Original, independent,
thought leadership
Our mission is to publish original, independent, and thought leadership investment research and analysis to inform decision making in sustainable investing and help investors and other stakeholders navigate through an evolving sustainable investing landscape.
We don’t believe that sustainable investing on its own will produce portfolio outperformance, consistently, over time. We do believe, however, that investors should be able to invest in line with their sustainability preferences, in most instances, and at the same time achieve market-based risk adjusted rates of return.
Anchored in a defined classification framework for sustainable funds, our research activities extend to investment strategies, portfolio construction, and the various investment alternatives encompassing sustainable investing across mutual funds. These include, for example, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), exchange-traded notes (ETNs), closed-end funds, REITs, MLPs, as well as individual securities such as stocks, long and short-term bonds, including green bonds, social bonds and sustainable bonds.
We cover the broad arc of sustainable investing strategies, ranging from values-based investing, negative screening or exclusions, thematic investing, impact investing, and ESG integration. These are not mutually exclusive strategies, and each may also employ shareholder/bondholder engagement and proxy voting practices.
Sustainable investing-oriented research focuses on the basics as well as topical subjects, industry trends, and developments, investment products, both new and existing, sustainable investing frameworks, index construction, ESG scores, performance results, investment strategies, portfolio construction, regulatory developments, and more.
We attempt to focus on and cover the drivers of ESG investing in equities and fixed income that, according to investment analysts, include risk management, client demand, regulations, alpha generation and fiduciary responsibility. At the same time, we don’t ignore identified impediments such as the often-cited lack of comparable and historical data.
Our content is intended to inform sustainable investors, the investment decision makers of financial intermediaries, asset owners, such as endowments, foundations, and pension funds, distributors, wealth management platforms, robo-advisors, family offices as well as other investment stakeholders.
We draw upon our years of experience covering the investment management industry and sustainable investing, strong analytical skills, and research capabilities. These combine with a dedicated focus on sustainable investing to deliver objective and independent conclusions, original opinions, and actionable insights published regularly on https://www.sustainablest.wpengine.com
Henry Shilling has worked in the investment management industry or focused on the investment sector for forty-five years. This interval includes long stretches during which Mr. Shilling analyzed and published research on mutual funds and other investment vehicles. More recently, while employed at Moody’s Investors Service, Henry initiated and coordinated Moody’s efforts to disclose and add transparency in research, ratings, and analysis to reflect environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks. He also led the firm to launch and successfully implement a methodology for assessing green bonds worldwide. Over the years, Henry published research articles in these and other capacities, was a frequent commentator, and regularly presented Moody’s views at various industry conferences.
Mr. Shilling is the author of The International Guide to Securities Market Indices, published in 1996 by International Publishing Corp., Chicago, Illinois, and contributed to Money Market Funds in the EU and the US, published in 2014 by Oxford University Press. Mr. Shilling earned a B.A. in economics from Lehman College, City University of New York. He lives and works in New York City.
Steve Schoepke has over 35 years of experience in the investment management and mutual fund industry. His background has focused on investment management oversight, building mutual funds, and related marketing and sales initiatives at the institutional, wholesale and retail levels. Much of Steve’s investment fund experience has been in support of and working with fund Boards, mainly in the role of Trustee-to-management liaison. Steve began his mutual fund experience as an Economist with the Investment Company Institute. At the ICI, he conducted competitive and regulatory analysis. Steve then moved to Lipper Analytical Services as an investment company analyst. Later he took a position as Senior Portfolio Analyst in Moody’s Investor Services’ managed funds group.
In 1997, Steve moved to SunAmerica Asset Management, where he was the Vice President of Research & Product Development. At SunAmerica, he was lead pm for five public fund-of-mutual fund strategies and five SMA fund-of-funds. He was also responsible for manager selections for AIG retail funds globally. More recently, Steve worked at Allianz Global Investors as Senior VP of Investments.
