Dear Larry Fink, ESG needs brains

Brains are inextricably linked to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) imperatives. Mr Fink, we are writing to ask for your help, and advice, with regard to? advancing what we call Brain-ESG, with the goal of tapping into previously unavailable capital to fund transformative research, translation, and innovation for the betterment of society.?

By: Harris A. Eyre MD PhD, Erin Smith, William Hynes DPhil, Rym Ayadi PhD, Ian Macrae MSc, Michael Berk MD PhD, Agustin Ibanez PhD, Sandra Bond Chapman PhD, Ryan Abbott MD JD PhD, Ian Robertson PhD, David Angeler PhD, Jorge Jraissati, Sanjiv Das, Karen Rommelfanger PhD, James T. Hackett

There is a convergence of brain challenges plaguing our communities: mental health disorders, age-related cognitive decline, long COVID “brain fog”, disparities in educational access, radicalization due to rampant misinformation and dis-information via social media (worse for those in economic hardship and despair), science denialism (which has neural correlates,? relevant to climate change and anti-COVID vaccine sentiments), among others.?

Further, there is recognition that we will not begin to solve some of our social justice issues - homelessness, mass incarceration, deaths of despair - without a focus on caring for people with brain health disorders. These brain challenges are all subserved by affective and cognitive processes. If these brain challenges are not definitively managed, our societies - which are increasingly dependent on cognitive resources and skills for its economies - will struggle to sustain themselves, as planet Earth swiftly moves to an uncertain future. We and others have put forward proposals for the need to promote consideration of a novel Brain Capital Index and the economics of imminent diminishing Aging Brain Capital.?

Existing ESG approaches have driven positive business, investment, and societal value. However, they are incomplete and have the potential to be an even more powerful lever for positive transformative changes for a global society if Brain Capital is part of the equation. We also recognize that Brain Capital initiatives and solutions are in their infancy, hotly debated, and require further refinement. We firmly believe that incorporating brain challenges and benchmarks into ESG frameworks to shift to Brain-ESG (B-ESG) would provide a more comprehensive, robust approach to creating long-term positive impacts for the economy, environment, and all stakeholders. It also provides a way for modern capitalism to better prioritize our minds and brains.?

Mr Fink, we would appreciate your advice on how to advance this cause within the financial markets. We would also ask, after further investigation by you, that if you are convinced of the merits of our cause, you would consider adding B-ESG to your yearly shareholder letter to businesses and other stakeholders. The words would simply encourage research, and analysis of this topic in society. We know this would be very influential and help advance progress on brain health. Please see table 1 for a preliminary analysis of how the brain fits into an ESG framework.?

Table 1: Example Brain-ESG matrix?

While we recognize that investors are becoming more adept and attuned to pursuing sustainable investment strategies, we also believe that a critical component of this sustainability will be exploring how brain related health impacts economic flourishing.?

As stated by your colleague Brian Deese in the WEF white paper Harnessing the Pace of Change in ESG,?

“We cannot wait for corporate reporting to become perfect; we need to become more forward-looking now and push for better corporate reporting at the same time.”

In an effort to better capture the future value of an investment, we agree that a more forward-looking approach must be taken. This approach should have a holistic systems perspective informed by adaptive management of social-ecological systems and planning of future technological and economic scenarios that will optimize the development of resilient B-ESG. Only with such a broad approach will economic sectors be capable of successfully absorbing? failures due to factors such as pandemics, environmental deterioration, and rising mental health challenges.?

As a half-step towards accounting for brain health in business, there are some examples of prioritizing health interventions in the ESG field. For instance, the Culture of Health for Business (COH4B) program was developed as a partnership between the Global Reporting Initiative and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. A recently published ISO standard 45003 gives guidance on managing psychological health and safety risks within an occupational health and safety management system. The signatories of the Principles of Responsible Investing recently listed mental health as one of the top 4 social issue priorities in the future.

There are also nascent efforts in the brain health accounting arena, which are . For example, the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board recently included mental health and wellbeing in its proposed updated human capital standards. Likewise, a Human Capital Accounting Framework was recently published by the World Economic Forum and Willis Towers Watson. This framework aims to quantify and building healthy human capital within large organizations that have historically struggled to do so..?

To pull these above mentioned brain issues into an accountable, trackable and investable asset class, we are proposing a brain health emphasis in ESG. Brain Capital places a premium of brain health and brain skills in the economy.?

Can we really solve the current social-ecological? crisis (climate change, environmental degradation, biodiversity and ecosystem service loss, inequality, mass-migrations, rise of infectious diseases and authoritarian regimes, wars and poverty traps to mention a few), without taking brain science into account? We say, no.??

Channeling even a small percentage of the existing $40.5 trillion aligned to ESG into brain innovations and solutions as part of a B-ESG approach would have an unprecedented impact. A B-ESG approach would also allow us to leverage the financial and capital markets to develop and scale neuroscience technologies to reduce brain challenges, boost brain health, and equitably promote brain skills. Adopting a B-ESG approach will translate into innovative ways of maintaining sustainable economic growth and revenue in fast-changing societies.?

At the policy level, the OECD’s New Approaches to Economic Challenges (NAEC) unit? has established a Neuroscience-inspired Policy Initiative (NIPI). The Initiative seeks to reconceptualize and revitalize the economy and creatively exploring how it could work in new ways that can meet the most pressing needs of today and set a course for a more sustainable future. Part of our work will be to lay the groundwork to identify relevant metrics while building a transdisciplinary network of stakeholders.?

Mr Fink, we’d love to discuss this with you and to assemble a team of diverse experts to advance this.?

Coauthors

Harris A. Eyre MD PhD is a neuroscience strategist. He is co-founder of the PRODEO Institute, co-lead of the OECD Neuroscience-inspired Policy Initiative, and holds adjuncts roles with IMPACT at Deakin University, Brain Health Nexus and Cohen Veterans Bioscience, GBHI at UCSF, the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative, and Baylor College of Medicine.

Erin Smith is a director at the PRODEO Institute, an Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health at the Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI) at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and a Thiel Fellow at Stanford University.?

Michael Berk MD PhD is a NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellow, Alfred Deakin Professor of Psychiatry at Deakin University and director of IMPACT at Deakin University (Institute for Mental and Physical Health and Clinical Translation).

Rym Ayadi PhD is Founder and President of the Euro-Mediterranean Economists Association, Professor at CASS Business School, Member of the Centre for Banking Research (CBR), City University of London, Senior Advisor at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), Chair of the European Banking Authority – Banking Stakeholders Group (EBA- BSG)

William Hynes DPhil is Senior Advisor to the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) Secretary General and Head of the New Approaches to Economic Challenges (NAEC) Unit at the OECD.

Agustin Ibanez PhD is the director of the Latin American Brain Health Institute (BrainLat), a senior researcher at the Universidad de San Andrés, and a Senior Atlantic Fellow at the GBHI,? University of California San Francisco (UCSF) and Trinity College Dublin (TCD).

Sandra Bond Chapman PhD is Chief Director and Founder at the Center for BrainHealth, UT Dallas.?

Ryan Abbott, MD, JD, PhD, is Professor of Law and Health Sciences at University of Surrey, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Partner at Brown, Neri, Smith & Khan, LLP, and a mediator and arbitrator with JAMS, Inc.

Ian Macrae MSc is an organisational psychologist and the author of the forthcoming Dark Social, Bloomsbury.

Ian Robertson PhD is emeritus professor of psychology and neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin, co-director of the Global Brain Health Project and distinguished scientist at Center for BrainHealth at UT Dallas?

David Angeler PhD is a transdisciplinary researcher at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.

Jorge Jraissati is an economist, director at Students For Liberty, a researcher at the OECD-PRODEO Neuroscience-inspired Policy Initiative and at the IESE Business School Center for Public Leadership and Government.?

Karen Rommelfanger PhD is a professor, neurotech ethicist and neuroinnovation strategist and founder of the Institute of Neuroethics the first think and do tank dedicated wholly to neuroscience and ethics.

Sanjiv Das is CEO of Caliber Home Loans and Advisory Board Member of the Center for BrainHealth at UT Dallas.?

James T. Hackett is an executive and investor. He was Chairman of the Board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas during the financial crisis of 2008. He is Co-Founder of The Hackett Center for Mental Health Policy in Houston, Texas.?