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.

Social Bonds: Here Come the Next Green Bonds

Sustainability/ESG Frameworks: GRI (Global Reporting Initiative)

Sustainability/ESG Frameworks: SDGs (UN Sustainable Development Goals)

Last year, I published a series of Insights on major sustainability and ESG reporting frameworks; a high-level overview of each major framework, followed by specific cross-framework mappings and analyses. Then, somewhere in the middle of it all, standards organisations stirred the pot.There was a spate of mergers (e.g., SASB and IIRC into the Value Reporting Foundation) and vague threats of overhauling frameworks. I held back from publishing more in the series to see if, when, and how they alter the frameworks. Uncertainty remains, and these organisations move slowly.However, one remaining mapping in that series is "safe" to publish, the final SDG-to-GRI mapping (Sustainable Development Goals to Global Reporting Initiative), to align the SDGs with investment strategy, asset allocation, and securities selection. I say "safe" to publish, for two reasons:<ol>
<li>UN SDGs are not among organisations or frameworks undergoing changes, so no issue</li>
<li>GRI is revising, but it will take years to finalise, and the current version will be relevant</li>
</ol>

Last year, I published a series of Insights on major sustainability and ESG reporting frameworks; a high-level overview of each major framework, followed by specific cross-framework mappings and analyses. Then, somewhere in the middle of it all, standards organisations stirred the pot.There was a spate of mergers (e.g., SASB and IIRC into the Value Reporting Foundation) and vague threats of overhauling frameworks. I held back from publishing more in the series to see if, when, and how they alter the frameworks. Uncertainty remains, and these organisations move slowly.However, one remaining mapping in that series is "safe" to publish, the final SDG-to-GRI mapping (Sustainable Development Goals to Global Reporting Initiative), to align the SDGs with investment strategy, asset allocation, and securities selection. I say "safe" to publish, for two reasons:
UN SDGs are not among organisations or frameworks undergoing changes, so no issue
GRI is revising, but it will take years to finalise, and the current version will be relevant


Sustainability/ESG Frameworks: Mapping the SDGs and GRI (Bi-Directional, Based on TBL Pillars)

Blackrock Inc

Sustainability/ESG Frameworks: Mapping the SDGs and GRI (Bi-Directional, Based on TBL Pillars)