Home
About Us
"It's leading to cynicism," says Terrence Keeley. That's the gist of his new book, Sustainable: Moving Beyond ESG to Impact Investing, in which the former BlackRock executive calls for institutional investors, including pension funds, endowments, and foundations, to move away from what he calls the "ESG industrial complex" and toward direct impact investing.
Instead, Keeley says, investors should focus on waste reduction, affordable housing, health care, renewable energy, and education, the Wall Street Journal reports.
"The understanding people have when they buy an ESG product is that it will perform at or in excess of the market, while simultaneously doing some kind of good," Keeeley says.
"And to the extent you want to have a positive impact on the environment, that means investing, not divesting."
ESG, he says, is "not living up to its promise."
For example, MSCI's ESG indexes have underperformed the broader indexes over the past five years, he says, and those funds invest only in companies in accordance with the Paris 2050 objective, like Amazon or Google.
"These are all genuine concerns," Keeeley says, "but the way we're going about it, combining those and building alpha-based products is senseless."
Selected Grant News Headlines
A customized collection of grant news from foundations and the federal government from around the Web.
When Tony's Chocolonely's, a Dutch chocolate maker, was sold to a Belgian investment firm last year, the company introduced a "golden vote" to make sure the sale didn't violate the firm's impact...more
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) experts are out with a list of the world's best and worst companies when it comes to investing in climate change. Here are the top 10, based on ESG's...more
One of the world's largest law firms has been named as one of the best in the world for its work in the area of impact investing. Inbar magazine has named Morgan Lewis as one of the top 50 impact...more
It's been more than five years since Russia invaded and occupied Ukraine, but the country is still struggling to rebuild and attract foreign investment. The Financial Times takes a look at the...more
Swiss impact investment firm Blue Earth Capital has invested more than $16 million in an Indian company that aims to help small farmers cope with climate change, the BBC reports. The investment...more
"We believe in the transformative power of AI and its potential to create positive change," says Anita Whitehead, head of impact at audit, tax, and advisory firm KPMG, which this week announced an...more
When it comes to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations when investing, Malaysia is at the top of the list, according to Digital Edge Malaysia. And that's not just because the...more
Three women from Australia's Indian community have been named in the country's Order of Australia for their contributions to society. Harinder Kaur, 29,Niharika Hiremath, 29, and Sakshi Thakur,...more
Pritika Mehta, an Indian-American entrepreneur who holds a master's in artificial intelligence from the State University of New York, is "shaping the pathway for Indian startups looking to plunge...more
"San Francisco is about the same size as my hometown, Chandigarh," Pritika Mehta tells Hindustan Times. "But this small city has changed the world.... The kind of conversations that happen...more
Social Entrepreneurship
Spotlight
Social Entrepreneurs to Get Free WiFi Access
iPass, a telecommunications provider, will give free internet access to 100 non-government organizations (NGOs) for a year as they work in dangerous countries to help its poor and underserved populations.
