The 'S' Factor: Turning the spotlight on ESG's elusive centre
- itassociate9
- Apr 10
- 1 min read
Updated: 3 days ago
Prompted by conversations during 𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻’𝘀 𝗛𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵, including at a panel focusing on the 'S' element of ESG as part of Europe Corporate Banking Day, the BwB team has brought together some reflections (link to full article below) on ESG's difficult 'middle child' and making the case for investing in women and diversity.
The challenge? Compared to 'E' and 'G', 'S' often involves 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘅, 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁-𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰 𝗶𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲𝘀 that resist one-size-fits-all approaches and easily quantifiable metrics.
The 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝘄𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲, with companies that have gender and ethnically diverse leadership teams regularly 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗽𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀 across a wide range of financial KPIs.
The data is in, but the investment is still lacking.
The takeaway: We need 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 - from gender-lens investing to equity-linked sustainability loans - to unlock the investment needed to drive this strategic performance accelerator.
“The returns potential from investing in women and diversity is demonstrable and compelling, but more innovative thinking and focused attention are required to develop catalytic instruments, approaches, and metrics," comments BwB Managing Director, Heather Matson. "Inspired by discussions during Women's History Month in March, we want to encourage fellow organisations from across the financial and investment landscape to take up the challenge and help accelerate positive action."
Are you working on innovative financial or measurement solutions to unlock 'S'-centred investment? Let’s connect and collaborate: contact@bwb.earth
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