Trysha Daskam, Head of ESG Strategy at Silver, joined Tom Fox for the first two episodes of his new podcast: The ESG Report with Tom Fox. Listen to the first episode, ESG: Opportunities and Risk, below. The second part of the series can be found here.
Trends and Shifts at Home and Abroad
Trysha talks about how ESG stakeholders in the states have been paying close attention to what is happening in the EU, and specifically regulations that are coming out of the European Commission. She talks about what they mean for American companies and other entities. Investors are very interested in the indirect impacts from what is happening across the pond. She goes on to talk about the first ESG alert that is identifying the riskiest practices in the space.
The G7 Summit
The early focus of ESG was on the link between environmental and investment risk, but it is much broader now. Tom and Trysha discuss the climate conversation, the focus of the Biden administration, and the different governmental and other bodies involved in it. Of particular interest is the strong stance the G7 leaders took on the Task Force on Climate Related Financial Disclosure.
The Business Case for ESG Analysis
Tom and Trysha talk about the portfolio of ESG risks, and how there was a shift from looking at it as primarily environmental to a much broader spectrum of risk. There are hundreds of factors that fall under the ESG profile, and investment managers are looking at them to fully understand the benefits and risks of different opportunities. A strong focus on governance has been a hallmark of being a manager to other people’s assets. Trysha shares an example about Exxon Mobile, and their lack of transparency about risk in the Gulf Coast.
