中国的影响力投资可能为时尚早
全球各地的资产经理是如何将他们对环境的担忧与投资选择结合起来的?污染之下的北京是一个颇为适当的思考地点。
But China’s domestic share owners simply expect returns. Meanwhile, reliable information on environmental, social and governance, or E.S.G., factors is scarce, investors and companies talk past each other and there are plenty of other issues to worry about.
但中国国内的股票持有者只期望获得投资回报。与此同时，关于环境、社会及治理(environmental, social and governance，简称ESG)因素的可靠信息极少，投资者及企业各有说辞，还有其他许多需要担心的问题。
There’s hope, nonetheless, according to panelists at the Asian Corporate Governance Association’s E.S.G.-focused annual conference in Beijing this week: Some local companies and investment firms see the point. Still, the A.C.G.A. observes that the number of Chinese companies reporting on corporate social responsibility, or C.S.R., which rose rapidly to around 1,600 in 2014, has subsequently plateaued.
尽管如此，本周亚洲公司治理协会(Asian Corporate Governance Association，简称ACGA)在北京举行一年一度的会议，今年的主题是ESG方面，根据与会专家的说法，希望仍存。一些本土企业及投资公司看到了这一点。不过，ACGA也注意到，中国报告社会企业责任(corporate social responsibility，简称CSR)的公司数量在2014年快速增长到了约1600家，随后趋于平稳。
E.S.G., which is a more mature, mainstream version of C.S.R., is relatively new. Getting all the right data is a challenge worldwide. Companies may view reporting as a compliance exercise rather than a meaningful part of their strategic and risk-management thinking. They may focus only on good news. Or they may simply misunderstand what information investors want, a point underscored in several presentations in the Chinese capital.
ESG较新出现，是更为成熟、更为主流的CSR版本。在全世界范围内，获得全部正确数据都是一个挑战。企业可能将报告视为合规行为，而非企业战略和风险管理理念的一部分。或者，企业会对投资人想要的信息产生误解，这一点在中国首都的多场演讲中都有强调。
Using the data is tricky, too. By way of illustration, E.S.G. scores from MSCI and FTSE for the same global companies show little in the way of correlation when plotted against each other, Charles Yonts of the investment group CLSA noted at the A.C.G.A. event. Investors have to figure out if such ratings are useful.
如何利用数据也十分棘手。投资集团里昂证券(CLSA)的杨立志(Charles Yonts)在ACGA的活动上指出，举例来说，在图表对比上，同一批全球企业的MSCI新兴市场指数和富时指数(FTSE)的ESG分数没有体现出多少相关性。投资者必须要搞清楚这些评级是否有用。
They also have to grapple with potentially bigger issues. For overseas-listed Chinese companies, there are basic uncertainties surrounding the legality of the so-called variable interest entities that give shareholders their indirect ownership. In many corporations, wherever listed and whether government or privately controlled, it’s hard to know who makes decisions when dominant shareholders, management boards, supervisory boards and Communist Party officials are all involved.
他们也必须要努力克服潜在的更大问题。对于在海外上市的中国公司来说，围绕所谓“可变利益实体”(给股东间接所有权)合法性存在着不确定性。在许多集团，不论企业在哪里上市，是由政府控制还是私人控股，当大股东、管理委员会、监管委员会及共产党官员都牵涉其中时，要知道谁是做决定的一方很难。
Beijing’s moves toward more shareholder-friendly state-owned enterprises has helped make them preferred investments over private-sector firms for international investors by a three-to-one margin, according to an A.C.G.A. survey. This surprising state of affairs probably says more about the weakness of governance at typical private companies than its strength at state-owned enterprises.
据ACGA的一项调查显示，北京采取措施，让国有实体对股东更有利的做法让它们成为了更受国际投资者青睐的一方，与民营企业相比比例达到三比一。这种令人惊讶的状况可能更多地说明了典型的民营企业的治理缺陷，而不是国有企业的治理优势。
That’s because corporate governance remains a work in progress in China. E.S.G. may well take hold eventually, just as stock markets, Starbucks and smog have done. But it will take time — and for now, it’s mainly a project for foreign investors.
这是因为，企业治理在中国仍然有待发展。ESG可能最终会生根发芽，就像股市、星巴克和雾霾一样。但这需要时日——就目前而言，它主要是面向外国投资者的一个项目。
