Visiting UOW Malaysia scholar shares new ESG evidence

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The College got new insights into the area in sustainable finance through the visit of Dr. Jasmine Phan Ah Kiaw and her student Dr. Dai Jia Peng from UOW Malaysia in late March.  Dr. Dai made a presentation entitled “The Fading ‘Alpha’ of ESG? A Review of Consensus and Divergence in Sustainable Finance Research”.  The presentation challenged a long-held belief in sustainable finance that strong ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) performance consistently leads to higher financial returns, known as “alpha”.  Dr. Dai's research argued that this widely accepted view overlooked serious weaknesses in the underlying evidence and concluded that the evidence does not support the simple claim that “ESG generates alpha.”  Building on the visit, Dr. Phan, who is Head of the Postgraduate Research Centre and Senior Lecturer at the School of Business at UOW Malaysia, and the College explored opportunities for future collaboration, including joint research projects, internal grant applications, and co-supervision of postgraduate students.