At Radiant, we’ve been quoted many times as saying, ‘without the S, there will be no E’. By this we mean that a true transformation of our energy system, transportation, agriculture, and infrastructure to one that is ‘cleaner and greener’ simply won’t happen if we gloss over the impact to human lives that will result from massive economic changes.

Over time, as with most acronyms or catchy labels (like ‘Smart Beta’), ESG has come to mean a variety of things to a wide range of investors. From values-driven exclusions, to tilting indices using ESG scores from mainstream providers, to activist-driven strategies...

As we turned the corner into 2023, both the concepts embedded in ESG and the acronym itself became squarely part of the popular consciousness in the United States...

As investors who have been using ESG and impact information to analyze investments for some time, 2022 stands out as a year in which ESG moved beyond becoming mainstream to becoming reviled by some, and more deeply embraced by others.