A Call to Action: Aligning Gender Lens Investing and ESG

Gender lens investing (GLI) is a thematic environmental, social, and governance (ESG) technique that’s impressed by girls in management (WIL) and associated gender equality standards.

The primary publicly traded GLI equity funds available to individual investors embrace 12 international and 16 regional funds that collectively closed out 2020 with US$2.67 billion in belongings below administration (AUM). As a whole, they weathered the year’s economic storms well, with only one fund closing and three new ones launching.

Certainly, GLI fairness funds performed in line with the broader market. Whereas there are not any clear sector winners on gender equality, data expertise and monetary providers are the highest two, in keeping with an AUM-weighted allocation analysis, regardless of their very own well-documented gender fairness gaps. Nation weightings are dominated by the US at 58% adopted by Canada and a number of other Europe allocations,

Regardless of the continuing demonstration of WIL advantages, progress has been painfully slow, particularly for women of color. Gender equality have to be inclusive of racial, ethnic, and socio-economic variety.

Stakeholders have began to deal with the disappointing tempo of change. In the UK, the government-backed goal of one-third feminine board membership by the tip of 2020 for all FTSE 350 companies has been met by the index constituents. In the United States, the NASDAQ stock exchange filed a groundbreaking SEC proposal in December that would require board diversity for new listed companies.

How do GLI fairness funds mirror the ESG strategy and the way properly do they do it?

The WIL funding philosophy is rooted in company management and associated measures that promote inclusive gender variety. That captures the governance side — the G in ESG — in relationships with inner stakeholders. Some GLI funds additionally deal with provider variety and product security, which applies a component of the social, or the S in ESG, with exterior stakeholders.

However what concerning the E? How are GLI fairness funds acting on the environmental entrance? That may be a important questions given how starkly disproportionate environmental crises influence girls.

The unequal toll that weather disasters, rising sea levels, and other climate change- related events exact from women, particularly in developing countries has been well researched. Girls usually tend to dwell in poverty, much less more likely to personal land, and extra more likely to lose schooling and livelihoods due to local weather disaster. Discriminatory legal guidelines, lack of entry to monetary providers, and the burdens of unpaid caregiving solely add to the gender-unequal burden of local weather change.

One outgrowth of that is the bigger position girls play as brokers of local weather options. In developing economies, women are leading many community-based efforts to address local climate impacts. Empowering women and girls has been ranked second among dozens of solutions to global warming. In developed markets, studies show that women are relatively more focused on climate change, and lots of eco-friendly merchandise are marketed to girls.

Not less than 4 of the 28 GLI fairness funds are fossil gas free, which signifies their alignment with ESG’s local weather element. These embrace the PAX Ellevate World Girls’s Management Fund, the Desjardins SocieTerra Variety Fund, and the Adasina Social Justice All-Cap World alternate traded fund (ETF).

As well as, Robeco, the manager of the RobecoSAM Global Gender Equality Impact Equities Fund, announced that all of its funds would be fossil fuel free by the end of 2020. Five GLI equity fund managers recently pledged to align with the Paris Agreement’s emissions targets.

The place are the alternatives for these funds to put money into girls in local weather management? Women hold an estimated 32% of renewable energy jobs, compared to 22% of total energy roles. However most of those positions are lower-paying administrative roles reasonably than higher-paying STEM-related jobs. However robust development is forecast for jobs within the renewable power sector within the a long time forward, so clear power industries can have the chance to advertise inclusive gender fairness and reap the rewards of numerous management.

The 28 GLI equity funds held 155 unique top 10 holdings at the end of the fourth quarter. The chart beneath reveals the clear power corporations inside these ranks and their WIL information.

Clear and Renewable Vitality Corporations in High 10 Holdings of GLI Fairness Funds, Listed Alphabetically

Supply: Parallelle Finance, as of 31 December 2020

After all, there’s one other facet of the equation: How are ESG investments incorporating the gender lens philosophy? In any case, numerous ESG reporting requirements are jostling for management within the house.

Whichever frameworks ultimately prevail ought to characteristic complete metrics on inclusive gender equality. Certainly, all ESG reporting requirements and necessities must be filtered via a gender lens. The leading standards have tended to focus on the materiality of ESG metrics by company and industry.

That mentioned, ongoing analysis into the advantages of gender-diverse management — and the prices of lagging behind — will not be sector-specific.

ESG requirements ought to measure all companies on the G of inner inclusive gender equality, the S of variety and fairness in exterior relationships, and the E of addressing the gender-unequal impact of local weather change and environmental disaster.

ESG funds ought to then weight their investments in direction of the leaders on these metrics.

For extra evaluation from Marypat Smucker, CFA, go to Parallelle Finance.

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All posts are the opinion of the writer. As such, they shouldn’t be construed as funding recommendation, nor do the opinions expressed essentially mirror the views of CFA Institute or the writer’s employer.

Picture credit score: ©Getty Pictures / Watchara Kokram / EyeEm

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