2nd Edition
Governance, Stewardship and Sustainability Theory, Practice and Evidence
The first introductory practical guide of its kind, this book brings together principles of corporate governance, investor stewardship and enterprise sustainability in the context of institutional investment.
Stewardship codes are developing in diverse markets to provide a framework for responsible institutional investment practices and fiduciary duties for beneficiaries. While codes provide a starting point, the application of stewardship in practical terms can be challenging for many institutional investors. Written by two well-known corporate governance experts, George Dallas and Mike Lubrano, and based on the ICGN training course on stewardship that they developed, this book gives needed clarity, rigor and guidance to practitioners about what we know—and don't know—about stewardship, governance and sustainability. It explores the theoretical foundations of stewardship, linking these to day-to-day decision-making and providing real-life examples and practical tools to evaluate issues that arise for companies from an environmental, social and governance perspective and generate ideas about how to make investor stewardship a practical reality in similar cases.
Investor stewardship and ESG professionals, portfolio managers, senior managers, regulators and finance students will appreciate this unique guide to developing, refining and operationalising investor stewardship capabilities in line with the respected and internationally recognised ICGN policy framework.
Biography
George Dallas has served as Policy Director at the International Corporate Governance Network since 2014, where he co-ordinates ICGN’s governance polices and committees and leads ICGN’s policy development and regulatory outreach. He is a visiting lecturer at Bayes Business School, University of London, and has held senior roles at F&C Investments (now Columbia Threadneedle Investments) and Standard & Poor’s (now S&P Global). He has published widely and holds a BA degree, with distinction, from Stanford University and an MBA from the Haas School of the University of California at Berkeley.
Mike Lubrano is Managing Director at Valoris Stewardship Catalysts, where he advises investors and companies on the challenges of stewardship and sustainability. Mike has played a leading role in developing and delivering ICGN’s ESG Integration and Governance, Stewardship and Sustainability courses since 2011 and has trained investment analysts in the US, Europe and emerging markets for two decades. He currently teaches sustainable finance and impact investing at Johns Hopkins University. Mike earned his AB magna cum laude from Harvard College, his JD cum laude from New York University School of Law and his MPA from Princeton University.
"Practical, but underpinned by an excellent understanding of the theory and scientific research! I can’t think of a better duo to capture the essence of the ongoing debate on the relationship between governance and sustainability. Mike and George, given their experience and exposure to a wide range of issues in different parts of the world, as pioneers of good corporate governance in the early 2000s, are uniquely positioned to explain what matters and why in different contexts, and to offer stewardship guidance to investors. I also recommend this book to serving directors, investor relations professionals and corporate communications teams."
—Prof. Dr. Melsa Ararat, Director, Sabancı University Corporate Governance Forum; Member, ICGN Board."Investors have long known how to trade. But they are only now embracing how to own company shares to make sure boards steer responsible value creation over the long term. That’s where investor stewardship comes in. Dallas and Lubrano have written the world’s first comprehensive guidebook on the toolkit investors can use to safeguard the financial and social interests of citizen savers. With kudos to the International Corporate Governance Network for publishing, this a vital, must-read manual for professionals in the rising field of stewardship."
—Stephen Davis, Ph.D., Associate Director and Senior Fellow, Harvard Law School Programs on Corporate Governance and Institutional Investors"Dallas and Lubrano’s guide to stewardship is concise, evidence-based and implementable. Responsible investors should read it from cover to cover. I recommend it strongly."
—Professor Elroy Dimson, Centre for Endowment Asset Management, Cambridge Judge Business School."This book gives not only the ICGN members but all governance practitioners around the globe an excellent way of in depth understanding the necessities and practical requirements for being a sustainable and successful pursuer of good governance and stewardship."
—Christian Strenger, Academic Director of the Corporate Governance Institute at the Frankfurt School of Finance
"This is a must read for any ESG investor and a should read for any corporate governance, environmental and/or social specialist. George and Mike have effectively weaved current trends of ESG integration and stewardship into the complex corporate governance ecosystem. This modern look at corporate governance is refreshing and quite palatable even to the general public or layperson seeking to find out what is ESG."—Charles T. Canfield, Principal Corporate Governance Officer, International Finance Corporation (World Bank Group)
"As an investor you can easily get lost nowadays in how best to integrate ESG in your investment practice, contribute to the SDGs and report in accordance with TCFD, SASB or GRI. In ‘Governance, Stewardship and Sustainability’ the authors Dallas and Lubrano not only explain this ‘alphabet soup’ in a concise and practical fashion but also help you understand what you need to do as an investor to continue doing well while doing good."
— Martin Steindl, ESG Manager, FMO (The Dutch Development Bank)"This book is filled with ICGN's wisdom, which has had a huge influence on Japanese corporate governance and investor stewardship. As sustainability and ESG issues continue to develop and have greater prominence for both companies and investors, this book provides practical path to guide investors in how to realise their stewardship responsibilities."
— George Iguchi, Chief Corporate Governance Officer, Nissay Asset Management and ICGN Board Governor.
