Break out

Breakout sessions

1. Van 8:15 tot 8:45

   Breakfast Session: Energy transition, an opportunity as well as a necessity

   Door Matthew Michael, Product Director Emerging Market Debt and Commodities, Schroders

   The need to decarbonise is largely recognised as essential and the target of increasing renewable energy from 20% to 85% of the energy mix by 2050 is definitely achievable but requires significant investment. The energy transition investment opportunity is massive – US$120 trillion of investment in the energy transition is required by 2050 to meet globally agreed climate goals and growing consumer demand for clean technologies, creating strong real earnings growth opportunities for companies in this space. Now is a great time to invest in the energy transition – investors have not missed out on this opportunity yet and significant inflection points have been reached in the last two years.

2. Van 11:45 tot 12:45

   A. How to turn Climate Risk into Climate Opportunity?

   Door Matthew Smith, Head of Sustainable Investments, Storebrand Asset Management

   In his presentation, Matthew will review some of the key climate risks facing institutional investors today, and how these risk are likely to develop over the next decade. He will then look at how investors can mitigate these risks. Furthermore, Matthew will look at some of the most effective strategies to invest in energy transition and to gear portfolios to a low carbon economy.

3. Van 11:45 tot 12:45

   B. Energy: the Future is now - (when) can Transition turn into Disruption?

   Door Sebastiaan Masselink, Senior Investment Manager Impact Investing, Cardano Asset Management

   Masselink will focus on the following topics and questions in his presentation:

   • Energy transition drivers and disruption in the energy markets: assessing new technologies and the acceleration of energy savings;
   • Energy 2020: how will markets look and what are the consequences for investors?
   • Investments in new sustainable technologies: examining the next generation of high-efficiency renewable energy.

4. Van 11:45 tot 12:45

   C. Investing in the Energy Transition

   Door Stephen Freedman, Senior Product Specialist Thematic Equities Team, Pictet Asset Management

   The world is consuming more and more energy. Traditional energy supplies directly contribute to climate change and pollution. What’s more, reserves of these fuels are finite. There is a growing consensus about the collective need to act. Many governments, private companies and consumers are supporting the move towards low – or zero – carbon fuel. Energy efficiency, low-carbon energy and renewables have a vital role to play in helping the world move through its energy transition.

5. Van 11:45 tot 12:45

   D. Renewables are not enough: more Investment in Decarbonizing across Infrastructure Sectors is required to meet Paris Targets

   Door Heiko Schupp, Global Head of Infrastructure Investments, Columbia Threadneedle Investments

   Clean power generation has been at the centre of the debate on achieving the Paris climate targets and the efforts to limit global warming. There is increasing evidence that however successful, this alone will not be enough to meet climate targets.

   We believe that the next focus for reducing emissions needs to extend to the use of fossil fuels across all industry sectors, including transportation, heating, and buildings. These are not as easily decarbonised as power generation, but account for a significant contribution to the emissions from use of fossil fuels for energy and the overall human activities. As long term investors, we advocate the urgency of a sustainable approach to all infrastructure sectors.

   Now is the time for long term investors to take a progressive responsible investment approach to infrastructure and implement targeted decarbonisation plans and exposure to 'green' revenues as mitigation across all sectors.

6. Van 13:30 tot 14:30

   E. Active is: Impact Investing

   Door Martin Ewald, Managing Director, Allianz Global Investors

   The presentation will showcase the areas of additional data gathering for reporting purpose and corresponding additional informational flow for investors.

7. Van 13:30 tot 14:30

   F. Climate Change – How can Investors make a Difference?

   Door Harald Walkate, Founder

   Climate change is a hot, but often confusing, topic for investors. Concepts like carbon footprinting, coal divestment, scenario analysis, TCFD, Paris-aligned portfolios and low carbon investments are popular but few investors have a clear understanding of how they can be applied and what they can (and cannot) achieve.

8. Van 13:30 tot 14:30

   G. Integrating Climate Transition Risk into Investment Portfolios

   Door Michael Lewis, Head of ESG Thematic Research, DWS

   Climate change is a significant risk for investors. However, climate change also presents substantial investment opportunities across all sectors. Our Head of ESG Thematic research will identity how to capture opportunities and identify risks associated with a transition to a low carbon economy.

9. Van 13:30 tot 14:30

   H. Are oil and gas companies grossly overvalued in the face of the energy transition?

   Door Emma Mogford, Fund Manager

   In a world where income is scarce, can investors rely on the oil & gas sector?

   Valuing the impact of the energy transition on the oil and gas sector is deeply complex given the uncertainty of timing and scope of government policy change.  However, recent industry reports have started to shed more light on what limiting warming to less than 2oC would mean for the industry’s profitability.  The presentation will summarise a recent collaborative effort by sector analyst, ESG specialist and fund manager looking at the sustainability of dividends in the sector and what this means in practice for Newton’s income funds.  This is crucial, given the contribution of sustainable dividends to long term returns.

10. Van 14:45 tot 15:45

    I. Wells, Wires, and Wheels – EROCI and the Tough Road Ahead for Oil

    Door Mark Lewis, Chief Sustainability Strategist, BNP Paribas Asset Management

    The presentation will look at the different risks that climate change poses to investors – physical risk, liability risk, and above all transition risk – with an in-depth consideration of the energy sector. There will be two case studies:

    1. The German Utilities over 2005-2018
    2. The Oil & Gas sector and the challenges it faces.

    The presentation will draw on BNP Paribas Asset Management’s recent report, 'Wells, Wheels, and Wires: EROCI and the Tough Road Ahead for Oil'.

11. Van 14:45 tot 15:45

    J. Meaningful Investing in Sustainable Real Estate

    Door Onno Hoff, Director Fundmanagement, Syntrus Achmea Real Estate & Finance

    Real estate has a significant impact on the worldwide carbon footprint. By investing in sustainable real estate investors can really have a contribution in the reduction of CO2.

    The ESG-strategy of Syntrus Achmea Real Estate & Finance focuses on meaningful goals which are based on the SDG’s of the UN.

    In his presentation Onno Hoff will give you clear examples on sustainable investing and the impact on asset returns. It provides you with better insights for data-driven ESG-solutions.

12. Van 14:45 tot 15:45

    K. Avoiding the Tragedy of the Horizon: Portfolio Design for Climate-Related Risk Management and the Low-Carbon Energy Transition

    Door Todd Bridges, ESG Research and Strategy Development, Vice President on the Global Equity Beta Solutions Team, State Street Global Advisors

    Climate change will expose people, societies, and economies to tremendous risks. The scientific observational data has shown that the warming of the climate system is unequivocal and that the observed changes over the last century are unprecedented in human history. These changes are impacting weather events but also cascading from intermediate systems, to economic systems, and to global corporations. We attempt to demonstrate how investors at the portfolio-level can address these systemic climate-related risks with pragmatic tools from investment management. Beyond climate-related risks, we also link the observed changes in the global energy system to climate-related opportunities. We describe a framework for investors to design portfolios to manage climate-related risks and benefit from the low-carbon energy transition. We demonstrate three general portfolio-level approaches investors can use to divest, mitigate, and adapt to climate change.

13. Van 14:45 tot 15:45

    L. Case Studies on Energy Transition Winners

    Door Oskar Tijs, Senior Investment Analyst Sustainable & Impact Equities, NN Investment Partners

    While renewables like wind and solar continue to offer attractive growth, as they increasingly replace fossil fuels, just a few companies are able to grow in these markets with a consistent high return on capital. The Sustainable and Impact Equity team of NN Investment Partners runs concentrated portfolios with high conviction ideas. Oskar Tijs will present some case studies on companies which are well positioned for the Energy Transition and have an economic moat that enables them to deliver both growth and value creation.