Environmental, Social, and Governance Factors in Emerging Markets: a Volatility Study

Orientation: Asset managers constructing an emerging market portfolio of stocks should, along with more traditional risk metrics, consider ESG data in their due diligence and investment decision-making processes. Research purpose: To determine whether a company's higher relative focus on ESG incorporation results in the observation of lower levels of share price return volatility, as predicted by EWMA and GARCH models. Study motivation: Institutional investors wish to understand the role that ESG data plays in mitigating the risk of emerging market portfolios and whether the results necessitate the incorporation of ESG data in due diligence and investment decision-making processes. Research approach/design and method: Categorisation of emerging market stocks using ESG scores and return volatility predicted by EWMA and GARCH models allowed for the analysis of aggregate corporate market risk. These volatilities paired with their respective annual ESG scores permitted a more company-specific view of this relationship. Main findings: Companies with higher relative ESG Combined Scores exhibit lower levels of weekly volatility, but using annualised volatility weakens this relationship. The predictive ability of ESG scores to predict volatility is weak, and this weakens still further after the onset of crises, such as the COVID-19 global pandemic. Practical/managerial implications: Incorporating ESG data into portfolio performance analysis could assist in mitigating corporate market risk. Contribution/value add: Most research considers the state of ESG investing in developed markets rather than companies domiciled in emerging markets. This work could provide a more complete perspective of the state of ESG investing. Copyright © 2022– All Rights Reserved.

A Comparison of Emerging and Developed Economy Portfolio Performance Under COVID-19

Orientation: The performance of three different portfolio allocation strategies is assessed in a developed and a developing economy during different economic conditions over a period of seven years. Research purpose: Evaluate the performance of the portfolios – namely, the tangent, minimum-variance, and maximally diversified portfolio – across a developed and a developing economy and investigate the advantages and disadvantages that each portfolio poses in differing economic conditions. Motivation for the study: Understanding the benefits and drawbacks of each of these portfolios in times of crisis and in times of economic expansion could assist asset managers in making effectiveallocation decisions for their portfolios in different economic conditions. Research approach/design and method: Portfolio optimisation under various constraints. Main findings: Tangent portfolios produced superior returns to the other portfolios and the US portfolios consistently outperformed the South African ones. The minimum variance portfolio provided greater returns and downside protection than the maximally diversified portfolio during the COVID-19 market crash for the developed economy, while the opposite was observed for the developing economy. Practical/managerial implications: Practical knowledge of how each of the portfolios perform within different economic climates can assist asset managers to produce positive performance in times of recession and expansion. Contribution/value-add: Information and analysis on each of these portfolio asset allocation strategies during various economic conditions assists asset managers in finding the most effective way to structure their portfolios. Copyright © 2022– All Rights Reserved.