TAAlina and Thoughts

In a recent news article in The Edge ( see EPF wants brokerages to focus on ESG , SL Kang, The Edge Malaysia, pg 16 16th Nov 2020) , it was reported that Malaysia’s Employees Provident Fund (EPF) had instructed its panel brokers, starting from January 2021 to include an investee company’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance in their research methodology. This is to align with EPF’s intended sustainable investment framework that it intends to launch in December 2020. Whilst it is voluntary, brokers run the risk of being dropped from EPF’s panel if they did not accede. This signals the increasing importance of ESG matters to government-linked funds such as EPF although this pivot is not recent, and began a few years prior to this with their membership of the Institutional Investors Council Malaysia (the IIC). The IIC was formally established on 29 Dec 2017, following its formation in July 2015. It is an industry-led initiative as a platform to influence corpora...

Yesterday I sat in a discussion over a subject I am passionate about - living our lives sustainably. The context, however, is business. What it meant to the business in question at this stage in its maturity is "survival". It's immediate concern is keeping lights on, keeping its license to operate, making enough to get to the next quarter, pleasing the stakeholders. I understood, despite feeling a little frustrated that this plantling is still struggling to take root in a competitive and challenging environment, no matter how hard we nurtured, fussed, fretted and loved it over the past three years. I wanted so much for it to grow strong and with the right values, equipped with the wherewithal to enable it to be accepted into society's arms readily. To be the shining star I knew it could be. Then, I heard a quip from another director - "this sustainability stuff is just the fuzzy optionals - I don't really care too much what goes into your Sustainabilit...