Further to our recent report: "Investors Weigh in on Companies' COVID-19 Response" - which covered the results of Boston Consulting Group's (BCG) first institutional investor pulse survey (March 22), BCG's third pulse survey on COVID-19 matters conducted April 17 - 19 reveals graphically (p. 8) key takeaways about how institutional investor views on (otherwise financially healthy) company board and management actions and decision-making are evolving over the course of the pandemic:
Not surprisingly, most investors think companies should prioritize building key business capabilities, preserving liquidity, providing or revising guidance, and quickly accessing all available sources of debt financing. Comparatively, the survey revealed less than majority and declining support for companies fully pursuing their ESG agenda and priorities, prioritizing maintenance of margin levels, and maintaining dividends/share.
As has been the case in prior BC pulse surveys in this series, respondents represented investment firm portfolio managers and senior analysts directly responsible for making buy, sell, and hold decisions with more than $4 trillion AUM covering a range of investing approaches including deep value, income, growth at a reasonable price, and core growth; they also include some quantitative, technical, and special situation investors. Across all three surveys in the series to date, there is a 79% overlap in respondents.
See also BCG's "COVID-19 Investor Pulse Check #2." This post first appeared in the weekly Society Alert!