Environmental, social and governance (ESG) investment is when a person decides with whom they should invest with beyond monetary benefits, mainly based upon social, environmental and ethical reasons. There are two different types of ESG investors; active and passive.

An active ESG investor is somebody who still keeps their profit in mind. While they will bear in mind the environmental, social and ethical values of a company they decide to invest in, their top priority is the profit they can make. An active manager would be somebody looking for a financially beneficial reason to integrate ESG factors into their business. An example of this would be a company switching to wind power to provide electricity for them because their consumer base was demanding a greener process, and so therefore to appeal to more like minded customers the company decides that the best way to expand on their business is to integrate a more environmentally operation.

Passive ESG investment is when an investor is not so interested by the profit they will make from an investment, but rather the ethical contribution it will make towards their portfolio. An example of this would be choosing one company over another to invest in as, although their projected growth was lower, the chosen company invests a large portion of money in environmental protection programmes that align with the investors values and so therefore strengthens their portfolio by non-profit means and towards an ethical goal.

To analyse a passive investors portfolio, first you must decide which values you wish to emphasise with. While some people choose to measure ESG using a point scoring system, the reality of it is much more fluid as it is based on consumers and investors opinions and beliefs over something as black and white as a fact. Basically, what is important to one person could be insignificant to somebody else.

As well as deciding which factors are deemed significant enough, investors have to decide the best ways to measure them. This can vary drastically on the investors beliefs and values and overall understanding of what they consider important.

One of the most common factors considered when making investments is fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas pollution. The general consensus is that we are running out of fossil fuels, so investing in green renewable energy is a long term solution for when these limited supplies are exhausted. Risky investments are not considered stable for long term investors.

When creating a passive investment portfolio it is also worth considering which industry sectors most align with your values. Energy companies tend to have low ESG scores, however industries such as technology tend to be much more favourable due to the nature of the underlying business models.

As the world develops and changes and consumers and investors wish to be better informed of the nature of a company and their values and beliefs, access to this information is becoming more accessible, and it is becoming more possible to refine your portfolio to something which goes far beyond merely producing a profit; you can produce a statement with where you decide to place your money.

Product placement is when a company uses subtlety to promote their product through non traditional advertising. This is usually achieved by paying for their product to be featured in television shows or other forms of media. With the decreasing interest in standard advertisements and the increase in users ability to skip them, product placement and insertion have been becoming more popular. Technically speaking, we are exposed to thousands of advertising messages every single day.

To show just how effective it can be, after featuring in the film E.T, the sale of Reese's Pieces increased by 65%. If we identify with a particular character, we can implicitly prefer a product even if externally we prefer something else as we feel it is a way to interact with that character's life.

Product placement is a very powerful form of advertising because we follow and watch our idols religiously, and if a company can identify a particular fan base as their target market, for them to see somebody they look up to with a particular brand associated with them makes that entire audience want your product. They are emotionally invested in the character or actor, and as a result, product placement is often a lot more effective than traditional advertising. Around 75% of all network shows feature product placement of some sort, accumulating to 71.4% of all paid placements in the media.

Products even have an influence off the screen. If you provide a cell phone for an actor, while it may only appear on the screen for a short moment, they could be seen using it off the set, or in their trailer, and this also influences potential consumers but in a much more subtle way that you may not be able to measure so accurately.

It's not just television and movies - companies also pay popular individuals or influencers on websites such as

Instagram

to wear their brand or to use their products. Companies either pay the individual to associate with the brand, or they will send them products for free so that they can wear them publicly and in their photos on social media platforms. Website advertising used to cover all of this till advertisers dreamed up the idea of programmatic ads which basically meant the publishers would end up getting lower and lower revenue and profits, forcing many out of business. Now many online advertisers are wondering where the online volume is but they effectively brought down their own industry. Who's left, well the big duopoly of Facebook and Google because they have a closed walled garden community which advertisers can reach. Sure there are still some big publishers left like The New York Times and The Guardian who've gone for subscription revenue models but digital publishing has been pounded badly since 2018.

To convince media firms and people to insert your product into theirs, there are a number of things you can do to help. Firstly, be flexible. If you can adapt your product to fit their needs in colour, shape and size, they're more likely to want to put it in their media. You have to be willing to provide your product instantly as media companies tend to work on tight deadlines, and if you are aiming for a television market, it pays to provide replacements as well. You have to be professional and polite with the people you are working with, and with a bit of luck and enthusiasm, they may well come back for more.

It's a long term investment with most companies seeing an effect between a month and a year after the product has been aired. While the profit to losses ratio is rather persuasive, you have to understand that the benefit is not instant.

As the world we live in constantly develops and changes, some industries are emerging as more essential to the current consumer market. Here are a few industries that seem to be on the rise.

Electronics - The demand for electronics is constantly increasing as more people rely on smart phones and computers to navigate through their lives. Entire corporations rely on functioning technology and so the market for creating and developing electronic hardware and software will always be big. There is a real shortage in people with the brains to develop software and there is a lot of money in making the next big advancement in technology.

Translation and interpretation - As business becomes more international and more people are travelling and living abroad, the need for translators and multi-lingual minds is on the rise. Over the next five years, there is a predicted 28% increase in jobs in the US in this particular field. The highest language in demand in the US is Spanish.

Internet publishing and broadcasting - almost everybody in the developed world relies on the internet in one way or another, and the need for content for business and entertainment will only increase as the number of people using the internet increases and the amount of time spent on the internet also rises.

Health - the health industry seems to growing in size across all sectors, including the nurses who take care of retired people, the offices associated with health services, home health care services, psychiatric care and support, even ambulance drivers, as well as the demand for doctors and nurses in hospitals.

Financial investment - there has been a positive trend in the amount of financial investment activity occurring. This means there are more jobs and opportunities in the stock market as well as associated businesses, for example, financial advisors.

Marketing consulting - it seems we need more experts in the field of marketing as businesses strive to make an image for themselves and to advertise effectively. This industry has a predicted 20% increase over the next five years.

Environment, conservation and wildlife - businesses have seen a trend in ethical investment over the last few years and the demand for ESG consideration has increased. As a result, there is also more demand for people who work with the environment and more jobs in conservation and protection. In the last decade there has also been an increasing trend in people studying subjects such as Environmental Economics and Environmental Sciences as the consumer market becomes more aware of some of the threats to the ecosystems we rely on to survive. There is a predicted 19% increase over the next five years in this industry.

A few industries are seeing a decline in growth, mostly the manufacturing of glass and metals and therefore metal ore mining also, pesticide, fertiliser and agricultural chemical manufacturing, US computer manufacturing as, despite growing demands, more companies move to Asia for cheaper labour and quicker technology advancements, the postal service and the manufacturing of communication in the US, as this can also be made for cheaper abroad.

It has been predicted that in the next 30 years, many roles in the work force will be replaceable by automated devices. As the world of technology is evolving, our dependency on human actions is decreasing.

Moley Robotics has invented a completely automated intelligent robot that has the ability to cook and prepare meals as well as clean up after itself. This particular device can be replicate precise recipes preloaded into its internal memory from everything between a fast food hamburger and a gourmet dish.

Robots have been used in surgery since 2000, albeit still operated by a human. The benefit here is that they are extra precise and accurate providing the human operating the machine is precise and accurate.

Soon, in Japan, the world's first automated farming system will launch. The robots will be able to grow, water, and farm the crops. The only thing they won't be able to do is to sew the seeds. In fact robots are replacing humans everywhere, from delivery drivers to pharmacists, from telemarketing to construction. The obvious benefit is saving money on paying staff wages, and although the initial setup is currently very expensive, this is likely to decrease over time, and soon many more companies will be able to afford the long time investment.

Also, with the aim of a larger profit, machines will be able to work quicker than humans; mass production is something that can be programmed. If a machine can also self replicate, then it becomes a catalyst to its own process.

Robots, unless programmed to do so, will not have feelings and social problems which could potentially slow down or effect their work in a negative way. They also don't need to be paid wages or have staff benefits, or even have lunch as they are purely machines. Robots are able to work in space, and underwater, and in very hot and very cold climates where humans cannot without very expensive equipment.

Machines are much more accurate and consistent. Once a machine is mass producing it should, in theory, produce exactly the same product over and over again, whereas a human has a higher chance of error and a lack of consistency. Machines can create anything on any scale; from buildings to microscopic devices. They will eventually only be confined by the laws of physics.

The major disadvantage is the lack of emotion when dealing with customers. People have developed the expectation to be greeted warmly when they enter a hotel by a receptionist, or to talk to somebody over the phone who understands on the same scale that they do. Also, as the popularity of robots increases, alongside the growing world population, unemployment is likely to become a larger issue when automated machinery takes over. Ironically, the demand jobs developing robots and automated devices is likely to increase as companies will look to automation as a way of saving money, and until a robot can think for itself, it will not be able to develop new ideas.

Machines are not learning devices, they are only capable to doing what they are programmed to do. This means that a machine will not improve over time unless somebody has programmed an improvement. Robots are also very expensive to set up, to maintain, and to repair. Setting up an automated production line has to be seen as an investment rather than an immediate saving.