Spain
Barcelona-based financial journalist specialising in sustainable business practices and ESG investing. I write for Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
Last week, two major indexes dropped to levels more than 10% below their most recent peak, sliding into what analysts call "correction territory." On March 8, the Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 2.4% to 12609.16, leaving the benchmark down 11.9% from its Feb. 12 peak of 14,095.47.
More companies are pledging to achieve net-zero carbon emissions as they work to convince investors and consumers they can reduce their environmental footprint. High-emitting industrial companies face an especially tough challenge to get there. More than 1,500 companies have vowed to get to net zero, according to nonprofit groups Data-Driven Envirolab and the NewClimate Institute.
Before landing his dream job as a data scientist at Microsoft Corp. , Joey Chemis, who holds degrees in comprehensive math, discrete math and algorithms and statistics, had a hard time finding a job. "I worked in mostly minimum-wage jobs postcollege like Yogurtland and Pizza Hut, and while they were paying the bills, I didn't feel fulfilled," says the 32-year-old Mr. Chemis.
It isn't easy being an environmentally guided investor. Consider Joe Hobbs. In picking stocks or funds for his investment portfolio, he tends to favor companies that remove more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than they emit. But finding them is a lot harder than the 17-year-old student from Columbia, Md., ever imagined.
Much has been said about the importance of having a diverse and inclusive workforce, yet when it comes to promoting ethnically and racially diverse people to boards and senior leadership positions, U.S. companies continue to struggle. Why is that the case? Those who study the issue cite a plethora of challenges.
Three months after Lehman Brothers shut its doors in September 2008, Kate McGaughey got a call from the company she worked at doing legal research on oil-and-gas leases. She was being laid off.
Companies that have been on the wrong side of the social-impact movement are trying to convince investors to take another look. And for some investors, at least, it's working. Devarsh Ruparelia, a student at the University of Illinois who considers himself an ethically focused investor, added tobacco company Altria Group Inc.
Many companies have resisted disclosing environmental, social and governance data out of fear of being shunned by investors. These days, not disclosing that information may be even more risky. Energy giant Exxon Mobil Corp.
We consider the advantages and disadvantages of investing in big and small funds and what investors need to keep in mind when picking a fund.