ESG’s Next Chapter: From Popularity Cycle to Pragmatic Integration

Van Lanschot Kempen’s Market Musings – Wind of Change (Oct 2025) explores how ESG investing is maturing beyond hype toward balanced, evidence-based application.

• After years of exuberance and recent outflows, ESG is shifting from trend to discipline—a framework for understanding long-term risks and opportunities, not a sentiment-driven label.

• The firm advocates engagement over exclusion, using dialogue and proprietary ESG scoring to identify value-creating change, as shown in its Korean governance engagement success.

• ESG remains embedded in portfolio construction, combining principles with pragmatism through selective exclusions and active stewardship rather than sweeping divestment.

Is this the start of ESG’s evolution from marketing buzzword to analytical cornerstone? Read the full commentary for Van Lanschot Kempen’s long-term perspective.