Month: January 2026

ST. PAUL, Minn., January 20, 2026 /3BL/ – The Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable (BIER) is pleased to announce that Kirin Holdings C ompany has joined its global coalition of leading beverage companies working collaboratively to advance environmental sustainability across the beverage sector.

Headquartered in Japan, Kirin Holdings Company brings more than a century of innovation and stewardship to BIER’s collaborative platform. Since its founding in 1907, the Kirin Group has evolved from its origins in brewing to become a diversified global company spanning Food & Beverages, Pharmaceuticals, and Health Science. Across its businesses, Kirin leverages fermentation and biotechnology to deliver products and services that enhance quality of life while addressing pressing social and environmental challenges.

Kirin’s environmental strategy is guided by a strong commitment to reducing environmental impact across its value chain. The company prioritizes climate action, responsible water stewardship, resource efficiency, and the sustainable procurement of raw materials. Through its environmental materiality framework, Kirin is advancing efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, strengthen water resource management, minimize waste, and promote circular approaches to packaging and production.

In parallel, Kirin places a strong emphasis on sustainable supply chains, working closely with suppliers to address environmental and social risks, promote responsible sourcing, and enhance transparency. These efforts reflect Kirin’s belief that long-term business resilience depends on collaboration across industries, regions, and value chains.

The addition of Kirin’s membership in BIER further supports these commitments by providing a collaborative forum for exchanging best practices, aligning methodologies, and engaging with peers on shared environmental priorities. Through BIER, Kirin will contribute to and benefit from collective efforts focused on water stewardship, climate action, sustainability disclosure, circular systems, and nature-positive strategies, helping accelerate progress across the global beverage industry.

“BIER is built on the principle that meaningful environmental progress happens when companies work together,” said Erica Pann, Executive Director of BIER. “Kirin’s long-standing commitment to sustainability, innovation, and responsible supply chain management strengthens our collective ability to address complex environmental challenges facing the beverage sector.”

Through the market leadership of its members, BIER continues to serve as a trusted, collaborative voice for environmental sustainability in the beverage industry. By advancing credible technical guidance, fostering cross-sector collaboration, and engaging proactively on emerging challenges, BIER helps its members strengthen performance, build stakeholder trust, and contribute to more sustainable outcomes across the value chain.

Media Contacts:

Erica Pann, Executive Director, BIER – Erica.Pann@anteagroup.us

About BIER
BIER is a technical coalition of leading global beverage companies working together to advance environmental sustainability within the beverage sector. Formed in 2006, BIER is a common voice across the beverage sector, speaking to influence global standards on environmental sustainability aspects most relevant to the sector, affect change both up and down the supply chain, and share best practices that raise the bar for environmental performance of the industry. By doing so, BIER is able to monitor data and trends, engage with key stakeholders, develop best practices, and guide a course of action for the future. BIER members include Anheuser-Busch InBev, Asahi Group Holdings, Bacardi, Brown-Forman, Carlsberg Group, The Coca-Cola Company, Constellation Brands, Diageo, Heaven Hill Brands, Heineken, Keurig Dr Pepper, Kirin Holdings Company, Limited, Molson Coors, Monster Energy, Ocean Spray Cranberries, PepsiCo, Pernod Ricard and Suntory Global Spirits. For more information, visit www.bieroundtable.com.

About Kirin Holdings Company, Limited

Kirin Holdings Company, Limited is an international company that operates in the Food & Beverages domain (Food & Beverages businesses), Pharmaceuticals domain (Pharmaceuticals businesses), and Health Science domain (Health Science business), both in Japan and across the globe.

Kirin Holdings can trace its roots to Japan Brewery which was established in 1885. Japan Brewery became Kirin Brewery in 1907. Since then, the company expanded its business with fermentation and biotechnology as its core technologies, and entered the pharmaceutical business in the 1980s, all of which continue to be global growth centers. In 2007, Kirin Holdings was established as a pure holding company and is currently focusing on boosting its Health Science domain.

Under the Kirin Group Vision 2027 (KV 2027), a long-term management plan launched in 2019, the Kirin Group aims to become “A global leader in CSV* creating value across our world of Food & Beverages to Pharmaceuticals.” Going forward, the Kirin Group will continue to leverage its strengths to create both social and economic value through its businesses, with the aim of achieving sustainable growth in corporate value.

*　Creating Shared Value. Combined added value for consumers as well as for society at large.

Patrick O’Connell, CFA| Director—Responsible Investing Portfolio Solutions and Research
John Huang, CFA| Director of Responsible Investments, Data and Technology—Responsibility
Erin Bigley, CFA| Chief Responsibility Officer

The materiality of ESG factors differs across sectors and markets. Investors need to understand how.

As environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors help contribute to—or detract from—security returns, it makes sense for active investors to integrate them into security selection. But there’s a wide disparity in the materiality of ESG factors across investment sectors and markets. In our view, understanding this dynamic is the key to successfully incorporating ESG risks and opportunities into portfolio construction.

For many investors, whether fixed income or equity, the process of integrating ESG factors into their strategies begins with correlating the relevance of each factor to individual industries. At a basic level this shows, for example, that greenhouse gas emissions are a particular risk for mining companies and electric utilities, while customer privacy is a key concern for the healthcare sector.

This is a good starting point but offers an incomplete perspective. We believe a much deeper dive is necessary to fully dimension the materiality of ESG factors for portfolio performance. Investors need to know how a particular factor may affect investment returns for a given sector or market.

Factors Can Have Wide or Narrow Impacts

Factor attribution using historical returns can reveal how ESG factors have contributed to investment returns in the past, whether for a sector or an entire investment universe, in equities or in bonds.

We’ve observed that some factors can be financially material for all companies in a market, regardless of sector. For example, we divided stocks in the MSCI All Country World Index into quintiles according to their total recordable incident rate (TRIR)—the number of workplace injuries or illnesses—then compared their returns relative to the parent index over 14 years. The results show that high TRIR consistently underperformed the market and that low TRIR consistently outperformed. 

Similarly, in the bond market, “social fines” is a powerful, index-wide factor. Social fines are regulatory penalties imposed for nonenvironmental reasons, such as workplace health and safety and anticompetitive practices.

Other ESG factors with broad relevance across investment sectors include CEOs’ length of tenure and employee turnover. For investors wishing to integrate ESG factors into their portfolios, it’s useful, in our view, to know which factors have index-wide applicability.

Factor attribution can also reveal which ESG factors are particularly relevant to a specific sector and which have historically shown no financial materiality.

Another advantage of factor attribution is that it can lead to observations that are unexpected and even counterintuitive. We found, for example, that companies with high ESG disclosures broadly performed better than those with low or no disclosures, regardless of whether their ESG practices were good, bad or indifferent. In the case of ESG metrics where there was no significant under- or overperformance relative to the market—CFO tenure and split roles for CEO and chair of the board—companies that disclosed data outperformed companies that didn’t disclose, on average.

Fundamental Research Enhances Insights from Factor Attribution

But factor attribution alone is not enough, in our view; it should complement fundamental research.

Understanding the effect of ESG factors on performance is most valuable in the context of broader research into how well a company is managed. For example, fundamental research can show that a high TRIR affects productivity directly, through lost working hours, and indirectly, by creating a culture in which workers are undermotivated because they don’t feel safe. Additionally, factor attribution works best with long data series, which are not always available, stressing the importance of fundamental research.

Another way fundamental research can help is in measuring ESG factors appropriately to a particular sector, instead of taking the generic approach typically used by many third-party ESG databases. This could mean, for example, measuring carbon emissions in terms of miles per gallon for automakers, per passenger mile for airliners and per ton of cement produced for building-material companies.

And it can tease out the nuances underlying many ESG factors. In the case of the mining sector, for example, fundamental research can focus on tailings dam risk within the more broadly defined factors of water and hazardous materials management (Display).

As this small snapshot of an ESG materiality matrix shows, these insights can be mapped very simply. But it’s the quality of the information behind it that gives the map its value: the understanding of how ESG factors can be financially material across investment sectors, industries and markets. By embedding such knowledge in their securities research and portfolio construction, investors, in our view, may significantly enhance the potential for outperformance.

The authors wish to thank Peter Højsteen-Ljungbeck for his contribution.

The views expressed herein do not constitute research, investment advice or trade recommendations and do not necessarily represent the views of all AB portfolio-management teams. Views are subject to revision over time.

MSCI makes no express or implied warranties or representations, and shall have no liability whatsoever with respect to any MSCI data contained herein.

The MSCI data may not be further redistributed or used as a basis for other indices or any securities or financial products. This report is not approved, reviewed or produced by MSCI.

Learn more about AB’s approach to responsibility here.

Patrick O’Connell, CFA| Director—Responsible Investing Portfolio Solutions and Research
John Huang, CFA| Director of Responsible Investments, Data and Technology—Responsibility
Erin Bigley, CFA| Chief Responsibility Officer

The materiality of ESG factors differs across sectors and markets. Investors need to understand how.

As environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors help contribute to—or detract from—security returns, it makes sense for active investors to integrate them into security selection. But there’s a wide disparity in the materiality of ESG factors across investment sectors and markets. In our view, understanding this dynamic is the key to successfully incorporating ESG risks and opportunities into portfolio construction.

For many investors, whether fixed income or equity, the process of integrating ESG factors into their strategies begins with correlating the relevance of each factor to individual industries. At a basic level this shows, for example, that greenhouse gas emissions are a particular risk for mining companies and electric utilities, while customer privacy is a key concern for the healthcare sector.

This is a good starting point but offers an incomplete perspective. We believe a much deeper dive is necessary to fully dimension the materiality of ESG factors for portfolio performance. Investors need to know how a particular factor may affect investment returns for a given sector or market.

Factors Can Have Wide or Narrow Impacts

Factor attribution using historical returns can reveal how ESG factors have contributed to investment returns in the past, whether for a sector or an entire investment universe, in equities or in bonds.

We’ve observed that some factors can be financially material for all companies in a market, regardless of sector. For example, we divided stocks in the MSCI All Country World Index into quintiles according to their total recordable incident rate (TRIR)—the number of workplace injuries or illnesses—then compared their returns relative to the parent index over 14 years. The results show that high TRIR consistently underperformed the market and that low TRIR consistently outperformed. 

Similarly, in the bond market, “social fines” is a powerful, index-wide factor. Social fines are regulatory penalties imposed for nonenvironmental reasons, such as workplace health and safety and anticompetitive practices.

Other ESG factors with broad relevance across investment sectors include CEOs’ length of tenure and employee turnover. For investors wishing to integrate ESG factors into their portfolios, it’s useful, in our view, to know which factors have index-wide applicability.

Factor attribution can also reveal which ESG factors are particularly relevant to a specific sector and which have historically shown no financial materiality.

Another advantage of factor attribution is that it can lead to observations that are unexpected and even counterintuitive. We found, for example, that companies with high ESG disclosures broadly performed better than those with low or no disclosures, regardless of whether their ESG practices were good, bad or indifferent. In the case of ESG metrics where there was no significant under- or overperformance relative to the market—CFO tenure and split roles for CEO and chair of the board—companies that disclosed data outperformed companies that didn’t disclose, on average.

Fundamental Research Enhances Insights from Factor Attribution

But factor attribution alone is not enough, in our view; it should complement fundamental research.

Understanding the effect of ESG factors on performance is most valuable in the context of broader research into how well a company is managed. For example, fundamental research can show that a high TRIR affects productivity directly, through lost working hours, and indirectly, by creating a culture in which workers are undermotivated because they don’t feel safe. Additionally, factor attribution works best with long data series, which are not always available, stressing the importance of fundamental research.

Another way fundamental research can help is in measuring ESG factors appropriately to a particular sector, instead of taking the generic approach typically used by many third-party ESG databases. This could mean, for example, measuring carbon emissions in terms of miles per gallon for automakers, per passenger mile for airliners and per ton of cement produced for building-material companies.

And it can tease out the nuances underlying many ESG factors. In the case of the mining sector, for example, fundamental research can focus on tailings dam risk within the more broadly defined factors of water and hazardous materials management (Display).

As this small snapshot of an ESG materiality matrix shows, these insights can be mapped very simply. But it’s the quality of the information behind it that gives the map its value: the understanding of how ESG factors can be financially material across investment sectors, industries and markets. By embedding such knowledge in their securities research and portfolio construction, investors, in our view, may significantly enhance the potential for outperformance.

The authors wish to thank Peter Højsteen-Ljungbeck for his contribution.

The views expressed herein do not constitute research, investment advice or trade recommendations and do not necessarily represent the views of all AB portfolio-management teams. Views are subject to revision over time.

MSCI makes no express or implied warranties or representations, and shall have no liability whatsoever with respect to any MSCI data contained herein.

The MSCI data may not be further redistributed or used as a basis for other indices or any securities or financial products. This report is not approved, reviewed or produced by MSCI.

Learn more about AB’s approach to responsibility here.

Patrick O’Connell, CFA| Director—Responsible Investing Portfolio Solutions and Research
John Huang, CFA| Director of Responsible Investments, Data and Technology—Responsibility
Erin Bigley, CFA| Chief Responsibility Officer

The materiality of ESG factors differs across sectors and markets. Investors need to understand how.

As environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors help contribute to—or detract from—security returns, it makes sense for active investors to integrate them into security selection. But there’s a wide disparity in the materiality of ESG factors across investment sectors and markets. In our view, understanding this dynamic is the key to successfully incorporating ESG risks and opportunities into portfolio construction.

For many investors, whether fixed income or equity, the process of integrating ESG factors into their strategies begins with correlating the relevance of each factor to individual industries. At a basic level this shows, for example, that greenhouse gas emissions are a particular risk for mining companies and electric utilities, while customer privacy is a key concern for the healthcare sector.

This is a good starting point but offers an incomplete perspective. We believe a much deeper dive is necessary to fully dimension the materiality of ESG factors for portfolio performance. Investors need to know how a particular factor may affect investment returns for a given sector or market.

Factors Can Have Wide or Narrow Impacts

Factor attribution using historical returns can reveal how ESG factors have contributed to investment returns in the past, whether for a sector or an entire investment universe, in equities or in bonds.

We’ve observed that some factors can be financially material for all companies in a market, regardless of sector. For example, we divided stocks in the MSCI All Country World Index into quintiles according to their total recordable incident rate (TRIR)—the number of workplace injuries or illnesses—then compared their returns relative to the parent index over 14 years. The results show that high TRIR consistently underperformed the market and that low TRIR consistently outperformed. 

Similarly, in the bond market, “social fines” is a powerful, index-wide factor. Social fines are regulatory penalties imposed for nonenvironmental reasons, such as workplace health and safety and anticompetitive practices.

Other ESG factors with broad relevance across investment sectors include CEOs’ length of tenure and employee turnover. For investors wishing to integrate ESG factors into their portfolios, it’s useful, in our view, to know which factors have index-wide applicability.

Factor attribution can also reveal which ESG factors are particularly relevant to a specific sector and which have historically shown no financial materiality.

Another advantage of factor attribution is that it can lead to observations that are unexpected and even counterintuitive. We found, for example, that companies with high ESG disclosures broadly performed better than those with low or no disclosures, regardless of whether their ESG practices were good, bad or indifferent. In the case of ESG metrics where there was no significant under- or overperformance relative to the market—CFO tenure and split roles for CEO and chair of the board—companies that disclosed data outperformed companies that didn’t disclose, on average.

Fundamental Research Enhances Insights from Factor Attribution

But factor attribution alone is not enough, in our view; it should complement fundamental research.

Understanding the effect of ESG factors on performance is most valuable in the context of broader research into how well a company is managed. For example, fundamental research can show that a high TRIR affects productivity directly, through lost working hours, and indirectly, by creating a culture in which workers are undermotivated because they don’t feel safe. Additionally, factor attribution works best with long data series, which are not always available, stressing the importance of fundamental research.

Another way fundamental research can help is in measuring ESG factors appropriately to a particular sector, instead of taking the generic approach typically used by many third-party ESG databases. This could mean, for example, measuring carbon emissions in terms of miles per gallon for automakers, per passenger mile for airliners and per ton of cement produced for building-material companies.

And it can tease out the nuances underlying many ESG factors. In the case of the mining sector, for example, fundamental research can focus on tailings dam risk within the more broadly defined factors of water and hazardous materials management (Display).

As this small snapshot of an ESG materiality matrix shows, these insights can be mapped very simply. But it’s the quality of the information behind it that gives the map its value: the understanding of how ESG factors can be financially material across investment sectors, industries and markets. By embedding such knowledge in their securities research and portfolio construction, investors, in our view, may significantly enhance the potential for outperformance.

The authors wish to thank Peter Højsteen-Ljungbeck for his contribution.

The views expressed herein do not constitute research, investment advice or trade recommendations and do not necessarily represent the views of all AB portfolio-management teams. Views are subject to revision over time.

MSCI makes no express or implied warranties or representations, and shall have no liability whatsoever with respect to any MSCI data contained herein.

The MSCI data may not be further redistributed or used as a basis for other indices or any securities or financial products. This report is not approved, reviewed or produced by MSCI.

Learn more about AB’s approach to responsibility here.

Launched in July of 2025, Caesarstone set out to redefine countertop surface sustainability. After years of R&D, Caesarstone successfully developed advanced fusion surfaces made with ~80% recycled materials, including high-quality post-industrial recycled glass. In addition, Caesarstone ICON is crystalline silica-free*.

The interior design industry has been eagerly awaiting surfaces that can effectively blend cutting-edge design with state-of-the-art sustainability. Since launching last summer, Caesarstone ICON has not only captured the imagination of designers, but has also caught the eye of several leading publications and trendsetting award platforms. 

Innovation has its rewards

In September, Home Builder Executive, a leading source of industry news and intelligence published by Executive Media Corporation, awarded Caesarstone ICON the Gold Innovation Award. This award recognizes ICON’s forward push in terms of design beauty and environmentally-friendly innovation. 

A month later, in October, Good Housekeeping published its 2026 Kitchen Award Winners. Testing every item, the Good Housekeeping team declared Caesarstone ICON an award winner in the Large Appliances & Surfaces Category. The award was based on lab results, and in terms of design, Good Housekeeping highlighted 8100 Calacatta Lacebound – a Caesarstone ICON surface that features a soft, ivory white aesthetic.  

German Design Award is a platform founded by the German Design Council in order to signal out products with impactful design. In this year’s competition, Caesarstone ICON was declared a winner for Excellent Product Design, in the Materials and Surfaces category. The jury, which is comprised of prominent industry figures, issued a statement that praised Caesarstone ICON’s expert material use, eco-awareness, and design drive. 

Last but not least: Kitchen & Bath Business (KBB), the official online publication of the National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA) and the Kitchen & Bath Industry Show (KBIS), published an annual readers’ choice awards. In 2025, Caesarstone was recognized in the kitchen countertop category, which focused on design aesthetics and stain & heat resistance.

The industry is taking notice

Caesarstone’s mission to create beautiful high-performing surfaces that prioritize sustainability was featured in a number of trade publications, including Design Vibes, Designers Today, and BUILDER magazine’s Product Pick of the Week.

In addition, Pro Remodeler praised Caesarstone ICON for surpassing rigorous industry tests and for its commitment to using recycled materials as part of its “Innovative Products: Caesarstone ICON” online feature. 

Stone World highlighted Caesarstone ICON in its “August Product Showcase: Trending Tile and Surface Materials,” noting it as a “perfect blend of beauty and sustainability,” being crystalline silica-free and composed of 80% recycled materials.*

Caesarstone ICON – surfaces for the people

Awards recognize excellence, but they also signify an important need. Caesarstone ICON is a prime example of innovation that operates like a two-sided coin: top-quality craftsmanship alongside a concern for our planet.  

As our advanced fusion surfaces continue to make industry headlines, we’re looking forward to warm words from the crowds that matter most: residential and commercial space owners. Caesarstone ICON’s global availability is increasing on a daily basis, and nothing beats a glowing review from people who come into contact with their beloved surfaces, every single day.  

_{*May contain traces of less than 1% crystalline silica.}

Join us at KBIS, the largest kitchen and bath design event in North America! We’ll be happy to meet you at booth W558.

KBIS will take place on February 17-19, Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, Florida.

Launched in July of 2025, Caesarstone set out to redefine countertop surface sustainability. After years of R&D, Caesarstone successfully developed advanced fusion surfaces made with ~80% recycled materials, including high-quality post-industrial recycled glass. In addition, Caesarstone ICON is crystalline silica-free*.

The interior design industry has been eagerly awaiting surfaces that can effectively blend cutting-edge design with state-of-the-art sustainability. Since launching last summer, Caesarstone ICON has not only captured the imagination of designers, but has also caught the eye of several leading publications and trendsetting award platforms. 

Innovation has its rewards

In September, Home Builder Executive, a leading source of industry news and intelligence published by Executive Media Corporation, awarded Caesarstone ICON the Gold Innovation Award. This award recognizes ICON’s forward push in terms of design beauty and environmentally-friendly innovation. 

A month later, in October, Good Housekeeping published its 2026 Kitchen Award Winners. Testing every item, the Good Housekeeping team declared Caesarstone ICON an award winner in the Large Appliances & Surfaces Category. The award was based on lab results, and in terms of design, Good Housekeeping highlighted 8100 Calacatta Lacebound – a Caesarstone ICON surface that features a soft, ivory white aesthetic.  

German Design Award is a platform founded by the German Design Council in order to signal out products with impactful design. In this year’s competition, Caesarstone ICON was declared a winner for Excellent Product Design, in the Materials and Surfaces category. The jury, which is comprised of prominent industry figures, issued a statement that praised Caesarstone ICON’s expert material use, eco-awareness, and design drive. 

Last but not least: Kitchen & Bath Business (KBB), the official online publication of the National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA) and the Kitchen & Bath Industry Show (KBIS), published an annual readers’ choice awards. In 2025, Caesarstone was recognized in the kitchen countertop category, which focused on design aesthetics and stain & heat resistance.

The industry is taking notice

Caesarstone’s mission to create beautiful high-performing surfaces that prioritize sustainability was featured in a number of trade publications, including Design Vibes, Designers Today, and BUILDER magazine’s Product Pick of the Week.

In addition, Pro Remodeler praised Caesarstone ICON for surpassing rigorous industry tests and for its commitment to using recycled materials as part of its “Innovative Products: Caesarstone ICON” online feature. 

Stone World highlighted Caesarstone ICON in its “August Product Showcase: Trending Tile and Surface Materials,” noting it as a “perfect blend of beauty and sustainability,” being crystalline silica-free and composed of 80% recycled materials.*

Caesarstone ICON – surfaces for the people

Awards recognize excellence, but they also signify an important need. Caesarstone ICON is a prime example of innovation that operates like a two-sided coin: top-quality craftsmanship alongside a concern for our planet.  

As our advanced fusion surfaces continue to make industry headlines, we’re looking forward to warm words from the crowds that matter most: residential and commercial space owners. Caesarstone ICON’s global availability is increasing on a daily basis, and nothing beats a glowing review from people who come into contact with their beloved surfaces, every single day.  

_{*May contain traces of less than 1% crystalline silica.}

Join us at KBIS, the largest kitchen and bath design event in North America! We’ll be happy to meet you at booth W558.

KBIS will take place on February 17-19, Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, Florida.