It has been a couple of months since last post, during which time I enjoyed the summer, spent a month in Paris, and finally this week shipped my youngest off to college again.  That final act is my cue to again attend to all my business, including these posts.  This year I will continue to address key issues concerning business:

*developments at the SEC as affecting public companies and as trickling down to the private sector as guidance or best practices

*developments in practice,  litigation and statutes affecting the duties of business officers and directors

*evolution of standards of performance by business as driven by emerging societal expectations.

As for a preview on the latter point: in catching up on summer reading I encountered an issue of The Economist magazine substantially dedicated to evaluation of ESG as an investment strategy.  The details are granular but important and I direct you to the magazine itself if you subscribe and missed it.  Key take-aways include a questioning of the efficacy of ESG in predicting market performance and a critique of the lack of a consistent definition of ESG among commentators so that it is impossible to identify the best market strategy.  There is also a critique of the advisory community as using ESG as an ill-defined marketing tool.

If anyone has some insight on ESG and its impact on the market, feel free to respond by comment to this site (I will review and post worthy responses) or send me your thoughts at    [email protected]