ESG for M.O.N.E.Y
Let’s start with a universal investing truth. ‘Everyone wants to make money.’ Through the years brokerage houses have been exploiting that need. Let’s go back to 1969. Many brokerages focused their equity marketing on an impact -called “Nifty Fifty.” This was the sure thing.
The Nifty Fifty comprised the stocks of companies considered the best and fast-growing – so good that nothing bad could ever happen to them. For these stocks, everyone was sure there was “no price too high.” But if you bought the Nifty Fifty in ‘69 and held them until 1974, you were sitting on losses of more than 90%. Ouch.
The impact fizzled.
Today there are new trends, new attitudes, and new ways of thinking. Investors still want to make money, but they would love to do something good too. Enter ESG. The leader is a firm called BlackRock. What is ESG? (Environmental, social, governance). ESG investing is a form of sustainable investing that considers environmental, social, and governance factors to judge an investment’s financial results. Investors now make an impact by doing good with their money.
As of December 2021, Blackrock manages a staggering $10 trillion of other people’s money.
That’s more than the gross domestic product of every country in the world, except for the US and China. BlackRock is the leader in ESG. ESG has made an impact. Will it be a good investment? No one knows. But they have changed the world for now. That’s what the right impact can do.