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Reid Steadman

Former Managing Director, Global Head of ESG & Innovation, S&P Dow Jones Indices

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Sep 6, 2022

Net Zero: Time Is of the Essence

This blog was co-authored by Reid Steadman and Fred Samama. At Glasgow’s COP26, banks, insurers and investors representing USD 130 trillion in private capital made a historic commitment through the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 at the latest,1 mirroring government pledges. The question remains how to…

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Mar 2, 2021

Chile Tilting toward Sustainability

When investors think of sustainability, what often comes to mind first are progressive companies headquartered in Nordic nations, France, or Switzerland—but this is a dated view. Sustainability has moved beyond these regions, particularly into emerging markets like Latin America, where, one could easily argue, improvements in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards matter even more….

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Jul 9, 2020

A New ESG Index for Mexico Sets the Stage for Investment

Where can environmental, social, and governance (ESG) benchmarks help investors and markets most? The answer may be in emerging markets, where it is crucially important to identify and navigate ESG concerns. The transparency that ESG benchmarks provide can help investors distinguish companies that prioritize the needs of not just their shareholders, but also their many…

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Mar 24, 2020

Through the Turbulence, a New Breed of ESG Indices Delivers

Have the new beta-like ESG indices delivered on their objectives, notwithstanding the market turmoil? The answer is yes, and then some. The S&P 500® ESG Index has provided low tracking error relative to the S&P 500 and similar risk, but also a better return. For decades, growth in ESG investing was unremarkable, held back by…

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Jun 11, 2019

Why Facebook Was Dropped from the S&P 500® ESG Index

When the S&P 500 ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) Index underwent its annual rebalance after markets closed on April 30, 2019, several notable companies were removed, including Wells Fargo, Oracle, and IBM. However, the largest component to be dropped was Facebook. A day before its exclusion, Facebook held a weight of 2.5% in the S&P…

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Nov 8, 2018

The World’s Largest Pension Fund Engages in Carbon Disclosure

This blog post was co-authored with Dr Richard Mattison, Chief Executive Officer, Trucost, part of S&P Global On Sept. 25, 2018, Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF)—the world’s largest pension fund—announced its selection of two new low-carbon indices, the S&P/JPX Carbon Efficient Index and the S&P Global Ex-Japan LargeMid Carbon Efficient Index, with an allocation…

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Mar 2, 2017

Futures Prices for Europe’s Fear Gauge Jump. U.S. Investors say, “Le Pen? Le Who?”

Futures tied to VSTOXX, the Eurozone’s version of VIX, are signaling risk ahead. The French elections, which take place April 23 (first round) and May 7 (run-off election) and the possibility of Marine Le Pen leading France’s exit from the Eurozone appear to have spooked European options investors. They are now paying higher premiums for…

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Feb 7, 2017

Index Basics: Calculating an Index’s Total Return

Total return indices deserve more attention.  They more closely represent what an investor actually takes home: the return of an index, plus dividends paid and reinvested in the index.  Their better-known counterparts, which only track price changes in securities—often called “price return indices”1—get all the fanfare (see “Dow Hits 20,000 for the First Time”).  Total…

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Dec 17, 2016

Our Humble Solution to Unite Europe

Henry Kissinger famously said, “Who do I call if I want to speak to Europe?” In the world of investments, a similar question could be asked, “What index do I use if I want to invest in Europe?” The answer isn’t apparent, and this is why: the leading regional index in Europe, the EURO STOXX…

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Nov 22, 2016

Why MSCI and S&P Dow Jones Indices Began Working Together in One Important Way

MSCI and S&P Dow Jones Indices respect each other, as good rivals should, but we often disagree. We see South Korea as a developed market and MSCI classifies it as emerging; we have 500 companies represented in our leading US index and MSCI has 295; we have our own free float methodology and they have…

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