ABSTRACT
Innovest Strategic Value Advisors is a global research firm, with a primary focus on 'non-traditional' drivers of both investment risk and long-term outperformance. This chapter attempts to elucidate that approach, and argues that its most compelling application is an enhancement of, rather than a substitute for, more conventional investment analysis. Innovest's approach to sustainable investment research is predicated on a number of basic, core beliefs. The first is that the limitations of traditional, accounting-driven investment analysis are becoming increasingly apparent. The second core belief is that companies' ability to manage esg risks and opportunities has already become directly relevant to their competitiveness and profitability, and will become increasingly critical for the foreseeable future. At the heart of Innovest's analytical model is the attempt to balance the level of esg-driven investment risk with the companies' managerial and financial capacity to manage that risk successfully and profitably into the future.
