At Dana, engagement remains a core tenet of our ESG investing philosophy. We know clients don’t just want us to evaluate the risks a company faces due to environmental, social and governance issues, but to push companies, industries and governments for improvement. For larger-scale issues, these efforts are often more effective when a group of investors works collaboratively.
Over our 20+ year history in ESG investing, we’ve seen interest grow considerably, particularly in the past few years. As part of our own stewardship efforts to raise awareness, we have tried to arm advisors with the tools they need for their own practice, including items that could educate their clients on ESG investing.
Before jumping into 2022, we wanted to take a quick look back at 2021, sharing three of our most read blogs from the year. Many are still relevant today, covering the key themes and trends that continue to hover over markets.
It’s a question that comes up often with ESG investing. In the long run, is it better to divest and avoid oil and gas companies that are responsible for high carbon emissions, or try to get them to change course? At Dana, we’ve chosen the engagement route, encouraging oil companies to clean up their act and pivot away from fossil fuels.
The end of the year or beginning of the new one is a natural time for clients, advisors, and consultants to discuss portfolio goals. Given growing interest in ESG investing, this is a topic that is bound to come up in many conversations.
Catholic investors have a long past in responsible investing. The church added a new page to that history this month, and Dana Investment Advisors was honored to play a role in the process.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has updated its responsible investment guidelines. The church conducted its review with input from Catholic investors within the investment industry, including Dana’s Portfolio Manager Duane Roberts.
Style boxes have been a part of many asset allocation models for decades, but it might be time to break away. Current dynamics for both growth and value indices make style box investing seem riskier.
Below are five reasons investors may want to break away from style boxes, in favor of a more balanced and more simplistic, core equity strategy, which has broad market exposure to both styles, and invests in companies that have both growth and value characteristics:
The past 12 months have set up a favorable environment for active small cap managers, as company-specific fundamentals were rewarded by the market. Against that backdrop, Dana’s small cap Fund has delivered. The Fund has enjoyed a strong year of relative outperformance, returning 21.11% year to date and 56.28% for the 12 months ended Sept. 30. Those returns compare favorably to its benchmark Morningstar U.S. Small Core Index, which returned 12.98% and 42.68%, respectively, over the same time frames.
With Halloween approaching this weekend, we offer our own seasonal-themed blog: a look at 10 of the scariest moments in market history. Notably, many of the events occurred in October.
While the list was compiled only for the spirit of the season, we hope it also provides perspective: “scary” market events are an inevitable part of investing. But with a long-term view, and perspective that volatility is part of the process, we hope you stay the course through future volatility.
With billions flowing into the ESG and sustainable investing universe, investor interest is clearly growing. But what drives that interest varies and has a direct impact on which strategy is right for each investor.