Topic: How To Invest

What is Pat’s commentary for the week of November 28, 2023

Article Excerpt

In July 2022, when the ESG craze was at its peak, The Wall Street Journal ran an article entitled “The many reasons ESG is a loser.” (ESG refers to environmental, social and governance causes.) The article went on to analyze a number of mutual funds that were pursuing an ESG-focused investment mandate. It turned out that funds trading under the ESG banner were, on average, charging higher fees and reporting worse results than comparable funds that stuck to the old-fashioned profit-seeking motive. The article also quoted University of Colorado Prof. Sanjai Bhagat, writing in the Harvard Business Review, who made four important points about ESG: “1) ESG funds have underperformed; 2) companies that tout their ESG credentials have worse compliance records for labor and environmental rules; 3) ESG scores of companies that signed the UN Principles of Investment didn’t improve after they signed, and financial returns were lower for those that signed; and my favorite point, 4) Companies publicly embrace ESG as a..