The End of ESG

ESG is both extremely important and nothing special.

• It's extremely important because it's critical to long-term value, and thus any practitioner or academic should take it seriously, not just those with "ESG" in their job title or list of research interests. Considering long-term factors when valuing a company isn’t ESG investing; it’s investing.

• It's nothing special since it's no better or worse than other intangible assets that drive long-term value and create positive externalities, such as management quality, corporate culture, and innovative capability. We want great companies, not just companies that are great at ESG.

Source: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4221990