By Ross Kerber
Sept 11 (Reuters) - If you want to forecast the future of an industry, start with the market leader. For ESG data that's MSCI, whose shares are flat this year even though the S&P 500 is up about 15%.
Fear , is the message from MSCI leaders, who sound confident when they outline their plans for further growth in the ESG space.
You can read more in my column this week, link below. I've also flagged stories about a key deal approval for BlackRock and a followup on what Exxon CEO Darren Woods had to say at a New York investment conference this week.
Please send tips, comments, etc by connecting with me on LinkedIn. You can also reach out via ross.kerber@thomsonreuters.com
MSCI shares will show the future of ESG
For those with a strong view on whether or environmental, social and governance factors will remain a major investment trend, buying or shorting shares of MSCI MSCI.N looks like a good way to express your conviction.
The New York company known for its big index business also operates a major "ESG and Climate" segment that provides things like ratings on key issues companies face and research to help investors pick holdings within their guidelines.
Growth of the segment's operating revenue has fallen, leading to analyst concerns about its outlook. The company is still enthusiastic about the ESG space, however. You can read more about the case for and against in my column this week by clicking here.
Company News
Boeing's BA.N chief operating officer said it bargained in good faith for a labor contract. A tentative deal has upset many workers who had hoped for higher wage hikes and better pensions.
European oil majors Shell SHEL.L and Eni ENI.MI have led an early stage funding round for climate technology start-up Mantel Capture, which aims to use molten salts to capture carbon dioxide emissions at refineries, factories and other industrial sites.
Massachusetts securities regulators fined Morgan Stanley MS.N $2 million for failing to properly monitor trades by a First Republic Bank insider before the bank failed. Morgan Stanley failed to affirm the individual was trading based on material information at the time, officials said. Morgan Stanley did admit or deny wrongdoing.
On my radar
Exxon XOM.N CEO Darren Woods had warning words for activist shareholders thinking to emulate those who filed a climate-related shareholder proposal at the largest U.S. oil company: follow the rules. "If we find people continue to abuse the process, we’re going to hold them to the rules," Woods said at a Council of Institutional Investors conference.
The top U.S. energy regulator approved BlackRock's BLK.N roughly $13 billion deal to buy Global Infrastructure Partners, saying among other things that concerns about how to treat the growing power of massive index funds belong in a separate review under way.
Environmental watchdogs approve countless wood products that get touted as responsibly produced. But in a Reuters Special Report my colleagues found the timber firms these groups certify harvest large swaths of Canada’s older forests, which are critical to containing global warming.
(Reporting by Ross Kerber in Boston; Editing by David Gregorio)
((ross.kerber@thomsonreuters.com; (617) 412 0093;))