WHAT IS IT?

ESG stands for environmental, social and governance. ESG investment, says Angela Kwan, co-founder of Catalyser, which allows large companies to co-ordinate and quantify the social impact of their employees’ charitable activities, “recognises that immediate profits or share prices are not the only measure of company health and success, and recognises the social impact and accountability of corporations to the broader communities they operate in”. That, as Kathlyn Tan, Singaporebased director of the Rumah Group, who leads her family investment company’s sustainability initiatives, puts it, “could include assessing a company’s impacts in areas like anti-corruption, emissions, environmental compliance, occupational health and safety, as well as diversity and equal opportunities, among many others”.