Episode 37: Proof that ESG investing isn‘t worth your time?

What has Steve W been doing at the weekend? What does Steve D think is positive for everyone in the semiconductor industry? And why is Paul thinking of getting into Intel? This week’s game is from Steve W, who’s been looking at some ESG scores for The Only Way is Ethics. Paul and Steve D guess at the respective ESG scores from companies as diverse as Kimberly-Clark, JP Morgan, Total, and Diageo. The game throws up some interesting facts and leads to some interesting reflections about how important ESG considerations are, how they are assessed, and how companies might seek to artificially inflate their ESG scores. Along the way, Steve D shares some reflections on his historic Aviva holding.

 

Next it’s on to the recent news. On the subject of Jeff Bezos and William Shatner’s recent trip into space, Paul and Steve D think about the PR credentials of the Amazon founder. Somehow that turns into a discussion of what Paul and the Steves have been watching on the TV lately. Steve W talks about the moral of the story from Squid Game (look out for that as a future Playing FTSE game) and Steve D notes the impending legal case against Netflix from SK Telecom.

 

Meanwhile, it’s earnings season again! This week the big banks, led by JP Morgan reported their earnings. With the banks generally doing well on EPS as reserves for bad loans are released, Bank of America—owned by Steve W—also put up a strong showing in Q3 revenue. The other major report comes from Taiwan Semiconductor, in a sector much more familiar to Paul and Steve D. Find out why Steve W is staying out of Taiwan Semiconductor and why Paul likes the sector more generally.

 

We finish this week with Bitcoin. Find out why Paul thinks he has the edge on Charlie Munger in this space, why Steve W is pro owning bitcoin as a trader, and what Steve D thinks is stopping people from buying cucumbers with cryptocurrency. Only on this week’s Playing FTSE Podcast!