Alpha-Centric ESG Research

Kyle Rudden

Oh, the inhumanity of Monopolium Inquisitorum, leviathans made to stand before the judgement of inquisitorial courts. Repent and reform, or burn in everlasting… fine, maybe just shed a few worldly possessions, WhatsApp would be a good start, and stop coveting thy neighbors' data so much.Big technology companies (aka "Big Tech") are the subject of ever-expanding antitrust inquisitions by regulators and courts around the world. In the U.S., informal inquiries into prominent members of FAANG by the U.S. Congress turned into formal antitrust suits, first Alphabet then Facebook.Yesterday, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced yet another inquiry, this one into the data collection practices of social media companies. It mentioned nine companies by name, a few of which are "new" to this conversation (ByteDance, Tencent-investee Discord, and Snap).This Insight looks at one particular ESG angle to this antitrust stuff. Specifically, the potential for antitrust investigations – not the outcomes, but the process – to trigger ESG ratings downgrades and, in turn, constituency changes to major ESG indices. Summary points, for the cover page:<ul>
<li>Antitrust investigations will inevitably result in additional ESG ratings downgrades, and since most ESG indices are constructed using those ratings, constituency changes are likely.</li>
<li>Index changes might not happen until annual reviews a few months from now, but they are not tied to eventual antitrust outcomes (e.g., breakups) that could be years away, or not at all.</li>
<li>Presently, Facebook and Alphabet are the only U.S. stocks that stand out vis-à-vis the potential for antitrust-driven changes to ESG ratings and/or ESG indices (more so for Facebook).</li>
<li>Let's be honest, we are not talking about Tesla being added to the S&amp;P 500. Even for larger ESG indices, index-linked AUM is comparatively small vis-à-vis broader market indices.</li>
<li>However, one thing keeps it interesting. ESG indices are bloated with Big Tech, many of which are right behind Facebook and Alphabet on the antitrust plank walk.</li>
</ul>Herein, I explain my thought process – antitrust, to ESG ratings downgrades, to ESG index changes – then cover Facebook and Alphabet in some detail (albeit limited by constraints). There is less to say about the other U.S. "antitrust stocks" at the moment, but that may change. More importantly, I am looking into something similar, but related to Asian stocks. So, more to come.

Oh, the inhumanity of Monopolium Inquisitorum, leviathans made to stand before the judgement of inquisitorial courts. Repent and reform, or burn in everlasting… fine, maybe just shed a few worldly possessions, WhatsApp would be a good start, and stop coveting thy neighbors' data so much.Big technology companies (aka "Big Tech") are the subject of ever-expanding antitrust inquisitions by regulators and courts around the world. In the U.S., informal inquiries into prominent members of FAANG by the U.S. Congress turned into formal antitrust suits, first Alphabet then Facebook.Yesterday, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced yet another inquiry, this one into the data collection practices of social media companies. It mentioned nine companies by name, a few of which are "new" to this conversation (ByteDance, Tencent-investee Discord, and Snap).This Insight looks at one particular ESG angle to this antitrust stuff. Specifically, the potential for antitrust investigations – not the outcomes, but the process – to trigger ESG ratings downgrades and, in turn, constituency changes to major ESG indices. Summary points, for the cover page:
Antitrust investigations will inevitably result in additional ESG ratings downgrades, and since most ESG indices are constructed using those ratings, constituency changes are likely.
Index changes might not happen until annual reviews a few months from now, but they are not tied to eventual antitrust outcomes (e.g., breakups) that could be years away, or not at all.
Presently, Facebook and Alphabet are the only U.S. stocks that stand out vis-à-vis the potential for antitrust-driven changes to ESG ratings and/or ESG indices (more so for Facebook).
Let's be honest, we are not talking about Tesla being added to the S&amp;P 500. Even for larger ESG indices, index-linked AUM is comparatively small vis-à-vis broader market indices.
However, one thing keeps it interesting. ESG indices are bloated with Big Tech, many of which are right behind Facebook and Alphabet on the antitrust plank walk.
Herein, I explain my thought process – antitrust, to ESG ratings downgrades, to ESG index changes – then cover Facebook and Alphabet in some detail (albeit limited by constraints). There is less to say about the other U.S. "antitrust stocks" at the moment, but that may change. More importantly, I am looking into something similar, but related to Asian stocks. So, more to come.

Big Tech Antitrust Scrutiny Could Mean ESG Ratings Downgrades, Constituency Changes for ESG Indices

Asset Allocation & Fund Positioning, Copley Fund Research

Steven Holden

Asset Allocation & Fund Positioning

Copley Fund Research

Copley Fund Research provide research and data on asset allocation among Global and Emerging Market equity funds.  The analysis details absolute and relative positioning across countries, sectors and industries together with highly granular data on single stock and single fund allocations.  The data is updated monthly with time series going back to January 2011.

Global Research - Analysis of 165 prominent Global equity funds, combined AUM $335bn
GEM Research - Analysis of 127 prominent global EM equity funds, combined AUM $250bn

Asset Allocation - Global and GEM Equity

Cross Asset Strategy

<ul>
<li>US underweight rises to highest ever level among Global investors</li>
<li>Tech and Consumer Discretionary outperformance drives underweights higher</li>
<li>Increasing underweight driven by passive inflows as large cap stocks dominate indices.</li>
<li>Active funds running larger underweight positions among top index constituents.</li>
<li>Active buying to close underweight holdings fuels the fire of the large-cap rally further still.</li>
</ul>Analysis taken from our global active manager research, covering 391 global funds with a combined AUM of $750bn


US underweight rises to highest ever level among Global investors
Tech and Consumer Discretionary outperformance drives underweights higher
Increasing underweight driven by passive inflows as large cap stocks dominate indices.
Active funds running larger underweight positions among top index constituents.
Active buying to close underweight holdings fuels the fire of the large-cap rally further still.
Analysis taken from our global active manager research, covering 391 global funds with a combined AUM of $750bn

The Anatomy of the US Underweight (And the Effect of Rising Passive ETF Flows in the US).

Asean-focused. Ex-Head of Thai Research

Athaporn Arayasantiparb, CFA

Asean (Thailand) Focused Independent Research

M Corp Review

M Corp is led by Athaporn Arayasantiparb who served as Head of Research for UOB and ANZ in Thailand and was an award-winning telecoms analyst at UBS in 2010 (AsiaMoney Thailand category) and Regional Strategist for DMG in Singapore. Prior to that, he also served as Kasikornbank credit analyst and scholar. He has a total work experience of 17 years, of which 14 were in research and 4 in research management roles. He started his career as an engineer for PTT and currently manages family investments. He holds an MBA from Stern (NYU) and CFA Charter since 2006. Apart from IPO Radar, which focuses on future listings, MCorp Review also provides six on-going thematic series ranked by frequency in descending order, namely: 1) Silicon Stories (technology) 2) Sathorn Series (financial services) 3) Thai-Coons (billionaire origin stories) 4) Reality Check (data-driven, investigative) 5) Thai Media Spotlight; and 6) Thai Macro Watch (global market drivers).

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

Even as the rest of Thailand re-emerges to some level of normalcy after the worst phases of the lock-downs ended in June, the media sector struggles to recover. We see four important trends dominating the sector now: <ul>
<li>
A diminished sector thanks to streaming. Streaming players who offer no ads (led by AIS Play, Netflix, and True ID) have taken up much of audience mind share due to reduced pricing and incumbents spending less on content.</li>
<li>
Accelerated growth for online advertising. Facebook and Google unit YouTube now account for disproportionately large market share in online advertising (now almost a quarter of Thai ad spend). Even at the height of their power, TV-based advertisers like BEC and Channel 7 never dominated their medium to the same extent. This translates a huge amount of value to foreign players.</li>
<li>
MAJOR test following the extended movie pipeline delays. Blockbusters have been delayed more than six months, raising the question of whether movie-goers will return to cinemas. If they do not, this is the end of the road for the mighty cinema operator.</li>
<li>
Incumbents forced to find new roles. Thai broadcasters like BEC and Grammy will be relegated to second fiddle role of providing content to streaming outfits. Given its unique business model, MONO could remain last man standing, but not if consumer behaviors change entirely.</li>
</ul>

Even as the rest of Thailand re-emerges to some level of normalcy after the worst phases of the lock-downs ended in June, the media sector struggles to recover. We see four important trends dominating the sector now: 

A diminished sector thanks to streaming. Streaming players who offer no ads (led by AIS Play, Netflix, and True ID) have taken up much of audience mind share due to reduced pricing and incumbents spending less on content.

Accelerated growth for online advertising. Facebook and Google unit YouTube now account for disproportionately large market share in online advertising (now almost a quarter of Thai ad spend). Even at the height of their power, TV-based advertisers like BEC and Channel 7 never dominated their medium to the same extent. This translates a huge amount of value to foreign players.

MAJOR test following the extended movie pipeline delays. Blockbusters have been delayed more than six months, raising the question of whether movie-goers will return to cinemas. If they do not, this is the end of the road for the mighty cinema operator.

Incumbents forced to find new roles. Thai broadcasters like BEC and Grammy will be relegated to second fiddle role of providing content to streaming outfits. Given its unique business model, MONO could remain last man standing, but not if consumer behaviors change entirely.


Thai Media Spotlight: Collapse or Redemption?

Semiconductors, Memory and SSDs Specialist, Objective Analysis

Jim Handy

Semiconductors, Memory and SSDs Specialist

Objective Analysis

Objective Analysis offers third-party independent market research and data for the semiconductor industry and investors in the semiconductor industry.

Semiconductors, Memory and SSDs

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused profound business shifts, resulting in near ruin for some sectors while strengthening others.  This Smartkarma Insight explores this phenomenon and shows how it relates to semiconductors.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused profound business shifts, resulting in near ruin for some sectors while strengthening others.  This Smartkarma Insight explores this phenomenon and shows how it relates to semiconductors.

Technical Analyst, Vermilion Research

Joe Jasper

Technical Analyst

Technical and Quantitative Research

Vermilion Research

Vermilion’s objective is to deliver timely, actionable, and unique technical research to professional investors through the application of our various technical indicators.

Our research strategists seek to highlight securities which we believe are at major inflection points, based on our various technical and quantitative indicators, and offer asymmetric risk/return profiles. Our unique research methodology, centered on relative strength, enables our strategists to deliver superior investment recommendations.

Our process begins by organizing the universe of actively traded stocks into discrete sectors, then into industry groups. We then apply our technical and quantitative tools to identify developing price trends. Once attractive trends are identified within a selected sector or group, we screen for individual stocks which we believe offer the best risk/reward profile. We provide a historical perspective that often reveals, through our long-term charts, how price patterns often repeat themselves over time.

Technical Analysis

US Treasury (10 Yr Generic) / Technical Analysis

Considering the absence of breakdowns for the major indexes and for individual Sectors, along with the Fed covering investors’ backs, we continue to have a bullish outlook and we believe that the path of least resistance remains higher. In this report we outline our bullish case and highlight actionable opportunities across all 12 sectors.

Considering the absence of breakdowns for the major indexes and for individual Sectors, along with the Fed covering investors’ backs, we continue to have a bullish outlook and we believe that the path of least resistance remains higher. In this report we outline our bullish case and highlight actionable opportunities across all 12 sectors.

U.S. Equity Strategy - Bullish Outlook Intact

United States

Netflix Inc. is an Internet subscription service for watching tv shows and movies. Subscribers can instantly watch unlimited TV shows and movies streamed over the Internet to their TVs, computers and mobile devices and in the United States, subscribers can receive standard definition DVDs and Blu-ray Discs delivered to their homes.

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Netflix Inc (NFLX US)

Big Tech Antitrust Scrutiny Could Mean ESG Ratings Downgrades, Constituency Changes for ESG Indices

Antitrust broaches several highly-material ESG issues. Growing antitrust scrutiny of "Big Tech" could lead to ESG rating downgrades, and in turn,...

Kyle Rudden

The Anatomy of the US Underweight (And the Effect of Rising Passive ETF Flows in the US).

ETF inflows drive underweights in US equities to record levels. Active buying to close underweights in major index stocks fuels the rally further...

Steven Holden

Thai Media Spotlight: Collapse or Redemption?

Even as the rest of Thailand re-emerges to some level of normalcy after the worst phases of the lockdo

Athaporn Arayasantiparb, CFA

The COVID-19 Pandemic and Semiconductors

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused profound business shifts,

Jim Handy

U.S. Equity Strategy - Bullish Outlook Intact

Considering the absence of breakdowns for the major indexes and for individual Sectors, along with the Fed covering investors’ backs, we continue...

Vermilion Research

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