Asset owners slowly embrace ESG strategies

On August 26 Singapore’s citizens awoke to a disconcertingly familiar sight: their pristine city was wreathed in smog.  The haze was a byproduct of brush burning in neighbouring Indonesia, where farmers illegally raze down acres of forest foliage to extend palm oil and pulpwood plantations.  It offered a choking example of the sort of environmental concerns that have helped raise environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) considerations with asset owners and fund manag…