In her article published on ETF Advisor, Dr. Zhang, CEO and the founder of Purview Investments laid out various reasons why ALL investors, ESG focused or not, should understand the implications of key ESG principles and their trends.
In particular, the global regulatory pushes to green transportation to reduce reliance on fossil fuels, and the technology breakthrough that enables such movements, have great implications on the auto industry and commodity industry. Such trends are affecting these firms business models and the way analysts research these companies. These trends also challenge the traditional roles commodity plays in an investor's portfolio, as managed by advisors and institutional asset managers.
Dr. Zhang also pointed out the trend of rising transparency of corporate gender gap in pay and managements, and why the gap measurements should be part of investment framework for company analysis.
"Many national and city governments have begun to propose timetables to ban the sales of fossil-fuel-burning cars in their territories (see the table). Norway and the Netherlands lead the pack, with plans to ban the sale of such cars starting in 2025."
"...the challenge to the auto industry is to manage a timely transition to electric vehicles or to face business survival risk."
"ESG reporting has encouraged companies to be more transparent about the gender gap in their workforces, pay scales and management structures. CEOs and their management teams at every level need to be held accountable for making conscious and measurable improvements in closing the gender gap in management and in pay, adjusted or unadjusted, so they can reap all the benefits of having a balanced workplace."
"Many leading asset managers are also leaders in the ESG ETF space, including BlackRock, State Street, Nuveen, Global X and Oppenheimer. These ETFs typically remove harmful investments and champion those making positive impact on the environment and society."