Evaluation of strategic and financial variables of corporate sustainability and ESG policies on corporate finance performance

Over the past few decades, there has been a sharp increase in interest by investment professionals to become more socially responsible with regards to their decision making relating to their choice of investments and overall make-up of their portfolios. This paper conducts various tests to establish a link between Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Corporate Financial Performance (CFP). This paper adds a strategic management element by establishing various frameworks that corporations can include in the decision-making process and includes CSR and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) principles when making investment decisions. The sample chosen for this paper includes the iShares MSCI KLD 400 Social exchange traded fund (ETF), iShares Core S&P 500 ETF as well as firms that follow the Principles for Responsible Investing (PRI). Overall, there is no evidence to suggest that ethical ETFs outperform conventional ETF's however PRI following firms outperform those who do not follow the guidelines.