ESG: Trillions Squandered and Zero Progress

Ed D'Agostino
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July 14, 2023
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The envisioned benefits of ESG investing—owning companies that follow responsible environmental, social, and governance policies—have failed to materialize. Instead, the blind acceptance of ESG precepts has resulted in trillions of dollars being misallocated and zero progress toward its principle target: climate change.

Terrence Keeley, author of Sustainable: Moving Beyond ESG to Impact Investing, shows how ESG got the ideology right and the methodology wrong. So far, socially responsible investing hasn’t changed anything while handing investors subpar returns.

Terry delivered a powerful argument on the state of ESG at our annual Strategic Investment Conference, and I knew I had to have him back for a deeper dive into this crucial topic.

Over 5,000 institutions controlling $120 trillion in capital have pledged to follow the UN’s Principles for Responsible Investing. Terry believes just 1.6% of that capital is all that’s needed to achieve its goals. That belief laid the foundation for 1PointSix LLC, the company he founded that is working to make the “Do well and do good” philosophy an impactful reality.

In this week’s interview, Terry and I discuss:

ESG will not be enough. We need economic growth that benefits more people and is sustainable.
Why we must invest in “dirty” firms if we want to make them greener.
How to achieve the “double bottom line.”
Why the ESG mindset is not the way to generate alpha.
The “Doing good and doing well” approach must include solving energy poverty—which requires nuclear energy.
The need to better measure the impact (or lack thereof) of ESG funds.
Why climate change requires collective action on a global scale.
The 5 things needed for ESG to work.

You can watch our interview on YouTube by clicking the image below. On your way in, please don’t forget to subscribe to our channel and like the video.

You can learn more about Terry and his work at 1PointSix LLC by visiting his website here.

A full transcript of our conversation is available here.

Terrence Keeley is chairman and CIO of 1PointSix LLC. His career in finance spans four decades, where he has advised the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds, public pension plans, endowments, foundations, and family offices. He was previously a managing director at BlackRock’s institutional investors group.

As always, I really appreciate you joining me this week at Global Macro Update. Mark your calendar for next week when I talk with Matt K. Lewis, senior columnist at The Daily Beast, and wade into the deep end of the US political scene—it promises to be a lively conversation.

Best regards,

Ed D’Agostino
Publisher & COO