Argüden Governance Academy Foundation

ESG Rating Agencies in the Regulatory Cross Hairs

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.

Kübra Koldemir, Paul Smith, CFA, Andrea Webster, Ayşe Kaşıkçı

October 2022

For Sustainability Success, Sustainability Needs to be the Responsibility of Boards and CEOs

Dr. Yılmaz Argüden, Gizem Argüden Oskay

April 1, 2022

The Elephant in the Room: The ESG Contradiction

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.

January 28, 2022

Put Your Money Where Yoour Mouth is: Vegetarian and Vegan Investing

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, Paul Smith, CFA, Andrea Webster

December 25, 2021

ESG Disclosure: Four Ways External Assurance Can Build Trust

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

November 11, 2021

Qualities of an Authentic Asset Manager with ESG Ambitions

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

August 17, 2021

Reducing ESG Litigation Risk Through Integrated Thinking

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, CFA, Anand Ramachandran

March 9, 2021

Tackling global inequality in a world impacted by COVID and climate change:

Lessons from Peterloo and Black Lives Matter

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

Dr. Erkin Erimez, Kübra Koldemir, Richard Betts

January 24, 2021

From Why to Why Not:
What Should Corporations Do to Manage ESG?

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, CFA, Anand Ramachandran

September 27, 2020

Value of Nature &
Cats of İstanbul

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

August 26, 2020

Asset Management is Ripe for Leadership Evolution

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, CFA, Anand Ramachandran

July 27, 2020

COVID-19 &
Prioritizing the Important
Over the Habitual

Human history is abundant with many examples of ignoring expert advice and repeating our past mistakes. Climate change professionals have been talking about risks related to climate change for years. Yet leaders have been postponing action due to “not being an imminent threat”, experts have been warning us...

Dr. Erkin Erimez, Kübra Koldemir, Richard Betts

June 30, 2020

Earning Trust
Through Long-Term
Integrated Thinking

“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, CFA, Anand Ramachandran

May 29, 2020

Will Approach to ESG
Separate Asia from the
Rest of Emerging Markets?

“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

April 14, 2020

Early Bird
Gets the Worm

“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

February 3, 2020

Climate Change, Divestment & Sustainability Governance Scorecard

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

October 1, 2019

Why Does Consistency Matter and Why the SGScorecard?

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.

Dr. Fatma Öğücü Şen, Kübra Koldemir

July 15, 2019

Who To Fall In Love With & Why The Sustainability Governance Scorecard?

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?

Gizem Argüden Oskay, Kübra Koldemir

May 2019

The Handbook of
Board Governance

Since the adoption of Sustainable Development Goals by United Nations and the issues discussed at the Climate Summit COP 21, many countries have been committed to support these Goals. With this approach, Board of Directors need to engage in embedding these responsibilities to the corporations.

Dr. Yılmaz Argüden

May 2016

Active Engagement and Responsible Behaviour

Most businesses understand that their sustained success depends upon the economic, social and ecological contexts in which they operate. But the stability of those contexts can no longer be taken for granted. As sustainability issues have become more global and pivotal to success, businesses are realising that they cannot go it alone and there should be a collaborative approach among businesses, governments, and civil society.

Dr. Yılmaz Argüden

November 14, 2015

Keys to Governance

Good governance is the key to sustainability of our organizations and success of humanity in improving quality of life for all citizens of our world. Governance is much more than just the structure, processes, and rules of decisionmaking and controls. Good governance is a culture and a climate of Consistency (predictability), Responsibility, Accountability, Fairness, Transparency, and Effectiveness that is Deployed (subsidiarity) throughout the organization (the ‘CRAFTED’ principles of governance.)

Dr. Yılmaz Argüden

January 2012