On February 1, 2017 Akash Goel and Derek Yach contributed an opinion piece to Devex in which they acknowledge the “nascent but growing” field of environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing and note that “multiple studies and meta-analysis” demonstrate correlation between ESG and financial performance and the importance of ESG factors in managing risk.
The authors posit that “health metrics are grossly underrepresented in integrated reporting platforms, but have been demonstrated to be fundamental drivers of social and financial return.” In the article, they explain how addressing health metrics are good for business.
The authors come to the following conclusion: “Industry trends suggest that ESG will be an increasingly growing part of the financial services landscape. To fully optimize both the financial and social value of a business, health metrics need to be not only tracked, but also incorporated into integrated reporting platforms. This evolution is likely inevitable, because in the end, it’s just good business.”
You may read the opinion piece on the Devex internet site.