Alpha-Centric ESG Research

Kyle Rudden

I am an ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) analyst with an alpha-centric approach to ESG research. After all, ESG investing is, first and foremost, investing. "Alpha-centric" does not mean apathetic, however. Quite the contrary. I believe global sustainability – i.e., environmental stewardship, social equality, and economic prosperity – is imperative, and private-sector capital is its cornerstone. Private-sector capital still has fiduciary responsibilities. Profitability is necessary for sustained impact. The Triple Bottom Line. People, Planet, AND Profit.

More importantly, you. I value your investment in Smartkarma research, and commit to Insights worthy of your time and money. That means giving ASEAN ESG the attention it deserves, and with Insights that are substantive and differentiated; the intersection of material and under-covered. You can expect investigative research into emergent ESG issues; data-driven analyses of deals (pre-IPO ESG research, ESG-focused M&A consequence analyses, etc.); and trading-oriented ideas like ESG short selling and playing ESG index constituency changes.

I bring both ESG expertise and traditional investing experience, as well as some rather unique perspectives on ESG (a lesson in governance from Enron, anyone?). I spent the last decade exclusively on ESG, researching links to equity returns, credit ratings, cost of capital, and yield spreads. I also contributed to ESG reporting standards (SASB and GRI), and the MBA curriculum (Impact Investing) at the Kellogg School of Management. Previously, I was an Institutional Investor and Wall Street Journal All-Star sell-side analyst at J.P. Morgan.

Please, feel free to contact me about anything.

Two decades ago, Enron (ENE US) collapsed. It was the largest corporate bankruptcy at the time, and remains one of the most egregious failures of corporate governance in history. In light of my past-life involvement with Enron, and my current-life ESG focus, I decided to write this.What is this?This Insight is a look-back at the Enron debacle, through an ESG lens and with the perspective of my up-close-and-personal relationship with Enron way back when. More specifically, it asks (and hopefully answers) this question: Would having had an ESG lens twenty years ago have helped?In reality, that is an impossible question to answer. Too many variables. For example, am I alone privy to ESG or do we assume ESG had gone mainstream? Would the mainstreaming of ESG have changed other things, like investor sentiment during the dot-com boom central to Enron's fall?Regardless of the impossibility, it's still an interesting hypothetical question to ponder.So, let's time travel and see what we can see of this Enron debacle through an ESG lens.

Two decades ago, Enron (ENE US) collapsed. It was the largest corporate bankruptcy at the time, and remains one of the most egregious failures of corporate governance in history. In light of my past-life involvement with Enron, and my current-life ESG focus, I decided to write this.What is this?This Insight is a look-back at the Enron debacle, through an ESG lens and with the perspective of my up-close-and-personal relationship with Enron way back when. More specifically, it asks (and hopefully answers) this question: Would having had an ESG lens twenty years ago have helped?In reality, that is an impossible question to answer. Too many variables. For example, am I alone privy to ESG or do we assume ESG had gone mainstream? Would the mainstreaming of ESG have changed other things, like investor sentiment during the dot-com boom central to Enron's fall?Regardless of the impossibility, it's still an interesting hypothetical question to ponder.So, let's time travel and see what we can see of this Enron debacle through an ESG lens.

Enron: An ESG Analysis… Twenty Years Late

Accenture Plc Cl A

Enron: An ESG Analysis… Twenty Years Late