Morningstar, (Nasdaq: MORN) announced an agreement to acquire Sustainalytics, a globally recognized leader in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) ratings and research.
Morningstar currently owns an approximate 40% ownership stake in Sustainalytics, first acquired in 2017. Under the terms of the deal, Morningstar will buy the remaining approximate 60% of Sustainalytics.
ESG investment funds with long track records are beating new competitors as the markets continue to unravel. Roughly 400 of the 2,800 ESG funds were in positive territory for the year as of last Thursday evening. Just 45 of the funds had gains of 10% since January 1.
The data, compiled by Bloomberg, says that 70% of those ESG funds opened before 2015.
Coronavirus has paralyzed the global markets, with Europe experiencing its worst one-day downturn in history. The FTSE shed 10.8%, the DAX was off 12.2%, and the CAC shed 12.5%. Here in the United States, the New York Fed loaded more than $1 trillion and fired it into the Repo markets. If you remember that scene in Independence Day where the world fires a nuclear bomb at the alien space ship, only to see it bounce off with no impact… it was a lot like that.
Franklin Templeton will become a $1.5 trillion behemoth after its acquisition, announced Tuesday, of rival Legg Mason for $6.5 billion including debt. It will pay $50 per share of Legg Mason in cash – a premium of $10 over the latter’s Monday closing price. In addition, it will assume $2 billion of the latter’s debt.
The National Bureau of Economic Research issued a stark warning about bond mutual funds and risk. In a new report, NBER says that at least 30% of bond mutual funds hold riskier assets than what Morningstar reports. The agency released this warning in a report titled “Don’t Take Their Word For It: The Misclassification of Bond Mutual Funds.”