Risk is beginning to be analyzed a little differently in commercial real estate. Investors taking a stake in commercial mortgage-backed securities or commercial properties are no longer just interested in simple loan-to-value ratios and net operating incomes when attempting to spot underlying risks. They are now spending more time studying the potential impacts from environmental, social and governance criteria, otherwise known as the ESG investment factors, on buildings. This is being codified by rating agencies and data firms that are now looking at a building's net carbon emissions, healthy air components, long-term sustainability and the ethical framework governing stakeholders tied to each and every building transaction before issuing a final rating for investors on CMBS deals or other commercial transactions. 
"For sure, in our corporate clients who are buying and selling and managing commercial assets, those [ESG] elements of diversity, human rights, consumer protection, the structure of management and who's on your board ... those kind of things are a bigger deal than I would have ever thought," said Anthony Romano,…  Read the full story here. | 
