TOKYO -- Companies are having to reckon how they stack up against an increasingly popular benchmark for investment: the environmental, social and governance criteria now applied to nearly 30% of global assets under management.
ESG focus brings gains for Japanese names that make the grade -- and confusion for some that don't

A man looks up at an electronic ticker board in Tokyo on Monday.
TOKYO -- Companies are having to reckon how they stack up against an increasingly popular benchmark for investment: the environmental, social and governance criteria now applied to nearly 30% of global assets under management.