Estructurales y de Inversión Europeos como posibles compensadores de la reducción del gasto público así como su subordinación al gobierno macroeconómico. Esta cuestión será contrastada también a través del examen de las Recomendaciones Específicas por país dadas por el Semestre Europeo. French Le but de cet article est de contribuer à la discussion sur la validité de nouveaux instruments pour promouvoir la cohésion dans l'UE. Nous avons considéré, d'une part, en quoi la politique de cohésion est soumise à la nouvelle gouvernance économique et, d'autre part, la façon dont elle utilise l'efficacité pour répondre à ses fins.Cette question est particulièrement pertinente étant donnée l'augmentation de l'inégalité soulevée par la crise économique actuelle, dans un contexte de grande diversité d'États membres, notamment en ce qui concerne les systèmes de protection sociale et les dépenses publiques. Par conséquent, notre point de départ s'inscrit dans le nouveau cadre de gouvernance économique et son impact sur la mise en œuvre des objectifs de cohésion, à partir de la prise en compte de données statistiques. Pour ce faire, nous évaluons le rôle des Fonds Structurels Européens, leur capacité de compenser la réduction des dépenses publiques et leur subordination au gouvernement macroéconomique. Ce e question sera également abordée par l'examen des recommandations spécifiques par pays fournies par le Semestre Européen.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 6009
Author(s):  
Se-Kyoung Choi ◽  
Sangyun Han ◽  
Kyu-Tae Kwak

What kind of capacity is needed to improve the performance of start-ups? How effective are government support policies in improving start-up performance? Start-ups are critical firm group for ensuring the prospective and sustainable growth of an economy, and thus many countries’ governments have established support policies and they are likely to engage more widely in forward-looking political support activities to ensure further growth and expansion. In this paper, the effect of innovation capabilities and government support policies on start-up performance is examined. We used an unbalanced panel data analysis with a random effect generalized least squares. We investigated the effect of government support policies on 4368 Korean start-ups. The findings indicated that technology and knowledge capabilities had positive effects on the sales performance of start-ups, and government financial support positively affected the relationship between knowledge capability and firm performance. However, when government financial support increased, marketing capability was negatively associated with firm performance. These results demonstrate the significant role of government financial support, including its crowding in but also its crowding out effect. Practical implications: To be more effective, governments should employ innovation-driven entrepreneurship policy approaches to support start-ups. To improve their performance, start-ups need to increase their technology and knowledge capabilities. This study extends recent efforts to understand more fully the effect of government support policies on start-ups differing in their technology, knowledge, and marketing capabilities.


2021 ◽  
Vol 57 (6) ◽  
pp. 1566-1577
Author(s):  
Xuesheng Chen ◽  
Caixia Liu ◽  
Feng Liu ◽  
Mingjie Fang
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