Biography
Christopher K. Merker, PhD, CFA, is a director with Private Asset Management at Robert W. Baird & Co. He is also director of the sustainable finance and business program at Marquette University, and executive director of Fund Governance Analytics (FGA). He recently served on the CFA Institute ESG Working Group, responsible for leading the development of global ESG standards. He publishes the blog, Sustainable Finance, and is co-author of the book, The Trustee Governance Guide: The Five Imperatives of 21st Century Investing. Chris received his PhD from Marquette University and MBA from Thunderbird, School of Global Management.
Is 2020 the watershed year when the world begins to understand the concept of systemic risk in our interactions with the natural environment?
What are the main areas of concern in the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) world?
Sustainable investing will become the rule and no longer the exception. But this transition comes amid a disquieting change in how we must view capital, production, and their attendant effects.
What trends are influencing endowment investing in today’s market?
It's time for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing to become more of a science and less of an art, says Christopher K. Merker, PhD, CFA.
Memes are simple ideas that sometimes take hold and change the world. Finance has undergone two major cycles of transformation under this principle over the last 100 years and a third cycle more recently.
Americans are a cost-conscious lot. We all like a good deal. And that's become especially clear when it comes to investing. In almost every governance survey of asset owners, investment expenses have emerged as one of the top three concerns.
Good governance is not only important, but it also drives real results. Christopher K. Merker, PhD, CFA, explains.
In the final analysis, can we truly measure the emissions of our portfolio? Or understand what the actual “carbon footprint” is? No, not really, says Christopher K. Merker, CFA, but it is becoming easier.
The recent stampede of asset managers into environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing is reminiscent of another time and another industry, says Christopher K. Merker, PhD, CFA.