IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/assmgt/v25y2024i3d10.1057_s41260-024-00356-1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Deconstructing ESG scores: investing at the category score level

Author

Listed:
  • Torsten Ehlers

    (International Monetary Fund)

  • Ulrike Elsenhuber

    (Bank for International Settlements)

  • Anandakumar Jegarasasingam

    (Bank for International Settlements)

  • Eric Jondeau

    (University of Lausanne)

Abstract

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) scores are a key tool for asset managers in designing and implementing ESG investment strategies. They, however, amalgamate a broad range of fundamentally different factors, creating ambiguity for investors as to the underlying drivers of higher or lower ESG scores. We explore the feasibility and performance of more targeted investment strategies based on specific ESG categories by deconstructing ESG scores into their granular components. We implement “best-in-class” strategies by excluding firms with the lowest category scores and reinvesting the proceeds in firms with the highest scores, maintaining the same regional and sectoral composition. These approaches reduce the portfolio’s tracking error and slightly improve its risk-adjusted performance, while still yielding large gains in targeted ESG scores.

Suggested Citation

  • Torsten Ehlers & Ulrike Elsenhuber & Anandakumar Jegarasasingam & Eric Jondeau, 2024. "Deconstructing ESG scores: investing at the category score level," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 25(3), pages 222-244, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:assmgt:v:25:y:2024:i:3:d:10.1057_s41260-024-00356-1
    DOI: 10.1057/s41260-024-00356-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41260-024-00356-1
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/s41260-024-00356-1?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sakis Kotsantonis & George Serafeim, 2019. "Four Things No One Will Tell You About ESG Data," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 31(2), pages 50-58, June.
    2. Elmalt, Dalya & Kirti, Divya, 2021. "Limits to Private Climate Change Mitigation," CEPR Discussion Papers 16061, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. Gunnar Friede & Timo Busch & Alexander Bassen, 2015. "ESG and financial performance: aggregated evidence from more than 2000 empirical studies," Journal of Sustainable Finance & Investment, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(4), pages 210-233, October.
    4. Fama, Eugene F. & French, Kenneth R., 2015. "A five-factor asset pricing model," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(1), pages 1-22.
    5. Monica Billio & Michele Costola & Iva Hristova & Carmelo Latino & Loriana Pelizzon, 2021. "Inside the ESG ratings: (Dis)agreement and performance," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(5), pages 1426-1445, September.
    6. Pástor, Ľuboš & Stambaugh, Robert F. & Taylor, Lucian A., 2022. "Dissecting green returns," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(2), pages 403-424.
    7. Garel, Alexandre & Petit-Romec, Arthur, 2021. "Investor rewards to environmental responsibility: Evidence from the COVID-19 crisis," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    8. Samuel Drempetic & Christian Klein & Bernhard Zwergel, 2020. "The Influence of Firm Size on the ESG Score: Corporate Sustainability Ratings Under Review," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 167(2), pages 333-360, November.
    9. Karl V. Lins & Henri Servaes & Ane Tamayo, 2017. "Social Capital, Trust, and Firm Performance: The Value of Corporate Social Responsibility during the Financial Crisis," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 72(4), pages 1785-1824, August.
    10. Pedersen, Lasse Heje & Fitzgibbons, Shaun & Pomorski, Lukasz, 2021. "Responsible investing: The ESG-efficient frontier," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(2), pages 572-597.
    11. Bonnefon, Jean-François & Landier, Augustin & Sastry, Parinitha & Thesmar, David, 2025. "The moral preferences of investors: Experimental evidence," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    12. Hong, Harrison & Kacperczyk, Marcin, 2009. "The price of sin: The effects of social norms on markets," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(1), pages 15-36, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Torsten Ehlers & Ulrike Elsenhuber & Kumar Jegarasasingam & Eric Jondeau, 2022. "Deconstructing ESG Scores: How to Invest with Your own Criteria," Swiss Finance Institute Research Paper Series 22-23, Swiss Finance Institute.
    2. Horn, Matthias & Oehler, Andreas, 2024. "Constructing stock portfolios by sorting on ESG ratings: Does the rating provider matter?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 96(PA).
    3. Wu, Yanran & Zhou, Riwang & Zhang, Chao, 2024. "Size and ESG premiums: Evidence from Chinese A-share market," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    4. Ferriani, Fabrizio, 2023. "Issuing bonds during the Covid-19 pandemic: Was there an ESG premium?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    5. Muck, Matthias & Schmidl, Thomas, 2024. "Comparing ESG score weighting approaches and stock performance differentiation," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 67(PB).
    6. Cheng, Louis T.W. & Cheong, Tsun Se & Wojewodzki, Michal & Chui, David, 2025. "The effect of ESG divergence on the financial performance of Hong Kong-listed firms: An artificial neural network approach," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(PA).
    7. Tristan Jourde & Arthur Stalla-Bourdillon, 2024. "PEnvironmental Preferences and Sector Valuations," Working papers 964, Banque de France.
    8. Lars Hornuf & Gül Yüksel, 2022. "The Performance of Socially Responsible Investments: A Meta-Analysis," CESifo Working Paper Series 9724, CESifo.
    9. Lioui, Abraham & Tarelli, Andrea, 2022. "Chasing the ESG factor," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    10. Wang, Haijun & Jiao, Shuaipeng & Ge, Chen & Sun, Guanglin, 2024. "Corporate ESG rating divergence and excess stock returns," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    11. Liu, Xufeng & Wan, Die, 2023. "Retail investor trading and ESG pricing in China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    12. Staněk Gyönyör, Lucie & Horváth, Matúš, 2024. "Does ESG affect stock market dependence? An empirical exploration of S&P 1200 companies shows the divergent nature of E–S–G pillars," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    13. Roman Kräussl & Tobi Oladiran & Denitsa Stefanova, 2024. "A review on ESG investing: Investors’ expectations, beliefs and perceptions," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(2), pages 476-502, April.
    14. Ciciretti, Rocco & Dalò, Ambrogio & Dam, Lammertjan, 2023. "The contributions of betas versus characteristics to the ESG premium," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 104-124.
    15. Dunbar, Kwamie & Treku, Daniel & Sarnie, Robert & Hoover, Jack, 2023. "What does ESG risk premia tell us about mutual fund sustainability levels: A difference-in-differences analysis," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    16. Gong, Xiaomin & Xie, Fei & Zhou, Zhongsheng & Zhang, Chenyang, 2024. "The enhanced benefits of ESG in portfolios: A multi-factor model perspective based on LightGBM," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    17. Monia Magnani & Massimo Guidolin & Ian Berk, 2024. "Strong vs. stable: the impact of ESG ratings momentum and their volatility on the cost of equity capital," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 25(7), pages 666-699, December.
    18. Rojo-Suárez, Javier & Alonso-Conde, Ana B., 2024. "Have shifts in investor tastes led the market portfolio to capture ESG preferences?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    19. Wang, Ye & Liu, Xufeng & Wan, Die, 2023. "Stock market openness and ESG performance: Evidence from Shanghai-Hong Kong connect program," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 1306-1319.
    20. Lestari, Jenjang Sri & Frömmel, Michael, 2024. "Socially responsible investments: doing good while doing well in developed versus emerging markets?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pal:assmgt:v:25:y:2024:i:3:d:10.1057_s41260-024-00356-1. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.palgrave-journals.com/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.