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Meggin Thwing Eastman
Research Editorial Director
Meggin Thwing Eastman, as Research Editorial Director for MSCI ESG Research, is responsible for global editorial strategy and oversight for ESG research content. She has authored numerous research insights and guidance for asset owner and asset managers seeking to incorporate ESG considerations into their investment process. Human capital management and corporate gender diversity are areas of particular focus. Recent publications include Silicon Valley’s Women (on Boards) Problem, Institutional Investing for the SDGs (co-authored with the OECD) The Right Stuff: Talent Management and Innovation, Women on Boards and the Human Capital Connection, Bitter Pills: The US Opioid Crisis and Potential Impact on Healthcare Companies, Investor Responses to Gun Violence in the US, The State of Investing for SDG Impact Through Public Equities, and Has Gender Pay Parity Arrived in the Executive Suite? Meggin has worked in the ESG field since joining the former KLD Research & Analytics in 1998. Meggin holds a Bachelor of Arts from Williams College and an MA from the University of California, Berkeley.
Research and Insights
Articles by Meggin Thwing Eastman
ESG Trends to Watch for 2022
6 mins read Blog | Jan 7, 2022 | Linda-Eling Lee , Meggin Thwing EastmanAs the world’s biggest companies work toward net-zero, corporations ask: What do we do about our suppliers? Meanwhile, ESG investing truly has gone mainstream (with the regulatory attention to prove it). We review these trends and emerging risks.
2022 ESG Trends to Watch
Report | Dec 7, 2021 | Linda-Eling Lee , Meggin Thwing EastmanESG trends impacting investors in 2022 range from evolving regulation and the receding of greenwashing, to the push for change in energy production and the role of capital. Each presents risks, and opportunities, for investors in the years to come.
Climate Matters: What’s in an ESG Rating. And What’s Not.
6 mins read Blog | Nov 23, 2021 | Meggin Thwing Eastman , Guido Giese , Zoltán NagyESG ratings are widely used in active management and ESG indexes, with a growing focus on climate change. This has increased debate around two questions: Why are ESG ratings so different across providers? And how do ESG ratings reflect climate risk?
How to Achieve Net Zero? Leaders Weigh In
7 mins read Blog | Oct 18, 2021 | Meggin Thwing EastmanHow can investors help accelerate the net-zero transition? This was the central question at MSCI’s 2021 Global Investing Conference. We present the core takeaways from the two-day event, which featured senior corporate and investment thought leaders.
2021 ESG Trends to Watch
7 mins read Blog | Dec 7, 2020 | Meggin Thwing Eastman , Arne Philipp Klug , Linda-Eling Lee , Meggin Eastman , Philipp KlugClimate. ESG bubbles. Disclosure. Social inequality. Biodiversity. The topics don’t get much bigger — or more systemic. Here’s our analysis of the five ESG trends that will matter most to companies and their investors in 2021.
2020 ESG trends to watch
7 mins read Blog | Jan 13, 2020 | Ric Marshall , Linda-Eling Lee , Meggin Thwing Eastman , Meggin EastmanESG themes are long-term, but some can emerge with sudden force. We are watching five trends we believe will unfold in 2020 to catapult ESG investing into the new decade.
Is the US tech sector ignoring minority talent?
Blog | Oct 1, 2019 | Meggin Thwing Eastman , Meggin EastmanLooking in one’s backyard for human capital.
Looking inside ESG indexes
Blog | Aug 30, 2019 | Meggin Thwing Eastman , Guido Giese , Meggin EastmanMany investors want to stick to their values or beliefs, as well as meet certain financial objectives. How can ESG indexes help them address these goals?
What innovative companies and women on boards have in common
Blog | Mar 8, 2019 | Meggin Thwing Eastman , Meggin EastmanWe examined constituents of the MSCI ACWI Index that had been recognized as innovators on one or more annual lists produced by Forbes, Fast Company, MIT Sloan and the Boston Consulting Group between 2015 and 2018.
Silicon Valley’s Women (On Boards) Problem
Blog | Jan 9, 2019 | Meggin Thwing Eastman , Meggin EastmanCalifornia companies with no women on their boards are going to have to quickly up their diversity game.
Aligning Portfolios with UN Sustainable Development Goals
Blog | Dec 13, 2018 | Meggin Thwing Eastman , Meggin EastmanIs my money helping solve the world’s problems or making them worse? An increasing number of the beneficiaries of public funds, globally, are asking such searching questions about where and how their retirement funds are invested. Understanding how investments have an impact on societal issues can be much more complex and difficult to identify for institutional investors.
“G” is Just One Part of the ESG Story
Blog | Jun 26, 2018 | Meggin Thwing Eastman , Panos Seretis , Meggin EastmanWhen it comes to ESG (environmental, social and governance) investing, conventional wisdom holds that G is the only part that really matters, as a window into overall management quality and providing insights and value for investors. Our analysis suggests this has not been true; that the E and S aspects of ESG did help sort the truly outstanding firms from a group that already shares an array of robust financial traits.
Women on Boards: One Piece of a Bigger Puzzle
Blog | Mar 6, 2018 | Meggin Thwing EastmanPreviously, we have asked whether the number of women on boards has a relationship to corporate financial performance. Research suggests that it has. But is that the whole story?