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Trends and Insights in Responsible Investing Research: A Global and South African Perspective

This presentation by Professor Suzette Viviers from Stellenbosch University explores the evolution of responsible investing (RI) research from 1975 to the present, highlighting trends, prominent themes, and the unique landscape of RI in South Africa. It synthesizes findings from numerous studies, assessing the legal, ethical, and fiduciary dimensions of RI. The presentation also identifies gaps in literature, such as the need for more focus on emerging markets and the importance of ethical considerations alongside financial performance. Join this insightful exploration of RI's past, present, and future.

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Trends and Insights in Responsible Investing Research: A Global and South African Perspective

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Presentation Transcript

  1. Academic developments in responsible investing (RI ) Prof Suzette Viviers Department of Business Management Stellenbosch University sviviers@sun.ac.za

  2. Structure of the presentation • Introduction • Trends in international RI research (1975 – 2009) • Prominent research themes (2009+) • RI research in South Africa • Conclusions

  3. Introduction • The purpose of research… • reviewing, reflecting on and synthesising existing knowledge; • investigating some existing situation or problem; • providing solutions to a problem; • exploring and analysing more general issues; • constructing or creating new procedures or systems; • explaining new phenomena; and • generating new knowledge and theories.

  4. Trends in international RI research • Viviers and Eccles conducted a review of 190 academic articles on RI from 1975 – 20091 & 2 • Primary name of the phenomenon: Socially responsible investing (SRI) • Research themes: Financial performance, fiduciary duty and legal aspects of RI • Ethical foundations: Predominantly utilitarian i.e. the greatest good for the greatest number; increased mention of ethical egoism (self-interest) in later periods • RI strategies: Negative screening, positive screening and shareholder activism • Gapsin the RI literature: RI in emerging markets

  5. Trends in international RI research • Since 2009 the number of academic articles on RI and ESG related topics has grown exponentially • Special edition in the Journal of Business Ethics • Journal of Sustainable Finance and Investment • International journals dedicated to corporate governance, sustainability, behavioural finance etc. • Explosion of non-academic publications on the topic

  6. Prominent research themes (2009+) • Nature and extent of shareholder activism3 - 10 • Factors that impede / support successful activism • Hedge funds, NGOs, trade unions • Financial performance11 - 18 • Cross-country studies / best practices in financial research • Studies on fixed-income and Shari’ah instruments • Fiduciary duty and legal aspects of RI19-21 • Private investors22 - 24 • Motives to invest in a responsible manner • Decision making models

  7. Prominent research themes (2009+) • ESG criteria25 - 33 • Relative importance of individual screens • Impact of individual screens on financial performance • Problems experienced when attempting to integrate ESG considerations • Sustainability indices34 • Composition and financial performance • A critique of “business case RI”35-38 • Sustainable property investments39 & 40 • RI in emerging markets41- 43

  8. RI research in South Africa • An increase in the number of researchers and topics covered (current projects indicated with a *) • Definition and nature of RI in South Africa44-48 • Drivers, barriers and enablers of RI in South Africa49 & 50 • Financial performance51 * • Legal/ethical considerations52- 54 • FTSE/JSE SRI index55 * • ESG criteria in the South African context56 & 57 * • CSR / ESG / Integrated reporting58 – 70 * • Impact investing71 • Shareholder activism*

  9. Conclusions • King Solomon (Ecclesiastes 1) and Bon Jovi agree - the more things change, the more they stay the same • There is nothing new about RI… • We are drowning in information, yet thirst for knowledge • Researchers should focus less on “what is” and more on “what ought to be” • They should also focus less on the “business case” for RI and more on the “ethical case” for RI ------oOo------

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