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Article

7 Jun 2011

Author:
Amanda White, Top 1000 Funds

MSCI index launches ESG into mainstream

Managing director, global head of index and applied research at MSCI, Remy Briand, acknowledges that incorporating ESG factors provides some unique challenges. “We’re going to discuss with clients, why would you incorporate ESG, and our view is that for asset owners ESG is taking into account externalities generated by companies which may affect the whole portfolio – traditional finance looks at companies in isolation. It is interesting for pension funds to look at those negative externalities,” he said. “It’s an area that is difficult to measure sometimes but this year there’s been a number of very high profile cases such as FoxConn and BP which have been great examples.”