One subject you can get rare agreement on in the world of ESG is the inconsistency in results and power wielded by ESG rating agencies. This has not gone unnoticed by the regulators as one of the potential enablers of greenwashing.

Paul Smith, Kübra Koldemir, Andrea Webster, Ayşe Kaşıkçı

2023

Food is not only nourishing and vital for our survival, but it also conjures up some of our most cherished memories. As the world contemplates food insecurity issues brought on by climate change, the inefficiency of our food supply system and political tensions, investing in a safe and secure food future resonates with all of us, governments and individuals alike.

Kübra Koldemir, Elisabeth Alfano

5 May 2022

We all agree that finance has a key role to play in getting us to net zero. But we can’t ignore the elephant in the room: the inherent conflict between the “E,” the “S,” and the “G” in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing.

Kübra Koldemir, Andrea Webster, Paul Smith

28 January 2022

Everyone knows that the meat industry has a terrible carbon footprint. While your diet is a personal choice, could financing vegetarian products be the game changer needed to move the dial on hanging our consumer habits? Vegetarian-related investing has moved from a fringe idea into unicorn territory; once the domain of impact investors only, it is now going mainstream with the evelopment of the FoodTech sector, a structural investment theme that investors cannot ignore.

Kübra Koldemir, Andrea Webster, Paul Smith

25 December 2021

Trust makes the economy go’round. There is a very good reason why financial statements must be audited by an external auditor: Because it builds trust. The question is, How can ESG assurance build trust in ESG disclosures when the external audit, the most advanced form of assurance, is struggling with a trust deficit?

Kübra Koldemir, Usman Hayat, CFA

11 November 2021

ESG is not an end objective in itself but a journey to deliver a better planet. We need to ask why at every stage and not get swayed by what is considered to be trendy or by some imitation products coming to the market. Being ESG credible and authentic requires fund managers to rethink their purpose both as individuals and as organizations.

Kübra Koldemir, Fabrizio Palmucci

17 August 2021

It is British philosopher Alain de Botton who said: “We become fully human only through education’’. We expect education to be accessible, free, and compulsory everywhere in the world; but in reality, according to the United Nations, there are still 260 million children out of school! Many education-related investments in emerging countries primarily focus on building schools and increasing the number of educational institutions.

Kübra Koldemir, Richard Betts, Caroline Codsi

16 June 2021

Environmental issues such as climate change are also indivisibly social and economic issues. This is why there is a term called climate justice, highlighting how it is essential to connect the causes and effects of climate change to concepts of environmental and social justice. It underscores the human, ethical and political dimensions presented by climate change and how it is misplaced to think of climate change as purely an environmental issue.

Dr. Erkin Erimez, Kübra Koldemir, Richard Betts

14 April 2021

The need for corporate purpose and the question of “why” companies do what they do is becoming ever more important. For a corporation articulating an inspiring purpose to all the stakeholders and especially to the employees is just a first step. Next comes the challenge of how to walk the talk?

Dr. Yılmaz Argüden, Kübra Koldemir, Paul Smith, Anand Ramachandran

9 March 2021

“A riot is the language of the unheard.” Martin Luther King

Dr. Erkin Erimez, Kübra Koldemir, Richard Betts

24 January 2021

we increasingly find ourselves in situations that remind us how our world is highly interconnected and how we all depend on the natural world for everything. Through our Covid-19 experience, we may now have more reason to contemplate how through our exploitation of the natural world we are not only currently endangering the survival of many species, but also risking our prosperity and ultimately our survival.

Dr. Erkin Erimez, Kübra Koldemir, Richard Betts

2 December 2020

Previously in our Blog, we have explored the need for corporate purpose and to ask the question “why” companies do what they do. We emphasized the significance of an inspiring purpose articulated in the form of a mission statement in ensuring durable, high quality relationships with stakeholders.

Dr. Yılmaz Argüden, Kübra Koldemir, Paul Smith, Anand Ramachandran

27 September 2020

In our modern hectic lifestyle, we often don’t have time to take stock and reflect on many things, including the importance and value of the natural world. In addition, we have tended to take the many free services the natural world provides us for granted. Genetically, we have a deeply engrained short-term focus and just one manifestation of this can be that we often assume that our world will always stay the same.

Dr. Erkin Erimez, Kübra Koldemir, Richard Betts

26 August 2020

There are different ways an organization can attract and engage its various stakeholders. Having an inspiring purpose articulated in form of a mission statement may be one of the most effective ways. An even simpler concept is presented by Simon Sinek, the British-American author, who offers “WHY” as an influential notion in his impactful book “Start with why”.

Dr. Yılmaz Argüden, Kübra Koldemir, Paul Smith, Anand Ramachandran

27 July 2020

“Trust is the essence of good governance and the foundation for sustainable development.” Trust is very fragile. It takes special attention to detail to build and even more to protect it. As Warren Buffet says “It takes years to build a reputation and seconds to ruin it.”

Dr. Yılmaz Argüden, Kübra Koldemir, Paul Smith, Anand Ramachandran

29 May 2020

“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed.” Mahatma Gandhi This applies to governments, corporations as well as individuals.Asian markets should continue their focus on ESG and apply the same sensible attitude, which they had in the past.

Dr. Erkin Erimez, Kübra Koldemir, Özgür Göker

14 April 2020

“Our lives are finite, but life is infinite. We are finite players in the infinite game of life,” says Simon Sinek, the British-American author, motivational speaker, and organizational consultant. “We come and go, we are born and we die, and life continues with or without us.”

Dr. Yılmaz Argüden, Kübra Koldemir

3 February 2020

Sometimes circumstances may lead us to believe that excluding or sidelining a group of people or assets may be the best solution, when faced with a situation that we find morally questionable. We may do this on a personal level when as an individual we boycott the products of an organization. At other times, we may form a group of individuals to exclude a specific organization, or alternatively, it may be a whole group of organizations sidelining another large group of organizations.

Dr. Erkin Erimez, Kübra Koldemir

1 October 2019

Sometimes, when we try to make a judgment about our relationships, we look at the intensity of "special days” like anniversaries, birthdays, and other "big" events. However, Simon Sinek, the British-American author, motivational speaker and organizational consultant, draws our attention to a magic word “consistency”. He suggests that we use this concept when we try to reason the strength of our relationships.

Kübra Koldemir, Dr. Fatma Öğücü Şen

15 July 2019

If someone asked you: Would you rather fall in love with a person with an ability to create short term profit or a person with an ability to create long term sustainable value? How would you answer? What is the difference between success that creates wealth in our lifetime and an achievement with a longer-term sustainable value for generations to come?

Kübra Koldemir, Gizem Argüden Oskay

May 2019