Socially conscious investing gains prominence amid Covid-19 – The National

Socially conscious investing gains prominence amid Covid-19 – The National

Companies committed to sustainability are outperforming the wider stock market





























The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park in Dubai. Investors are beating the market by putting their money in companies committed to environmental, social and governance (ESG) priorities. Reuters











At the moment, when so many industries are staggered by the coronavirus pandemic, investors are beating the market by putting their money in companies committed to environmental, social and governance (ESG) priorities favouring transparency, diversity and sustainability.



ESG is where profits are, signalling that doing the right thing increasingly is the smartest bet. The iShares exchange-traded fund investing in companies it thinks have "positive environmental, social and governance characteristics“, one of the largest of the type, produced a total return this year that is more than three times the performance of the S&P 500 index.





The convergence of high-mindedness and profit was noted last month by Al Gore, the former US vice president, 2000 Democratic presidential candidate and Oscar-winning environmental documentarian. He told a Bloomberg conference: "It is ever clearer that sustainable technologies are cheaper and better.“



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