Our guest, Thomas Kuh, PhD, of ESG startup Truvalue Labs reminds us that among the earliest examples of ESG investing were the Quakers; a group who refused to profit from investments in armaments makers because of their principles and beliefs about pacifism.
From a modern investing standpoint, the concepts behind today’s ESG investing and ratings systems have evolved over the last 50 years—which is still probably much longer than most financial advisors realize. ESG investing and the rating systems that would support it have gained a lot of complexity over the years and hence why WealthManagement.com invited Kuh to unpack some of what is behind it all.
In this limited-series podcast, you will learn a bit more about how the ratings systems and standards evolved starting with Tom’s background working with a few of the major firms involved in their development, arriving at a definition of ESG itself, as well as the importance of SASB, unstructured data and what both advisors and investors most need to know about the ratings systems.