Did you know that most large European corporations compensate executives for reaching ESG targets? Is that a good thing, and how should this be done?I discuss these fascinating questions with Tom Gosling, perhaps the world's most experienced expert regarding ESG compensation. I learned a lot in this episode! Some (but not all) of my favorite insights:Even if ESG targets contribute to long-term shareholder value, it can make sense to incentivize middle managers on ESG because they are usually incentivized on annual targets.ESG incentives can work when they are aligned with overall strategy, focus on one central ESG issue, and are monitored by a knowledgeable anchor investorThere is no way to fix the economic incentives given by the market and regulation with managerial incentives.Tom has written about this topic a lot, as you can see on his homepage. Here are some direct links to documents mentioned during the podcast:Paying for net zero assesses the quality of climate targets in large European companies. Spoiler alert: it’s not great.Paying well by paying for good is a report produced in collaboration with PwC looking at whether executive pay should be linked to ESG targets, and if so how. The follow-up paper Paying for good for all looks at practice and attitudes globally and extends the analysis to consider alignment of broader company-wide reward strategy with ESG.Executive Pay and ESG Performance is an excellent summary of the first report in blog format.And here two of the recent papers that Tom mentions:Say on ESG: The Adoption of Say-on-Pay Laws, ESG Contracting, and Firm ESG PerformanceExecutive Compensation Tied to ESG Performance: International Evidence
Erschienen: 27.06.2023
Dauer: 55:42
I talk with Per Einar Ellefsen, CEO and founder of Amundsen IM, a fund that specializes in the European primary equity market. We have a long conversation about the role of ESG factors in the IPO process, from the angle of risk assessment, investment performance, and impact. Along the way, we talk about a lot of interesting companies: Azelis, Verallia, Visma, Eurogroup Laminations, and EDP Renewables. https://amundsen-im.com
Erschienen: 16.05.2023
Dauer: 01:00:14
I ask Harald Walkate why he thinks blended finance is like music. Harald knows about finance, he has 25 years of experience, having worked at Natixis Investment Managers and Aegon Asset Management. He also knows about music, he plays the piano really well. Harald explains how blended finance works, and how it transforms the idea of "sustainable finance" into "financing sustainability". Along the way, we talk about wind turbines in Mali, Milton Friedman, how to access deep pockets, and scoring impact points. As a bonus, you can listen to one of Harald’s recent recordings.For those looking for more information, some links to the things we talk about: The Climate Investor 1 Fund Link to the track and Harald’s Music on Spotify You can find the 6 articles in the “Music is Like Blended Finance” series that we discuss in the podcast on the website of Route17, the blended finance advisory firm that Harald is a founding partner of: https://route17.world/thought-leadership/ For questions or feedback write to isf-podcast@unisg.ch
Erschienen: 21.03.2023
Dauer: 49:23
