Investors should consider long-term climate and environmental risks as fundamentally material, and act accordingly. Prioritizing ESG and using all the tools of active ownership to hold portfolio companies accountable for mitigating the environmental and social harms that have traditionally been treated as externalities.

The shared experiences of Millennials have created a sense of shared destiny. Seeing the effects of financial market events and sharing our responses to them, mostly on social media, has made risk very real for us when making financial decisions. It has created a unique set of values with how we interact with money and our investments.

The 13th annual report, examines Key Trends and Metrics about Corporate Sustainability: how, and how well, companies are making progress in assessing and minimizing their impacts and embracing a range of strategies that move them forward in significant ways.

MORNINGSTAR – Sustainable funds in the United States attracted new assets at a record pace in 2019. Estimated net flows into open-end and exchange-traded sustainable funds that are available to U.S. investors totaled $20.6 billion for the year. That's nearly 4 times the previous annual record for net flows set in 2018.

ESG themes are long-term, but some can emerge suddenly. MSCI is watching Five Trends they believe will unfold in 2020 to catapult ESG investing into the new decade: Climate Innovation, Corporate Finance, Real Estate, Human Capital, and Stakeholder Capitalism.