In November 2016 Cambridge Associates published a report entitled, “The Value of ESG Data: Early Evidence for Emerging Markets Equities.”
The executive summary explains: “Our examination of incorporation of environmental, social, and governance factors into the stock selection process for two major MSCI indexes finds evidence that ESG factors added value in emerging markets equities but not developed markets equities. Given our findings, investors evaluating managers would do well to focus on understanding if and how the manager incorporates ESG factors, for what reason and how consistently, and whether ESG-based stock selection has added value to their funds.”
You may download the report from the Cambridge Associates internet site.