This week we discuss the new anti-obesity drugs that many have claimed could spell an end to the world’s obesity epidemic. But ESG and diseases are not so straight forward. For example, we include diabetes medication but not obesity medication in our access to healthcare key issue. Why is that? We explore the topic in this week’s episode.

Host: Mike Disabato, MSCI ESG Research

Guest: Namita Nair, MSCI ESG Research

From being a go-to bank for US tech start-ups, SVB’s collapse was swift and chaotic. As investors and regulators pick through the wreckage, we look at how much of this story was actually about ESG. And we draw a bold line between financially relevant ESG risks and financially relevant financial risks. 

Host: Bentley Kaplan, MSCI ESG Research
Guest: Harlan Tufford, MSCI ESG Research

South Korea’s government has proposed a change to laws governing working hours. We look at why the proposal has not been well received by key stakeholders and what it could mean for how companies manage their workforces in future. And then we look at how shareholders’ approach to climate engagement might be changing, but also staying the same.

Host: Bentley Kaplan, MSCI ESG Research
Guests: SK Kim & Florian Sommer, MSCI ESG Research

ESG has always been different things to different people. But some of its newest critics suggest that ESG investing is being used to impose liberal ideologies on companies, their investors and their employees. We take a closer look at this backlash in the US, including proposed legislation.

Host: Bentley Kaplan, MSCI ESG Research
Guest: Meggin Eastman, Head of New ESG Research Solutions, MSCI ESG Research

Music: “Curious Play” by PhilLarson [License Code: YFUS65RN4A (Envato Elements)]

A Japanese publishing company allegedly bribed an Olympic committee member to become an official sponsor of the Tokyo Games. As Kadokawa Corp picks up the pieces, we ask what governance factors may have led to this point. And then we look at why doing the “right thing” by sourcing slavery-free cocoa is becoming a regulatory imperative, even for ice cream makers.

Host: Bentley Kaplan, MSCI ESG Research
Guests: Moeko Porter & Aura Toader, MSCI ESG Research

The derailment of a train carrying possibly hazardous materials near East Palestine, Ohio on February 3 has prompted environmental concerns and chemical fears for residents. They have returned home but even as state officials work to reassure them, many remained concerned. The curious thing about all this is Norfolk Southern, the company that operated the train, did not have to label the rail cars carrying the chemicals as hazardous – which would have prompted more safety regulations to be in place. We discuss why the company didn’t have to do this (hint: regulatory thresholds) and what this derailment means for an industry already struggling with labor relations issues.

Host: Mike Disabato; MSCI ESG Research

Guests: Bentley Kaplan; MSCI ESG Research

There have been over 70,000 people laid off from their jobs in the tech industry – an amount unseen since the dot.com bubble burst. Layoffs are an inevitable part of a capitalist system and, so, come with the territory for companies. But what is not inevitable is the reaction the surviving employees have to seeing their friends and colleagues let go: will they be angry at the company they still work for? Motivated? Fearful? ESG tries to assess the long-term effects that layoffs have on company performance. In this episode, we discuss how ESG does this and why it is important.

Host: Mike Disabato; MSCI ESG Research
Guests: Liz Houston; MSCI ESG Research

Research discussed outside of MSCI ESG Research: https://hbr.org/2018/05/layoffs-that-dont-break-your-company

Gautam Adani, whose empire the Adani Group, was rising along with India’s economy. Then a little known US short seller perhaps aptly named Hindenburg released a report that accused the Group of some pretty damaging business practices. Adani said the report was bogus, the market reached anyway, and now one of the most important companies in India is fighting investor perception. But how did this happen? Weeks ago, Adani Group seemed like a stable growth story. Yet, when it comes to Governance, ESG saw some risky signs in Adani Group and companies like it years ago. We explore what those vulnerabilities were, and why they might have left Adani Group susceptible to attack by a small, previously unknown short seller.

Host: Mike Disabato, MSCI ESG Research
Guest: Zanele Mtshali, MSCI ESG Research

The US central bank wants climate data from the country’s “big six” banks. It’s a telling shift and one that is echoed across several jurisdictions. We look at what this means for both banks and their investors. Then we jump into the mosh pit of ticket sales to figure out why Live Nation and Ticketmaster keep landing in the headlines.

Host: Bentley Kaplan, MSCI ESG Research
Guests: Carrie Wang, Sita Subramanian & Helen Marlow, MSCI ESG Research

What if there is a water utility that saves a city millions of gallons worth of water a day, but also increases its carbon emissions by a large amount? What if a company makes a product that saves people, but it allegedly uses forced labor to do so? Do you avoid these companies and products? Are you a follower of the Ethics of Ambiguity in that the means of production is the same as the ends? In this episode, we discuss the conflicts that arise for investors, impact investors especially, due to the inherent conflicts that are present in the operations of some companies.

Host: Mike Disabato; MSCI ESG Research

Guests: Mathew Lee, Namita Nair, and Rumi Mahmood; MSCI ESG Research