The social pillar has often been maligned as the ignored sibling of the ESG acronym. In its essence, the social pillar is a measurement of how a company, its employees, its products, and the community it operates in are supported and often challenged. For this episode, we show you why that all matters for measuring a company’s market performance.

Host: Mike Disabato, MSCI ESG Research

Guest: Liz Houston, MSCI ESG Research; Xinxin Wang, MSCI ESG & Climate Solutions Research

It’s early days for sustainability-linked bonds, where issuers see their interest rates rise after missing sustainability targets. But instead of throwing in the towel after some initial setbacks, we talk about companies that have doubled down on their sustainability commitments.

Host: Bentley Kaplan, MSCI ESG Research
Guest: Guilherme de Melo Silva, MSCI ESG Research

Good governance is foundational to effective capital markets, promoting accountability, transparency and sound decision-making aligned with investor interests. But how do those potential benefits translate into market performance? Well today, we answer that question for you! We answer the question: does governance even matter.

If you want to read the blog mentioned in this podcast, it can be found here: https://www.msci.com/www/blog-posts/corporate-governance-market/04784692180

Host: Mike Disabato (MSCI ESG Research)
Guest: Xinxin Wang (MSCI ESG & Climate Solutions Research)

Data from over 4,000 issuers, spanning nearly a decade revealed that companies with better MSCI ESG Ratings tended to have a lower cost of capital. It’s big news for investors and another step towards understanding the relationship between sustainability and financial performance.

Host: Bentley Kaplan, MSCI ESG Research
Guests: Jakub Malich & Anett Husi, MSCI ESG Research

Our demand for electricity is growing for the first time in decades. Nuclear energy is being proffered as the answer to our voracious energy-appetites. But are investors capable of propping up an industry with so much complexity and risk? This episode provides an answer.

Host: Michael Disabato, MSCI ESG Research
Guest: Elchin Mammadov, MSCI ESG Research

What is impact materiality, you ask? And how is it different from financial materiality? A fine and important question, listener! In this episode we take you through all the details you need to parse through the most important sustainability-jargon out there. Including, an explanation of the EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, or the CSRD, which has its first required reporting cycle due next year.

Host: Mike Disabato, MSCI ESG Research
Guest: Meggin Thwing Eastman, MSCI ESG Research

When it comes to climate altering carbon emissions, investors, like asset managers and banks, used to only measure their direct carbon emissions from their buildings and purchased electricity. But now, they are being asked by regulators, stakeholders, and clients to report on the emissions associated with their investment portfolios – a much more complicated and vital task. In this episode, guest Carrie Wang explains to host Mike Disabato why portfolio carbon footprinting is so important to the future of investing and so complicated.

Host: Mike Disabato, MSCI ESG Research

Guest: Carrie Wang, MSCI ESG Research

They may not be new, but climate funds have recently hit their stride. From managing transition risk, to targeting technology opportunities, to aligning with the Paris agreement – these funds come in all shapes and sizes and with pretty diverse objectives. On this episode we catch you up on where climate funds stand today, and how differently they’re evolving in public and private markets.

Host: Margarita Grabert, MSCI ESG Research
Guest: Rumi Mahmood, MSCI Sustainability Institute