AI as a Catalyst for ESG Investing

This paper aims at providing a conceptual framework for analysis of how artificial intelligence (AI) can contribute to impact investing as an area of asset management that is focused on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues. Actually, companies have been increasingly concerned of discovering what their profile might become by complying with ESG criteria; as they further gain momentum, the need keep surfacing to cope with them more extensively and/or intensively. Meanwhile, the financial arena has been increasingly populated with investors showing highlighted involvement in considering ESG implications before selecting alternative options, as well as in monitoring their financial assets and eventually reallocating their portfolios. A key role can be played by AI: its persistent progress sounds like an invitation to focus on quantitative models to assess ESG ratings, as well as to discuss how technological innovation can reshape sustainable investing, to evoke just a few of the most promising applications and areas of knowledge. Conclusions draw upon lessons learned, best practices and success stories, that are worth sharing, disseminating, and replicating, to benefit not only those who are directly interested in the evolving trends under investigation but society on a global scale.