A decade ago, two large institutional investors (PGGM Investments and APG Asset Management and Maastricht University (The Netherlands) launched “GRESB” to try to develop more efficient access to comparable and reliable data related to the ESG performance of their investments. (GRESB=Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark.) The initial research for the approach was done by Dr. Nils Kok and Sander Paul van Tongeren.
The Business Roundtable is an organization of CEOs of the largest companies in the U.S.A. -- firms that generate a combined US$7 trillion in revenues, employ 15 million people, invest $ 147 billion annually in R&D, and provide healthcare and retirements benefits for tens of millions of Americans.
Member companies operate in every one of the 50 states and through the organization top business leaders work to influence major societal issues (tax policy, infrastructure needs, trade and other issues).
Those questions and more are often raised by managers trying to get the board room and C-suite attention – and support needed -- to launch or advance the company’s sustainability journey.
Here at G&A Institute our team has ongoing conversations with corporate managers about ESG / corporate sustainability and related topics. What often comes up: the “G” is challenging. The questions raised include...
We seem to love our “top 10” [etc.] lists; these are typically eye-catching headlines for published news and commentaries about certain subjects. (As in: the 10 things you need to know about…). In Adweek, the authoritative news and insights publication for brand marketers over the past four decades, we learn about “the five truths needed to create a sustainable brand”. This is from a commentary by columnist Bruce Mau (he’s a prominent designer, co-founder of Massive Change Network and Visiting Professor at Pratt Institute).
For several decades now, investors have increasingly focused on issues involving executive compensation. Remember Graef S. Crystal? Back in 1992 the former compensation consultant to the largest corporations became an activist focused on “excess” pay arrangements for U.S. corporate CEOs (his book was “In Search of Excess – the Overcompensation of American Executives”).
Among the fascinating – and horrifying – environmental-focused stories we see now on a regular basis are those about the “Pacific Gyre” -- that floating (and quickly becoming “a semi-continent” of garbage and waste) in the Northern stretches of the vast Pacific Ocean.
One of the long-term success stories in U.S. manufacturing is that of Ingersoll Rand, with history dating back to the 1870s as the Industrial Revolution gained great momentum in North America.
The company’s products were needed by other industrial revolution companies (such as compressors), by mining companies (rock drills), and in various elements (locks and more) of the b-to-b market. When the Panama Canal was being built by the U.S., Ingersoll Rand drills were on the job.
There are a number of “best of” lists that corporate managers and investment professionals scour to see what companies are judged to be doing well (by the list makers)…whether they be industry peers & competitors, or possible acquisitions or partners, and for investors, whether the listed firms might be the right choices for investment portfolios.
by Kimberly Ryan, Senior Portfolio Manager, Wells Fargo Private Bank
Commercial real estate can have a significant impact on the environment and an increasing number of real estate industry professionals are incorporating sustainability practices into corporate strategy and building management. Kimberly Ryan, Portfolio Manager for Wells Fargo Private Bank’s Social Impact Investing (SII) REIT strategies offers her thoughts on the benefits of integrating sustainability and ESG analysis into the REIT investment process.
