Schedule of Seminar 'Designing Investment Policy for ESG and Impact Investing'

Philip Ripman, Portfolio Manager, Storebrand

Philip Ripman will present a selection of investment themes connected to the Sustainable Development Goals, and highlighting Storebrands thinking on how companies with solutions to the Sustainable Development Goals, through their products and services, are well positioned to benefit from associated capital flows.

Dennis van der Putten, Director Sustainability & Strategy, ACTIAM

Currently most asset owners would like to be ESG proof. But does that mean the investment policy is then also future proof? What is the main driver and what is the real impact of your investment?

Adam Dmochowski, Investment Specialist for Fixed Income, Aberdeen Standard Investments

Integrating ESG factors alongside both fundamental and macro considerations will ultimately lead to better informed decisions in regards to the risks and opportunities companies may be facing. Through the use of ESG research these factors can influence analyst recommendations and portfolio construction decisions. External data providers such as MCSI and Sustainalytics provide a basis to capture how companies are managing ESG considerations, but what are the limitations to relying on this quantitative data? Adam will elaborate on the benefits of proprietary qualitative research and SRI company scoring. How are the ESG related data used and integrated in fixed income strategies? Adam will also shine a light on the variations in ESG analysis based on sectors and the implementation in emerging markets bonds strategies.

Annette van der Krogt, Head Responsible Investing, Achmea Investment Management

Over the last decade institutional investors have been implementing responsible investment policies. What are the drivers for investors to implement responsible investment policies and is there a shift in drivers due to upcoming legislative initiatives, stewardship codes, etc.? Active ownership, such as voting and engagement can be one of the relevant instruments to be used by institutional investors like pension funds. Achmea IM will share some insights on how active ownership instruments can be helpful in addressing new legislation and sector initiatives.

Mathilde Dufour, Co-Head of the Sustainable Investment Research Department, Mirova (a Natixis company)

The SDGs can be considered as a frame of reference on sustainable development issues, not only by states but also by companies and investors. For investors, the SDGs have the advantage of questioning the resilience of their assets to ongoing transformations. And they go even further by asking the question of the exposure of investments to the development of new solutions and new economic models to respond to these transformations. On energy, for example, the targets associated with the SDGs to significantly increase the share of renewable energy and to double energy efficiency by 2030 imply a profound transformation of the sector. As we considered this approach in line with the mission Mirova set upon its creation, we decided in 2016 to use this framework to define our approach to responsible investment. Using the work done by the Investment Leaders Group (under the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership) to which Mirova contributed, we developed both qualitative indicators as well as physical metrics (notably an innovative approach to measure carbon footprint) to measure our investments’ contribution to the achievement of SDGs.

Joshua Kendall, ESG Analyst, Insight Investment (a company of BNY Mellon)

More European investors are allocating towards positive impact strategies. This presentation will explain how impact investing can be applied to a mainstream credit portfolio and align with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The presentation focuses on:

• What is the purpose of impact investing?
• How to achieve impact in fixed income?
• What does impact look like in practice?

Paul Moghtader, Managing Director and Portfolio Manager/Analyst, Equity Advantage team, Lazard
Jennifer Anderson, Co-Head of Sustainable Investment and ESG, Lazard

Investing in emerging markets has wide appeal, but the volatility often associated with long-term returns can be less desirable. Lazard’s Equity Advantage team applies a systematic approach to investing in emerging markets equities that seeks to neutralise the impact of macro risk events to insulate investors against market turbulence, while focusing on bottom-up fundamental drivers, including the integration of ESG analysis, to deliver excess positive returns through successful stock pickingMore information coming soon.

Bertrand Lecourt, Portfolio Manager of the Fidelity Funds Sustainable Water & Waste fund, Fidelity

The story of water and waste is as old as civilisation itself, which continues to evolve. Primitive settlements have evolved into major towns and big cities, with the most successful ones demonstrating great water and sanitation systems. The theme is global, but impacts everyone at a local level. Population growth, environmental constraints, supportive regulation, urbanisation rate and global wealth creation are all working conjunctively in the themes’ favour. Companies involved in the water and waste value chains are at the centre of one of the major themes of life on earth. Yet these remain under-researched sectors, with few funds investing across both. Bertrand Lecourt, portfolio manager of the Fidelity Funds (FF) Sustainable Water & Waste Fund, believes that water and waste management related investments are driven by long-term mega trends and should potentially generate strong long-term investment returns. He employs a distinctive, replicable bottom-up investment process, focusing on quality and growth, with an overarching emphasis on sustainable investments. It is a research-driven approach involving fundamental research, leveraging on Fidelity’s proprietary research and additional market data.

Joop Hessels, Head of Green Bonds, ABN AMRO

The green bond market has grown fifteen fold since 2013 when the first corporates started to issue green bonds. in this session Joop Hessels will discuss the requirements, benefits, challenges and for issuers he experiences when advising clients to start issuing green bonds.

Theresa Boettger, Investment Specialist Equities and Sustainability, DWS

This presentation will cover the following topics:

• Listed solutions are more scalable and therefore have more impact
• Financial data of a company are just the peak of the iceberg, however non-financial data like ESG aspects reveal critical issues under the surface
• Availability, quality and the processing of sustainability data is a big challenge – how to create a consistent solution and prevent green washing
• Holistic ESG integration: combination of exclusion criteria, best-in-class approach and engagement
• Investment behaviour is more complex today: demand for positive contribution with financial investments, not just for return and classic ESG approach,
• ESG is here to stay: main drivers are institutional investors, society as well as regulatory landscape

Jake Otto, Investment Specialist, Investment Products and Strategies, Wellington Management

Beyond the green, blue and social labels, opportunities exist to create impact in public market fixed income investing. In this session, we will explore this growing space and show you how it can be used to align your asset allocation with your values and potentially deliver real environmental and social impact.

Amelia Tan, Specialist Sustainable Investing in EMEA, BlackRock

The transition to a low carbon economy is already underway and accelerating. We expect the transition to create winners and losers across companies and ultimately impact long-term investment performance. Investors have typically attempted to address the associated potential risks or opportunities by simply reducing carbon footprints or through niche allocations to carbon efficient technology but we believe investors can seek both enhanced long-term financial and environmental outcomes in their overall portfolios through transition readiness strategies. This is the topic we will explore during the break-out session.