Glencore chief executive Gary Nagle struck out at European investors for placing ESG above financial returns, as he defended a proposal by the London-listed miner to list a spin-off of its coal business in New York.
New York was an attractive place to be listed compared with London because American investors were “more pragmatic”, Nagle said.
“In Europe, investors seem a little bit more focused on ESG [environmental, social and governance concerns], and it seems to be the ESG desk that makes more decisions — and returns are sometimes put second or third in the list. That’s a concern for us,” said Nagle, speaking at the Melbourne Mining Dinner in London on Thursday.