Alpha enhancement in global equity markets with ESG overlay on factor-based investment strategies

Studies show that companies with a strong Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) profile are more competitive than their peers, as they use resources, human capital and innovation more efficiently. High ESG-rated companies have lower exposure to systematic risk factors and low expected cost of capital, leading to higher valuations in a DCF model framework. They are typically more transparent, particularly with respect to their risk exposures, risk management and governance standards and have better long-term vision. The paper finds that higher Alpha can be harvested by restricting investment exposure to the ESG theme combined with various style characteristics, as they display low systematic and idiosyncratic tail risks. It shows that an ESG overlay on such factor-based strategies, particularly on ‘multi-factor’, ‘value’ and ‘low volatility’ in that order, reduces both systematic and idiosyncratic risks further. ESG overlay on ‘quality’ factor provides the highest return among ESG target indices, however, the underlying ‘quality’ factor provides even higher excess return. These findings can provide some insight on return enhancement to investors investing in the global equity markets.