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News and investment research brought to you weekly covering major market trends and new research insights. With topics ranging from climate impact on investment portfolios, corporate actions, trending investment topics, and emerging sustainability issues, hosts Mike Disabato and Bentley Kaplan of MSCI ESG Research walk through the latest news and research that is top of mind for the week.
318 Episodes
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The EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) is a corner stone of the EU’s plan to cut carbon emissions and achieve its climate goals. But it has undergone numerous changes, with the most recently announced on Nov. 20. Our question was whether these revisions preserved the SFDR’s stated purpose: promoting transparency and ensuring comparability in how sustainable a financial product truly is. We explored that question and more in this episode, which covers the changes the EU ...
Oil spills, labor violations, data breaches. When controversy strikes, should investors pull out, or hold their nerve? We unpack fresh analysis on what happens when portfolios steer clear of scandal-prone firms and the surprising impact on returns. Host: Bentley Kaplan, MSCI Sustainability & Climate Guest: Drashti Shah, MSCI Custom Index Solutions
The energy transition is underway, but it’s not a smooth ride. In this episode, we unpack why progress has been so uneven, from surging EV sales to rising coal demand. We explore how tech, cost, and policy are shaping risks and opportunities for investors. Host: Gabriela de la Serna, MSCI Sustainability & Climate Guest: Anthony Chan, MSCI Sustainability & Climate
We are in the era of data centers. They are being built with the speed and intensity of factories during the industrial revolution, and with the same sort of capital attraction. But their high emissions, which are under-reported by companies (we will tell you why!), have left both real estate and tech investors with a dilemma: take advantage of the data center boom or have a portfolio with low emissions. We explore this tension in this episode of Sustainability Now. Helpful Reading: Desire fo...
Carbon, selfishly, has dominated the sustainability conversation for some time. But what about the often-overlooked foundation of our everything in our economy: biodiversity. How can you measure that if its basically everything? We show you how in this episode, exploring how every business, from agriculture to technology, depends on the health of ecosystems, and how investors can now quantify those connections through innovative data-driven tools. By unpacking the creation of our new Bi...
Do hurricanes affect the market? Join us as we cover new research that tracks the financial fallout of storms on company equity. Through asset exposure and climate models, we’ll discuss how storm paths connect to stock prices and why investors may want to take notice, before the next hurricane hits. Host: Bentley Kaplan, MSCI ESG Research Guest: Xinxin Wang, MSCI ESG Research
As the planet continues to warm, physical climate risk is no longer an abstract future concern. It is financially material today. The question now is where those risks will materialize and how are companies prepared for those risks. We can help you find out - just by listening to this episode! Report discussed: https://www.msci.com/research-and-insights/blog-post/the-bill-is-due-physical-hazard-revenue-losses-mount-plans-lag Host: Mike Disabato, MSCI Sustainability and Climate Research ...
Climate change doesn’t just arrive one disaster at a time. It stacks crises on top of each other: drought followed by flood, heat followed by fire; shocks that turn small problems into big financial hits. In this episode, we talked about how compounding climate hazards are reshaping the bottled water industry, what a 2024 Nestlé scandal reveals about the future of water quality, and why investors should be paying closer attention. Host: Mike Disabato - MSCI ESG Research Guest: Cole Mart...
Controlled companies now outnumber widely held ones. New MSCI research shows that this market shift has significant implications for shareholder returns. Guest: Jonathan Ponder, MSCI ESG Research Host: Bentley Kaplan, MSCI ESG Research
We already know there is a clear link between ESG ratings and the cost of capital. But the question remains: do ESG ratings matter for bonds and their credit spreads? Should fixed income investors care? Listen to this week’s episode to find out! Host: Mike Disabato, MSCI ESG Research Guest: Jakub Malich, MSCI ESG Research Link to paper discussed in episode: https://www.msci.com/research-and-insights/paper/the-financial-materiality-of-sustainability-risk-in-credit-markets-a-decade-of-evidence
As a new policy landscape emerges in North America, are companies scaling back on sustainability reporting? And will investors go with the flow? Join us as we look at live trends in company disclosures and where the 2025 proxy season is headed. Host: Bentley Kaplan, MSCI ESG Research Guests: Julia Morello & Jonathan Ponder, MSCI ESG Research
As the physical risks from climate change grow, so does our reliance on accurate maps to assess them. In this episode, we dig into the limitations of publicly available flood maps and explore how data and modeling in the marketplace have evolved - often surpassing the capabilities of standard public tools. Host: Mike Disabato, MSCI ESG Research Guest: Kate Towey, MSCI Climate Risk Center
Let’s venture beyond the portfolio and into the engine room of company performance. In this episode, we explore how ESG Ratings relate to core business fundamentals like profitability, sales variability, and asset turnover. It’s a new piece of a much bigger picture that connects sustainability with financial performance. Host: Bentley Kaplan, MSCI ESG Research Guest: Yu Ishihara, MSCI ESG Research
On July 4, the United States enacted the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a sweeping tax-and-spending package containing some 35 provisions affecting the energy sector. Here, we highlight the most significant measures and examine how the legislation could reshape energy-investment decisions for both corporations and investors. Host: Mike Disabato, MSCI ESG Research Guest: Chris Cote, MSCI ESG Research
Junk food is at the center of the political conversation in America and globally, with discussions about ultra-processed and artificial foods, and the changes we need to make to food, and how hungry we are but none of the food is "good." It is a thing! But what does it mean for food companies? And what does it mean for our social pillar where we look at opportunities in nutrition and health - which assess which companies are likely to meet market demand for products with improved nutritional ...
The energy transition isn’t a straight line. Investors are increasingly look to understand where and how emissions create portfolio risk. In this episode, we explore MSCI’s new energy transition framework and take a closer look at materiality-weighted emissions, a new metric that draws a bolder line to company performance. Host: Bentley Kaplan, MSCI ESG Research Guests: Chris Cote & Guido Giese, MSCI ESG Research
How is it going with the carbon credit markets? Are they pricing credits accurately? Is the vitally important Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation also known as CORSIA that relies on functioning carbon credit markets working out? Listen to this episode of Sustainability Now to find out! Host: Mike Disabato, MSCI ESG Research Guest: Utkarsh Akhouri and Nicholas Baldwin, MSCI Carbon Markets
Could Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche’s late-stage antibiotic trials signal new hope against antibiotic‐resistant pathogens? On this special REPLAY episode (originally aired August 2024), we take a deep dive into the state of antimicrobial resistance, from hospital wards to farm fields. As these microscopic threats drive up healthcare costs, jeopardize food security, and reshape insurance risk worldwide, understanding the crisis has never been more critical. But while the need to act is cl...
In this episode, we dive deep into the critical role of adaptation finance in helping Asia face the escalating impacts of climate change. As the region experiences rising temperatures and extreme weather events, the demand for resilience-building solutions is greater than ever. With a growing population, rapid urbanization, and a heavy reliance on agriculture, Asia is uniquely vulnerable, but also primed for innovation and growth in climate resilience. Tune in to understand the challenges, op...
Tariffs and tangled supply chains: This week, we explore how commercial aerospace and defense companies are navigating a new wave of trade restrictions. From Boeing to Lockheed Martin, what do transparency and oversight mean when the stakes — and the sky —are high? Host: Bentley Kaplan, MSCI ESG Research Guest: Mike Disabato, MSCI ESG Research
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I enjoyed this episode for many reasons, one being the GWP of the built environment is 40% of the globes emissions. I would love to see some coverage of the embodied carbon of buildings, particularly concrete, and what can be done. I would urge you to seek perspecbeyond what the bug cement organizations are saying. Thanks for a interesting and informative series.