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The discussion focused on the opportunities and challenges of investing in emerging markets and the importance ESG factors in that context. Mobius shared that in many ways they’ve been looking at ESG factors for over 30 years in their investing. This is something we often hear, sometimes in the context of undermining the importance of the ESG field (e.g. considering material ESG factors is just a repackaging of good fundamental analysis for marketing purposes). But when asked about this — what was new about their approach if they’d be looking at ESG issues all along — Mobius shared that one difference is they are doing so in a much more systematic way now that their ESG process is explicit and more formal. Another difference is that in the past they were often looking at these issues from the perspective of how companies might be punished or fined if they had a pollution issue or worker safety issue — but now that there is more transparency and public awareness around these issues, ESG factors are even more important in reducing risk and uncovering opportunities to create value, as it relates to brand value, customer loyalty, public license to operate, etc.
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