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Sustainable disclosure versus ESG intensity: Is there a cross effect between holding and SRI funds?

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  • Vincenzo D'Apice
  • Giovanni Ferri
  • Mariantonietta Intonti

Abstract

Sustainable and Responsible Investment (SRI) funds – the largest component of the fast‐expanding sustainable financial investment industry – apply environmental, social and governance (ESG) analyses to manage their investment portfolios and are particularly demanding in terms of issuers' disclosure. In this paper we take a step forward and ask whether adopting high‐quality sustainability disclosure is important also for SRI funds' holding companies. Specifically, we introduce a novel metrics on the extent of holding companies' sustainability disclosure based on the quality of their Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) reporting. In parallel, we use a standard approach to measure a fund's ESG intensity, that is, the weighted ESG average of a fund's investments. Indeed, we find that an SRI fund's ESG intensity systematically improves when the associated holding company improves its GRI sustainability disclosure. Moreover, we show that this positive effect of holdings' disclosure on a fund's ESG intensity is larger in jurisdictions with less stringent regulation on disclosure, where the signaling value of GRI disclosure is supposedly heightened. Our results do not seem to be driven by endogeneity between a fund's ESG intensity and its holding company's GRI reporting. First, a fund's ESG investment policy and its holding company's sustainability disclosure policy lie on separate decision ladders. Second, we show that the two variables are empirically uncorrelated. Third, our results prove resilient to a battery of robustness checks. The implication of our finding is that holding companies' sustainability disclosure engagement can reap a benefit for their managed SRI funds – provided ESG ratings are reliable –, whose enhanced credibility might prove a key competitive factor.

Suggested Citation

  • Vincenzo D'Apice & Giovanni Ferri & Mariantonietta Intonti, 2021. "Sustainable disclosure versus ESG intensity: Is there a cross effect between holding and SRI funds?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(5), pages 1496-1510, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:corsem:v:28:y:2021:i:5:p:1496-1510
    DOI: 10.1002/csr.2178
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    2. Costanza Consolandi & Giovanni Ferri & Andrea Roncella, 2022. "All you need is G(overnance): Sustainable Finance Following Ambrogio Lorenzetti's Frescoes," SERIES 01-2022, Dipartimento di Economia e Finanza - Università degli Studi di Bari "Aldo Moro", revised Jul 2022.
    3. Eugene Kang & Nguyen Bao Lam, 2023. "The impact of environmental disclosure on initial public offering underpricing: Sustainable development in Singapore," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(1), pages 119-133, January.
    4. Robert Engle & Marina Brogi & Nicola Cucari & Valentina Lagasio, 2021. "Environmental, Social, Governance: Implications for businesses and effects for stakeholders," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(5), pages 1423-1425, September.
    5. Irene Bengo & Leonardo Boni & Alessandro Sancino, 2022. "EU financial regulations and social impact measurement practices: A comprehensive framework on finance for sustainable development," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(4), pages 809-819, July.
    6. Wenbing Luo & Ziyan Tian & Shihu Zhong & Qinke Lyu & Mingjun Deng, 2022. "Global Evolution of Research on Sustainable Finance from 2000 to 2021: A Bibliometric Analysis on WoS Database," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-23, August.
    7. Federica Bandini & Helen Chiappini & Francesca Pallara, 2022. "Fund managers acting as impact investors: Strategies, practices, and tensions," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(4), pages 1084-1095, July.

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