Fermium Research Publishes Inaugural ESG Report

iCrowdNewswire Dec 21, 2020 3:40 PM ET

December 21, 2020 – Fermium Research LLC, an investment research and advisory company, today published its inaugural report examining its universe from an environmental, social, and corporate governance perspective. It further announced that it will be holding the virtual Fermium ESG Forum on March 24^th with several chemical companies including PPG, Eastman, Huntsman, etc. already confirmed to participate.

“As 2020 fashion trends of masks and work from home attire hopefully subside, we’re expecting ESG to gain increasingly more attention across all equities. There were 31 new ESG funds started up this year, nearly double the total from 2019. In chemicals, the topic has gained in popularity, which we expect to amplify when the pandemic moves to the rear-view mirror. While the inclination for some of the misguided is that the chemicals industry harms the environment, the truth is many of our companies are innovating ways to produce goods in a more sustainable manner to meet the needs of the global population,” said Frank J. Mitsch, Senior Managing Director at Fermium Research.

“We dived deeper across our companies to assess the real ‘ESG-plays’. In addition to numerous discussions with the companies, investors, and other stakeholders, this endeavor led to perusing endless pages of Sustainability Reports, etc. sometimes filled with quantifiable metrics/hard evidence, and other times, filled with aspirations and the noticeable absence of data and targets. We appreciated the granularity provided by such companies as Avient, FMC, and Trinseo. While Dow (17 annual sustainability reports and counting), LyondellBasell and PPG were among those rated highly, we were surprised by our lower rankings for such companies as Corteva and RPM,” said Aziza Gazieva, Vice President. She added, “The hot new corporate position is for a Chief Sustainability Officer or some equivalent. Among our companies, at least 40% have such officers that have been in the role for less than one year so it’s clear ESG is gaining traction on the corporate side as well.”

About Fermium Research

Fermium Research is an investment research and advisory company dedicated to assisting institutional clients in generating an active return on their investments. The firm provides insightful industry research as well as corporate access. More info available at www.fermiumresearch.com