COVID has been tough on the markets these past few weeks, but the silver lining is that ESG (environmental, social, and governance) funds “have been outperforming conventional funds this month. With a crash in oil and stock prices battering the value of financial assets across the board, ESG funds appear to be weathering the storm better than the traditional funds that might previously have been considered safer bets for investors.”
We believe in socially responsible investing now more than ever. And it’s for many reasons - aligning your money with your values, performance, diversity, equality, corporate accountability, and environmental conservation, just to name a few. As a trusted advisor to our clients, Gideon Cohn’s responsibility first and foremost is to strive for strong financial returns. We believe that socially responsible investing is a way to accomplish this. Not to mention we also believe that supporting companies doing good is simply what we all should be doing.
There are many reasons why this might be the case. There are several ESG factors that are particularly salient right now such as employee benefits, paid leave, disaster preparedness, and continuity planning. Companies that perform highly on these factors may be better able to respond to and implement risk mitigation measures going forward whether it’s in the face of coronavirus or other future downturns.
Another interesting (and amazing!) thing we’ve seen happening is companies taking on social responsibility and giving back during these tough times. We’ve seen companies like Tesla donate ventilators to hospitals in New York, DoorDash delivering one million pounds of groceries and prepared meals to households in need, and New York’s very own Lupii giving away 20% of their online proceeds to Food Bank For New York City. As Mark Cuban said “how companies respond to [coronavirus] is going to define their brand for decades” and we couldn’t agree more. It’s easy to sit on the sidelines and watch as the world burns around us. It’s much harder to take action and try to do something good.
The slower pace of social distancing life is giving us time to pause and reflect on what is most important to us. It’s times like these when we feel the power of community and the power we all have to make a profound difference in each other’s lives. Let’s make the most of this time to walk the walk and do the things. If you’ve been thinking about how to be more sustainably focused, more socially responsible, now’s the time to make the leap. At Good Capital, we are doubling down on our socially responsible investment strategy and as always, want to help others join the movement.
