31–40 of 187 posts
I'm reminded of Goodhart's law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodhart%27s_law "When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure."
As far as I can tell ESG is a huge 'begging the question' problem. Companies with good ESG scores do better because we invest in companies with good ESG scores.
But shouldn't the "free market" correct for this? If most people are putting their money into ESG but there isn't a real underlying performance difference, that creates an arbitrage opportunity for people willing to invest in non-ESG? Sadly, I can already hear the right-wing rebuttal: "the market isn't truly free because of the (bankers) running blackrock! we need govt intervention to ban ESG, then the market will be…
ESG is tricky to talk about thanks to the politization of it. I work on some projects that involve ESG data and I have some thoughts. First there's LOTS of factors. If you bunch them all up into one number, it becomes meaningless as the article describes. I would think wiser minds would use this data to make investment decisions based on some specific risk, like hedging against some environmental disaster which may a…
I think caring about ESG, and especially evaluating a company's governance, is important. But I don't know how much I really want BlackRock and Vanguard to be the ones doing the scoring...
I find it hilarious the kind of conspiracy theories people lob at BlackRock and Vanguard. BlackRock maybe I can maybe understand, but Vanguard is like the most straightforward boring investment company in the world. It's literally a shareholder co-op for passive investment funds. People have no idea what they are talking about.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Vanguard/@40.0513614,-75.5...
BlackRock? Different story, but Vanguard? Comeon.
A component of ESG scores is how much you discriminate against white people. So of course you can have a good ESG score yet be a polluter.
The notion of a social score is absurd. You'd first have to define *society*. At least here in the USA, there is no monolithic society. Cultures differ greatly depending on which state you're in and sometimes even within a state.
As far as I can tell ESG is a huge 'begging the question' problem. Companies with good ESG scores do better because we invest in companies with good ESG scores.
But shouldn't the "free market" correct for this? If most people are putting their money into ESG but there isn't a real underlying performance difference, that creates an arbitrage opportunity for people willing to invest in non-ESG? Sadly, I can already hear the right-wing rebuttal: "the market isn't truly free because of the (bankers) running blackrock! we need govt intervention to ban ESG, then the market will be…
BlackRock is a different story - look into their actions around SFH. They're not great.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I find it hilarious the kind of conspiracy theories people lob at BlackRock and Vanguard. BlackRock maybe I can maybe understand, but Vanguard is like the most straightforward boring investment company in the world. It's literally a shareholder co-op for passive investment funds. People have no idea what they are talking about.
My favorite Vanguard fact is their HQ. It's a shitty set of lowrise buildings in suburban Philly - not some massive highrise in Manhattan or JC. Their whole thing is automation and saving money. https://www.google.com/maps/place/Vanguard/@40.0513614,-75.5... BlackRock? Different story, but Vanguard ? Comeon.
I think caring about ESG, and especially evaluating a company's governance, is important. But I don't know how much I really want BlackRock and Vanguard to be the ones doing the scoring...
I find it hilarious the kind of conspiracy theories people lob at BlackRock and Vanguard. BlackRock maybe I can maybe understand, but Vanguard is like the most straightforward boring investment company in the world. It's literally a shareholder co-op for passive investment funds. People have no idea what they are talking about.
A component of ESG scores is how much you discriminate against white people. So of course you can have a good ESG score yet be a polluter.
The notion of a social score is absurd. You'd first have to define *society*. At least here in the USA, there is no monolithic society. Cultures differ greatly depending on which state you're in and sometimes even within a state.