Problem: Do ethical investments perform better than conventional investments? Purpose: To evaluate whether Shariah-compliant indexes and/or socially responsible indexes can improve financial performance of an investment portfolio. Sub-problem: What kind of relationship exists between socially responsible investments and faith-based investments, represented by Shariah-compliant investments? Sub-purpose: To discover how two types of ethical investments, socially-responsible and Shariah-compliant, are related. Method: Quantitative study, covering three types of investment styles of four index families during the period from 2000 until 2011. Financial performance evaluation through the Sharpe ratio, Treynor ratio and Jensen’s alpha. Conclusions: Conventional, socially responsible, and Shariah-compliant indexes do not have any significant differences in financial performance on a global basis. However, Shariah-compliant indexes could slightly over-perform conventional and socially responsible indexes during financial downturns. In the same time socially responsible indexes were noticed to be the most volatile during the whole period of study, to compare with conventional and Shariah-compliant. Regarding relationships, high correlations were found between ethical indexes, as well as between ethical and conventional indexes.

There is no clear consensus about whether green investments perform better, worse orequal to conventional brown investments. With the rising popularity of socialinvestments, it becomes increasingly important to understand these investments. Therecent launch of the MSCI Climate Paris Aligned Indices (CPAI) aim to illustrate thedevelopment of an economy that is in line with the requirements and goals of the ParisAgreement from 2015. In this research we aim to find out whether the MSCI Europe,USA and EM Climate Paris Aligned Indices outperform their parent indices. We do thisby comparing performance measures such as the net return, standard deviation of netreturns and Sharpe ratio. We further conduct an ordinary least squares regression to testwhether the betas and Jensen´s alphas of the CPAI differ significantly from their parentindices.The results show that only the USA CPAI clearly outperforms its parent index. This isdue to it having a higher Sharpe Ratio and Jensen’s alpha as well as higher monthly netreturns and a lower standard deviation compared to its parent index. The regressionshows that it does perform better than the parent index. The results for the EM CPAIshow that it performs in a similar way as its parent index. It has a higher monthly netreturn but also slightly higher standard deviation which leads to an equally large Sharperatio. Neither the estimated Jensen’s alpha nor the beta are significantly different fromthose of its parent index and thus the hypothesis of it performing equally as well as itsparent index cannot not be rejected. Lastly, the Europe CPAI has a higher Sharpe ratio,Jensen’s alpha and monthly net returns than its parent index, but it also exhibits a higherstandard deviation. The regression indicated that it performs in a similar way as itsparent index, no difference could be proven. In conclusion, this means that all CPAIperform at least equally as well as their parent indices, if not better.

[pt] Riscos e oportunidades ESG possuem cada vez mais destaque perante a sociedade civil, chefes de estado, organizações intergovernamentais e no mundo de investimentos corporativo. Como consequência, os modelos de negócios incluem cada vez mais uma abordagem estratégica que levam em consideração as suas externalidades geradas em aspectos ambientais e sociais, com a real preocupação de realizar uma transição para um modelo de negócio sustentável. Esse estudo tem como objetivo utilizar o modelo Value-Driver Adjustment Approach desenvolvido por Willem Schramade (2016), que desenvolveu um questionário como ferramenta para integrar sustentabilidade em análises de investimento, por meio de aspectos qualitativos e quantitativos ESG. Esse processo é proposto através da compreensão sobre como aspectos ESG afetam o modelo de negócios, posição competitiva, estratégia e impulsionadores de valor. Nesse trabalho, o modelo Value-Driver Adjustment Approach foi aplicado à empresa Raízen, líder no segmento de biocombustíveis. Como resultado, a Raízen se mostrou capacitada para realizar uma transição para um modelo de negócio sustentável sob uma perspectiva financeira, ambiental e social, e, possivelmente, ser exemplo para outras empresas do mesmo setor, já que possui condições financeiras, tecnologia, capital humano, além de ser uma líder no segmento de biocombustíveis. Com a introdução de riscos e oportunidades ESG na avaliação financeira foi observado crescimento de vendas, melhora de margens e melhor ROIC. / [en] ESG Risks are increasingly prominent among civil society, heads of state, intergovernmental organizations, and the world of corporate investments. Therefore, business models increasingly include a strategic approach that takes into account the externalities generated in environmental and social aspects, with the real concern of carrying out a transition to a sustainable business model. This study aims to use the Value Driver Adjustment Approach model developed by Willie Schramade (2016), who developed a questionnaire as a tool to integrate sustainability into investment analysis, through qualitative and quantitative ESG aspects. This process is proposed through understanding how ESG aspects affect the business model, competitive position, strategy, and value drivers. In this work, the Value-Driver Adjustment Approach Model was applied to the company Raízen, a leader in the biofuel segment. As a result, Raízen showed to be capable of making a transition to a sustainable business model from a financial, environmental and social perspective, and possibly being an example for other companies in the same sector, as it has financial conditions, technology, human capital, in addition being a leader in the biofuels segment. With the introduction of ESG risks and opportunities in the valuation, it was observed sales growth, better margins and ROIC.

Bakgrund: I takt med klimatförändringarna har EU publicerat nya förordningar som syftar till att begränsa den sektor som har högst koldioxidutsläpp. Private Banking-sektorn omfattas av de nya förordningarna och tidigare forskning lyfter fram olika faktorer som påverkar en Private Bankers integrering av ESG i investeringsprocessen i arbetet mot att uppnå Parisavtalet och de globala målen 2030. Forskningsfråga: Hur arbetar Private Bankers med miljö-, sociala och styrningskriterier? Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att analysera vilka faktorer som påverkar en Private Banker att integrera miljö-, sociala och styrnings (ESG-) kriterier i investeringsprocessen. Studien avgränsar till Private Banking-sektorn i Sverige. Metod: Studien har genomfört på ett kvalitativt tillvägagångssätt i kombination med en abduktiv ansats. Intervjuerna har genomförts med fem olika respondenter från tre olika storbanker i Sverige från Halmstad, Göteborg och Stockholm. Teoretisk referensram: Den teoretiska referensramen behandlar tre olika teorier; aktieägarteori, intressentteori, nyinstitutionell teori. Resultat: Det görs tydligt att trenden inom storbankerna är hållbarhet. De olika faktorerna visar sig ha ett samband i hur en Private Banker integrerar ESG i investeringsprocessen genom att faktorerna påverkar varandra. De formella reglerna har störst påverkan i en Private Bankers investeringsbeslut inom storbankerna, men är även formad efter samhällets normer och värderingar. En utmaning inom sektorn är att få sina kunder mer medvetna om den påverkan deras placeringar har.

I dagsläget står vår omvärld inför flertal utmaningar utifrån ett miljö- och socialt perspektiv. En effekt av detta är att efterfrågan av hållbara investeringsalternativ har ökat hos privatpersoner. I takt med att medvetenheten om hur privatpersoners investeringar kan bidra till en förbättrad omvärld har andelen svenska människor som söker investeringar i hållbara fonder ökat. Genom att investera pengar i hållbara fonder kan privatpersoner påverka hur företag arbetar ur ett miljö- och socialt perspektiv. Hållbara fonder söker investeringsalternativ som leder till en positiv klimatpåverkan och social påverkan genom ett långsiktigt värdeskapande. Information om hur hållbara fondbolag går till väga för att identifiera och investera i hållbara alternativ är dock bristande vilket kan leda till att privatpersoner inte vet hur deras pengar hanteras utav fondbolagen vid val av investeringar. Denna studie har som syfte att beskriva och analysera vilka investeringsstrategier svenska fondbolag använder för att identifiera hållbara investeringar. Studien har anpassat en kvalitativ metod och, med hjälp av fyra semistrukturerade intervjuer med svenska fondbolag, samlat in data avseende hur de går till väga innan, under och efter investeringsbeslut. Studiens slutsats är att fondbolagen använder negativ- och positiv screening baserat på ESG-kriterier för att identifiera hållbara investeringsalternativ. Efter det att fondbolagen har investerat i ett företag använder fondbolagen olika former av engagemang för att säkerställa att investeringen fortsatt förblir hållbar. / The global community is currently facing various environmental and social challenges, leading to an increased demand for sustainable investment options among private individuals. In response, the proportion of Swedish individuals seeking sustainable investment options has grown. This study describes and analyzes the investment strategies used by Swedish fund companies to identify sustainable investments. A qualitative method was applied and included four semi-structured interviews with Swedish fund companies. The results indicate that fund companies use negative and positive screening based on ESG criteria to identify sustainable investment opportunities and employ various forms of engagement to ensure the sustainability of the investment. This study contributes to the understanding of how fund companies identify sustainable investments and can inform private individuals on the processes used by such companies.