An article on environmental, social and governance (ESG) investment ratings co-authored by Professor Elroy Dimson, Chairman of the Centre for Endowment Asset Management (CEAM) at Cambridge Judge Business School, was named Best Article in the annual Bernstein Fabozzi/Jacobs Levy Awards granted by The Journal of Portfolio Management and Portfolio Management Research publications.
The paper entitled ‘Divergent ESG ratings’, published last year in The Journal of Portfolio Management, outlines how ESG ratings differ broadly and analyses the reasons for such divergence. The paper is co-authored by Elroy and Professor Paul Marsh and Dr Mike Staunton of London Business School.
“There is little relation between the ESG appraisals of a given stock by alternative agencies,” the paper concludes. “ESG ratings, used in isolation, are unlikely to make a material contribution to portfolio returns.”
The Bernstein Fabozzi/Jacobs Levy Awards were established in 1999 on the 25th anniversary of The Journal of Portfolio Management, to honour Editors Peter Bernstein and Frank Fabozzi for their contributions in the theory and practice of portfolio management.