Getting to the heart of ESG: An investor’s perspective

Financial Management (FM) magazine

The belief that companies should not solely focus on shareholder value, but should benefit all stakeholders — including employees, customers, and communities — is what many investors, large and small, have been rallying around. As a result, investors have been demanding environmental, social, and governance (ESG) information from companies to help guide their long-term investment decisions.

Matthew Hurn, OBE, FCMA, CGMA, is the CFO for Disruptive Investments at Mubadala Investment, an investment vehicle owned by the government of Abu Dhabi in the UAE with approximately $24.5 billion of assets under management. In this episode, he shares what ESG means for investors and for him personally, and how his team determines whether ESG issues are truly embraced by a company and not merely lip service.