Tag: Environmental Social Governance (ESG)

South African companies are acknowledging that the post COVID-19 period requires new thinking on talent and skills retention, embracing technology, incorporating sustainability in business models, and investing more in employee well-being, benefits and engagement.

The ‘potential’ of recent gas finds has given rise to false claims that gas will generate economic prosperity for the country. The reality is that it will be at least a decade, possibly two, before we see any significant impact. In the meantime, the climate impacts will be huge, and we will lock ourselves in to a new fossil fuel system, which is expensive and unnecessary.

2021 marks a year which should be characterised by transformative change and reinvention. 2020 was a uniquely challenging year, which tested companies and their boards, demanding rapid responses to new challenges, and decision-making with a far wider ambit of influence.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a highly volatile and uncertain environment for businesses resulting in a litany of new or heightened risks for directors and officers (D&O) as well as exacerbating the situation in an already strained D&O insurance market.

2020 started off with significant economic and geopolitical uncertainties, and then the pandemic upended everything, for everyone. Many unknowns remain, not least as to the true extent of the long-term economic damage, and as to who will be the winners and losers when the world properly emerges from lockdown.

Currently controlling more than US$110 trillion (more than 20 times the US federal budget), the power the asset and wealth management industry has in shaping the future is unparalleled. With global assets under management projected to grow by up to 5.6% per annum to US$147.4 trillion by 2025, it can shape a future which is better for investors, shareholders, the economy and the wider society.

Investment managers and analysts who focus on long term operational business risks, and select stocks based on those considerations, will by default be creating environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) portfolios and will record overperformance over time.

If you are reading this, you are well on your way towards surviving one of the most cataclysmic events of our lifetime; one that is forever going to reshape the way we view the world and drive home the importance of prioritising sustainability and all it entails during the years ahead.

Around 14 per cent of the food produced in the world is wasted before it even gets to market. That’s around USD400 billion lost each year - a vast amount.

With several companies announcing their intention to delist from the JSE in 2020, many South African investors may feel that they have a limited investment universe when considering local stocks. While this may be true, it shouldn’t hinder but reinforce the case for pursuing a local environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategy.