My views on ESG are not a secret. I believe that ESG is, at its core, a feel-good scam that is enriching consultants, measurement services and fund managers, while doing close to nothing for the businesses and investors it claims to help, and even less for society. That judgment may be harsh, but as the Russian hostilities in Ukraine shake up markets, the weakest links in the ESG chain are being exposed, and as the same old rationalizations and excuses get rolled out, I believe that a moment of reckoning is arriving for the concept. If you remain a true believer, I will leave it up to you to decide how much damage has been done to ESG, and what comes next.
I get that the current way of measuring and describing ESG is not working, and I agree that it‘s pretty hard to imagine how the concept could be improved. But there’s clearly a demand for it, people want to invest in a way that reflects their values. These values have certain labels, but they might mean different things to different people. And most of them are hard to measure, quantify and verify.
What is your solution to that? I mean, there’s a demand, so how is the market going to satisfy it if not with the current way of defining ESG?
Fantastic post and 100% agree that ESG is a scam. The pre-ESG marketing scam was investing in the BRICS. Then came time for ESG. What marketing scam will come next will be interesting to observe.
I get that the current way of measuring and describing ESG is not working, and I agree that it‘s pretty hard to imagine how the concept could be improved. But there’s clearly a demand for it, people want to invest in a way that reflects their values. These values have certain labels, but they might mean different things to different people. And most of them are hard to measure, quantify and verify.
What is your solution to that? I mean, there’s a demand, so how is the market going to satisfy it if not with the current way of defining ESG?
Fantastic post and 100% agree that ESG is a scam. The pre-ESG marketing scam was investing in the BRICS. Then came time for ESG. What marketing scam will come next will be interesting to observe.