Environmental, Social, Governance Financing Goals in Post-COVID-19 World

The paper is based on the increased importance of environmental, social, and governance factors in the present-day investing, especially in the COVID-19 pandemic period. The increased trends are not only witnessed in developed economies but also evident in developing economics like India. The possible reasons are attributable to enhanced risk awareness and sensitivity of institutional investors towards ESG issues, thereby, leading to price discovery of ESG factors through increased integration in investment portfolios. The need for prioritizing social investments is clear, especially after the onset of the pandemic. However, the major barriers appear to be lack of relevant knowledge on ESG issues and apathy of investors in formulating an ESG investing framework. The paper provides certain insights on the present-day ESG frameworks and principles that can be adopted by financial managers and asset management companies to generate better risk adjusted returns.