Category

ESG

Sep 10
0

Daily Brief ESG: ESG Analysis of a Korean E-Commerce Giant: Did Coupang’s ESG Performance Really Improve? and more

By | Daily Briefs, ESG

In today’s briefing:

  • ESG Analysis of a Korean E-Commerce Giant: Did Coupang’s ESG Performance Really Improve?

ESG Analysis of a Korean E-Commerce Giant: Did Coupang’s ESG Performance Really Improve?

By Ju Yeon Lee

  • E: In terms of resource management, Coupang was fined the most among companies that failed to fulfill their recycling obligations, and the use of plastic packaging is increasing every year.
  • S: Coupang was flagged for the largest number of disputes among online platforms. Not only conflicts with consumers and communities, but also the unfair labor practices are key risks.
  • G: Bom Kim resigned as chairman after the fire at Icheon Logistics Center. These measures were suspected of being intended to avoid punishment under the Serious Accidents Punishment Act.

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Sep 08
0

Daily Brief ESG: 2022 UNGC Ten Principle Compliance Report on Korean Listed Companies and more

By | Daily Briefs, ESG

In today’s briefing:

  • 2022 UNGC Ten Principle Compliance Report on Korean Listed Companies
  • Investment Managers Should Seek Ways to Reflect ESG Investing in Their Investment Performance

2022 UNGC Ten Principle Compliance Report on Korean Listed Companies

By Yujin Oh

  • Major index providers and investment management companies reflect on United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) principles for the assessment of portfolios. This particular UNGC compliance analysis focuses on Korean listed companies.
  • The evaluation of Korea’s 828 listed companies and their sustainable management level utilised Who’s Good’s ESG evaluating framework, ‘Performance Analysis’ and ‘Incident Analysis’ and applied it to the Ten Principles. 
  • Only 10% of the 828 listed companies were members of the UNGC, and 50% of the top 100 companies who scored the highest in UNGC scores, were members of UNGC.  

Investment Managers Should Seek Ways to Reflect ESG Investing in Their Investment Performance

By Aki Matsumoto

  • The lackluster ESG investing trust performance is the main reason for the sharp decline in new setups, as retail investors tend to trade short term.
  • The fact that Japanese companies aren’t leading the world in green practices and are reluctant to disclose their activities are the factors that prevent wash from occurring and being detected.
  • While it’s difficult to evaluate ESG investing in short-term-performance, it’s important to pay attention to how management is taking measures to increase corporate value in ESG perspective in particular G.

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Sep 07
0

Daily Brief ESG: Director Compensation Should Be Changed from Stable Compensation to More Variable Compensation and more

By | Daily Briefs, ESG

In today’s briefing:

  • Director Compensation Should Be Changed from Stable Compensation to More Variable Compensation

Director Compensation Should Be Changed from Stable Compensation to More Variable Compensation

By Aki Matsumoto

  • The reason for high remuneration of foreign directors isn’t only that remuneration is determined based on overseas compensation levels, but also that fixed remuneration for directors in Japan is high.
  • It is hoped that more companies will increase the proportion of variable compensation, and that for shareholders, performance will increase enough to significantly increase variable compensation.
  • In order for directors to fulfill their responsibilities in determining important strategies, the system must be designed to be high-risk and high-return as well as individually disclosed.

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Sep 05
0

Daily Brief ESG: A Policy Shift from Simply Maintaining Corporate Performance to How to Raise Added Value Is Needed and more

By | Daily Briefs, ESG

In today’s briefing:

  • A Policy Shift from Simply Maintaining Corporate Performance to How to Raise Added Value Is Needed

A Policy Shift from Simply Maintaining Corporate Performance to How to Raise Added Value Is Needed

By Aki Matsumoto

  • OP margins for listed companies haven’t increased notably, with maximum of 5% since FY 2008. Meanwhile, real income has continued declining, and there has been trend to reduce labor costs.
  • The negative aspect is illustrated by the low level of employee engagement in a company that has managed to maintain operating margin at current level by keeping labor costs low.
  • Inadequate investment by both companies and employees has hindered the expansion of value-added. For expanding added value, shift to investment in human resources is needed along with wage increases.

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Sep 04
0

Daily Brief ESG: ESG Analysis: How Labor Issues and Unfair Practices Led to the Boycott of SPC SAMLIP CO. and more

By | Daily Briefs, ESG

In today’s briefing:

  • ESG Analysis: How Labor Issues and Unfair Practices Led to the Boycott of SPC SAMLIP CO.,LTD.

ESG Analysis: How Labor Issues and Unfair Practices Led to the Boycott of SPC SAMLIP CO.,LTD.

By Ju Yeon Lee

  • Protests against unfair labor exploitation and labor union suppression by workers continue gaining traction by civil society and leading to the boycott of SPC SAMLIP CO.,LTD(005610).
  • France’s leading labor union organization, the CGT (Confédération Générale du Travail), held a rally in front of the Paris Baguette store in Paris condemning SPC partners’ unfair labor practices. 
  • Dunkin’s headquarters, run by SPC affiliate BR Korea Co, Ltd has been known to be engaged in unfair practices against franchisees.

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Sep 03
0

Daily Brief ESG: Not Small Change: The Theft from SBI’s Coin Depot Should Set Alarm Bells Ringing and more

By | Daily Briefs, ESG

In today’s briefing:

  • Not Small Change: The Theft from SBI’s Coin Depot Should Set Alarm Bells Ringing
  • Should Move to a Legally Binding Structure to Prevent Corporate Governance from Becoming a Skeleton

Not Small Change: The Theft from SBI’s Coin Depot Should Set Alarm Bells Ringing

By Hemindra Hazari

  • Theft from SBI’s high security coin depot of Rs 110mn by insiders
  • Contents of coin deposts like currency chests are the property of the central bank
  • Theft reveals lax security protocols at SBI which raises concerns of operational risk management

Should Move to a Legally Binding Structure to Prevent Corporate Governance from Becoming a Skeleton

By Aki Matsumoto

  • Cases of illegal transactions by the president of a company from the founding family should be handled in terms of legal violations before corporate governance.
  • If we focus on the issue of corporate governance, the problem is that the board of directors and statutory auditors have failed to fulfill their duties and cross-shareholdings were involved.
  • If corporate governance is not effective in practice, we should at least expect to see improvements in corporate governance practices in organizational forms that are more legally binding.

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Sep 01
0

Daily Brief ESG: Singapore’s Inaugural Green Bond: Big Deal and more

By | Daily Briefs, ESG

In today’s briefing:

  • Singapore’s Inaugural Green Bond: Big Deal, Big Impact
  • K-Pop Industry Finally Starts to Pay Attention to ESG

Singapore’s Inaugural Green Bond: Big Deal, Big Impact

By Kyle Rudden

  • Singapore recently announced the pricing of its inaugural sovereign green bond issue marking Singapore’s momentous entrée into the growing global sovereign green bond market.
  • Big deal, and big impact. Singapore’s S$2.4 billion 50-year green bond ranks among the largest inaugural sovereign issuances and the proceeds are funding impactful “green projects.”
  • Proceeds will fund two Clean Transportation projects (electric rail mass transit) and contribute to an 80% reduction in land transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

K-Pop Industry Finally Starts to Pay Attention to ESG

By Soo Young Kim

  • JYP Entertainment (035900), one of the major entertainment companies in Korea, just released its very first ESG report in the industry
  • As climate change issues grow among fandom, likely to see growing risk for environmental issues. For social issues, anti-competitive practices and consumer issues became material
  • ‘Business Ethics’ issues at YG Entertainment (122870) has pulled down its stock price in 2019, causing its main artist to disband

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Aug 31
0

Daily Brief ESG: The Crux of the Problem Is the Company’s Reluctance to Increase the Number of Diverse Shareholders and more

By | Daily Briefs, ESG

In today’s briefing:

  • The Crux of the Problem Is the Company’s Reluctance to Increase the Number of Diverse Shareholders

The Crux of the Problem Is the Company’s Reluctance to Increase the Number of Diverse Shareholders

By Aki Matsumoto

  • If stock price is high, then a stock split is the way to go, and stockbrokers have provided a mechanism for trading shares in less than single-unit in the past.
  • The issue isn’t “the trading unit should be lowered because people can’t buy shares with high stock prices” but “let’s improve so that people can become shareholders with one share.
  • If Japanese companies are reluctant to increase the number of diverse shareholders, this would be in line with their slower progress in solving issues: diversity, human rights, and environment.

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Aug 30
0

Daily Brief ESG: ESG Mutual Funds Are Not to Be ESG Investing for Show and more

By | Daily Briefs, ESG

In today’s briefing:

  • ESG Mutual Funds Are Not to Be ESG Investing for Show

ESG Mutual Funds Are Not to Be ESG Investing for Show

By Aki Matsumoto

  • Not many individual investors understand the value of ESG investing and buy ESG investment trusts, as inflows/outflows from ESG investment trusts have much to do with market volatility.
  • It’s unclear how much ESG investing contributed to the performance, as aspects were saved by the performance of sectors in which they invest and by the benefits of weak yen.
  • Efforts must be made to help individual investors understand the value of ESG investing and encourage long-term investment. To this end, investment managers should establish investment approach to ESG investing.

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Aug 29
0

Daily Brief ESG: Is the Stagnant Birth Rate Caused by Gender Disparity or Stagnant Income? and more

By | Daily Briefs, ESG

In today’s briefing:

  • Is the Stagnant Birth Rate Caused by Gender Disparity or Stagnant Income?

Is the Stagnant Birth Rate Caused by Gender Disparity or Stagnant Income?

By Aki Matsumoto

  • Support through reform of social systems needs to develop environment conducive to childrearing, not to mention Scandinavian case. The generation with old view of family is obstacle to these reforms.
  • As real incomes declined, the number of dual-earner families increased and the fertility rate declined. The decline in the fertility rate is related to the decline in income per worker.
  • Meanwhile, companies managed to maintain profit margins by holding down labor costs. Declining real incomes, declining birth rates, management distancing itself from diverse values, and stagnant profit margins are interrelated.

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