Japanese investors’ growing focus on environmental, social and governance ESG factors could be short-lived if institutions don’t incentivise fund houses to focus on it, an AsianInvestor...
Japanese investors ’ focus on environmental , social and governance ( ESG ) factors could be under threat if not supported by sufficient resources . Asset managers are developing services around ESG , however they claim that not enough asset owners are investing in the area . Speaking at the fifth Japan Institutional Investment Forum last week , former portfolio manager Charles Yang said that ESG analysts would be incentivised to focus on the long term . This would require a change in mindset , as it has operated on a quarterly earnings framework since 2008 . mark foster , director of investment practice and reporting for the UN ’s institute for Responsible Investment division , said ESG screening was well - established in the areas of infrastructure , real estate and private equity . However , the next major challenge was to integrate ESG screening into hedge fund investment .