March 26, 2019 — Last month Barron’s published a cover story entitled “The Most Sustainable Companies,” which features an equity-focused survey of the 100 Most Sustainable Companies in America based upon, among other things, the strength of their scores for “forward thinking and good behavior.” Using a similar methodology and sustainability scoring framework, Sage evaluated these 100 companies from a credit perspective to identify their relative placement among this well-regarded ESG grouping. The result is the Sustainable 75.

February 22, 2019 — Late last year, Sage conducted its 2018 ETF Sponsor Stewardship Survey. Given the aggressive growth and development of the ETF industry, as well as its ever-expanding proxy voting responsibilities on behalf of those investors utilizing these funds, we felt it would be useful to survey a range of ETF providers to evaluate their methods and efforts to satisfy their respective fiduciary and stewardship requirements. We also wanted to find out if ETF providers took account of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues through their company engagement practices, investment process, and proxy voting decisions. More importantly, we wanted to know to what extent they are dedicated to encouraging higher standards of ESG performance among the companies in which they are invested. This report provides an in-depth analysis of our findings.

November 8, 2018 — In this month’s piece, we explore the challenges women investors face and how financial advisors can help clients align their investments with their values.

October 3, 2018 — In this month’s ESG Perspectives, we explore the soup du jour in sustainable investing: green bonds, and how employee engagement is an important social measurement in environmental, social, and governance investing.

August 15, 2018 — U.S. researchers, backed by the Department of Energy, are overcoming what has long been an expensive environmental challenge: extracting rare earth elements (REEs) from toxic coal mine waste. Rare earth elements are a valuable resource and can be found in nearly every item with an on/off switch, including TVs and smartphones. In this piece, we outline the strategic importance of REEs, how the U.S. is dependent on China and other foreign countries for rare earth elements, and how American researchers are successfully creating environmentally-friendly extraction technologies.

July 19, 2018 — Sage believes that the integration of ESG factor assessment will result in better investment outcomes for our clients and closer alignment between their objectives and those of society at large. In this report we outline Sage’s ESG investment philosophy, four categories of ESG fixed income analysis, as well as our portfolio construction process.

June 1, 2018 — Millennials will soon represent over 50% of the American workforce, and their influence over the future of retirement plan asset growth and development will increase significantly. To be successful with the Millennial Generation and create a competitive advantage, investment firms will need to increasingly focus their managements to accept sustainable and impact investing as the norm.

May 30, 2018 — This month’s edition of ESG Perspectives assesses the Department of Labor’s recent guidance on ESG investing, and outlines Sage’s approach to aligning fiduciary principles with its ESG investment strategy.

April 16, 2018 — Municipal bonds are one way to invest in community-focused development, but measuring impact can be difficult. In this report, Sage discusses how it aligns its ESG investments with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, enabling it to measure impact at both the local and global levels.