Name: SME Guidebook to Sustainable Transformation
Start: 2022-07-06T15:00:00Z
End: 2022-07-06T15:01:00.000Z
Location: BrightTALK
Rating: 4

With investors across the globe becoming increasingly concerned by the impact of their investment decisions, momentum behind ESG is growing by the second and ESG funds are more lucrative than ever. Bloomberg predicts that by 2025, over ESG assets will hit $53 trillion - representing a third of global AUM. However, investors remain concerned over the quality and fragmentation of ESG data, and in the absence of any standardised assessment criteria, developing a sound ESG investment strategy is no easy feat. 

In this BrightTALK Originals series, we invite experts from across the global wealth space to share their insights on the future of impact investing and present practical, tried-and-tested strategies to help you build a robust ESG investment strategy.

If there’s a space for the next round of unicorn companies, it’s more than likely to be in the climate technology sector. The rapid rise of electric vehicle companies, plant-based meat, and renewable energy indicate that the era of climate unicorns might have already begun. 

Investors with an interest in the principles of ESG and an eye to the future are well positioned to be at the forefront of this seismic shift in the way we move, eat, and produce energy. But is this climate based boom another dot-com bubble, or something more sustainable? 

In Episode 14 of the ESG Innovation Hub, we’ll dive deep into the ‘E’ of ESG, and the rewards and pitfalls of climate technology investing as the sector moves toward a possible unicorn era. 

Join the session to explore

-The history of ESG-based investment in climate technology
-The current landscape of climate technology unicorns
-How investors can evaluate potential green unicorns
-What red flags to look out for when making climate technology investments
-And more

Climate Technology Unicorns - Fairytale or Future?

In May of this year, the US Securities and Exchange Commission levied a fine for the first time against a company for misrepresenting ESG principles for mutual funds it manages. As fund managers continue to leverage ESG factors to assess investment opportunities, concerns over greenwashing in corporate disclosures will continue to grow. 

For fund managers, it’s never been more important to proactively evaluate the authenticity of the ESG claims of each investment opportunity. As we transition to a green economy, funds will require managers to take an active role in keeping each organisation to account for achieving their impact objectives. 

In Episode 17 of the ESG Innovation Hub, we’re exploring how funds are changing with the rise of ESG and discussing policies and best practices that fund managers can implement to mitigate against the risk of greenwashing.  

Join the session to explore

From Profit to Impact: How ESG is shifting the role of the fund manager
ESG Fund Management 101: How to evaluate the ESG profile of investment opportunities
Strategies and Best Practices: Overcoming the risks of greenwashing in funds

How ESG is Impacting the Role of Fund Managers

Despite global poverty falling in recent decades, almost 2 billion people around the world remain unbanked, uninsured or without assets or savings. During the Covid-19 pandemic, those without access to formal financial services suffered most. As governments across the world rebuild their economies and drive the transition to a green global economy, financial inclusion represents a major opportunity for professional investors looking to do good. 

In Episode 11 of The ESG Innovation Hub, we’re joined by leaders from across the global finance space to discuss the role of ESG in driving financial inclusion and to share their insights on how to design portfolios that work to tackle economic inequality. 

Topics for discussion include: 

- Understanding financial inclusion and why it matters 
- Tried-and-tested approaches to investing in financial inclusion
- Designing a financial inclusion-focused portfolio 
- Measuring Equity, Diversity and Inclusion to determine corporate social impact
- The Gig Economy: opportunities and challenges for Impact Investors
- And more...

Speakers for the Episode are: 
-Delilah Rothenberg, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Predistribution Initiative
-Teboho Makhabane, ESG and Impact Implementation Specialist, Sanlam Investments

Financial Inclusion - Tackling Economic Inequality with ESG

The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the significance of global supply chains in delivering economic, human, and societal value. With almost 80% of trade passing through supply chains, the majority of companies’ operations are held up by external workers, information and resources. 

Supply chains raise a number of ESG risks - from environmental pollution, to shortages of raw material and natural resources, workforce health and safety incidents and more. However, most ratings agencies fail to measure companies’ ESG performance through the lens of their global supply chains. 

In Episode 14 of the ESG Innovation Hub, hear from ESG leaders about the role of finance in transforming supply chain management across industries and learn how to manage supply chain risks in your portfolio. 

Join this session to explore:

- The importance of incorporating supply chains into ESG valuations
- Understand how supply chain risks differ according to sector
- Factors to consider when evaluating companies’ supply chains 
- Engagement strategies: understand and mitigate ESG risks in portfolio companies’ supply chains
- How to educate investee companies on ESG supply chain best practices
- And more

Speakers for this episode are:
-Melanie Larkins, Accenture
-Simon Colton, SGS Solutions
-Tara Holeman, Ethos Matters

And our host, Georgina Mitchell of WellHouse Consulting.

Assessing Supply Chains and ESG Risk

The UN’s NDC Synthesis Report indicates that to combat climate change, global emissions need to decrease by at least 45% by 2030, and reach Net Zero in just 30 years. In the absence of clear guidance on how to reach these objectives, ESG and sustainability-linked bonds represent the capital markets’ attempt to drive Labelled bonds promoting sustainability and ESG performance are quickly becoming a fundamental part of financial markets, highlighting the valuable role that debt markets can play in the transition to a green economy.  

In Episode 12 of The ESG Innovation Hub, we’re joined by leaders from across the global capital market space to discuss how the sustainable bonds market is financing the transition to a green economy, and share their insight on how capital markets are financing decarbonisation using green and sustainability-linked bonds. 

Join the session to explore: 

- ESG trends in high-yield and convertible bond markets
- How are bonds financing the green transition? 
- ESG-labelled bonds: where’s the upside and risk?
- How to source the best talent to maintain quality assurance in the labelled bond market
- And more...

Speakers:
- Krista Tukiainen, Head of Market Intelligence, Climate Bonds Initiative
- Tommaso Buso, Analyst, Bankers without Boundaries
- Abdeldjellil Bouzidi, Managing Partner, Emena Advisory

ESG Innovation Hub is hosted by Georgina Mitchell, Consultant, WellHouse Consulting

Industry Outlook: Sustainability-Linked Bonds

Tackling the climate crisis requires concerted action from governments and the private sector alike. In November 2021, the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero announced it has $130 trillion in commitments to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050. While this  undoubtedly represents good progress, wealth and asset managers forming part of the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative are grappling with the challenge of figuring out how to go about reaching their goal of $57 trillion. 

In Episode 10 of The ESG Innovation hub, you’ll hear from leaders from across the ESG investing space on how they are transforming their investment strategies to drive sustainable growth and get best practices to bolster your portfolio and allow investors to meet their sustainability goals. 

Join the discussion to explore:

- Reconstructing ESG: why the roadmap to Net Zero needs to include social and governance factors
- Cutting through the noise: get the most from ESG ratings
- Avoid greenwashing: how to manage the risks of climate change
- The role of private finance in paving the way to Net Zero
- And more...

Speakers:
- Eva Cairns, Head of Sustainability Insights & Climate Strategy, abrdn
- Hortense Bioy, Global Director of Sustainability Research, Morningstar 

The ESG Innovation Hub is hosted by Georgina Mitchell, Consultant, WellHouse Consulting

Sustainable Investing: Update on Net Zero

According to the Global Sustainable Investment Alliance, between 2016 and 2020, global investment in sustainable assets rose from $22.8tn to $35.3tn. Despite this trend, a recent study by French business school Edhec found that passive exchange-traded funds tracking low carbon, climate change or Paris-aligned indices are often allocating disproportionately in favour of companies with poor environmental performance. Unless the industry takes a more active approach to fund management, it risks hindering the growth of ESG and the shift towards a truly Net Zero economy. 

As the ESG movement continues to develop and the sector’s digital footprint grows, financial professionals are increasingly in the position to design impact-driven funds that align with investors’ convictions and satisfy their financial goals. However, without clear guidelines, benchmarks or industry standards to follow, fund managers must be proactive in their approach, to drive the way to a more sustainable economy. 

In Episode 9 of The ESG Innovation Hub, we’re taking a deep-dive into the world of impact funds and exploring the evolving role of fund managers in the age of impact investing. 

Discussion topics include:

- Towards a Net Zero economy: why fund managers need to rethink business performance 
- Harnessing the power of big data and analytics to create impact-driven funds
- The portfolio manager’s guide to investing in impact funds

Speakers:
- Gunter Greiner, Head of Investments, WIWIN Green Impact Fund
- Jean-Charles Prabonneau, Product Research & Innovation Manager - Climate, Clarity.AI

The ESG Innovation Hub is hosted by Georgina Mitchell, Consultant, WellHouse Consulting.

Impact Funds

Shareholder profitability is no longer the only measure used to determine corporate success. Investors and other stakeholders are broadening their understanding of how companies can create value, looking to ESG performance as an additional layer to understand long-term risk adjusted returns. For business leaders, adapting to this new way of understanding corporate performance is no easy feat. 

To thrive, leaders need to get under the hood of their business, capturing key data to measure their ESG performance and identify areas with room for improvement. 

In Episode 8 of The ESG Innovation Hub, we’re joined by PwC who will be exploring how the ESG movement is impacting how we understand business performance and sharing industry-leading practices to confirm your ESG data is ‘investor grade.’

Join the session to explore:

- Rethinking business performance: how to think about success in the context of ESG
- How to best tell your ESG story with authenticity and credibility
- Automated reporting: how innovations in tech are shaping the future of ESG

Speakers:
- Sara DeSmith, ESG Partner, PwC
- Jessica Dow, ESG Director, PwC

The ESG Innovation Hub is hosted by Georgina Mitchell, Consultant, WellHouse Consulting.

The ESG Mindset Shift

As the rise of ESG gains momentum, shaping the future of society for the better, the number of assets allocated to exchange-traded funds (ETFs) is also on the rise. Between 2019 and 2020, inflows into the European ETF market grew by a huge €25bn, with AUM growth at 135%. 

On our first episode of 2022, we’re taking a deep-dive into the ESG ETF market and exploring the best portfolio management strategies to succeed in the year ahead. 

Join this session to explore:
- ESG performance: a fundamental asset allocation tool?
- Top performing ESG ETFs of 2020 and new ETFs to look out for in the year ahead
- Voting on shareholder resolutions to drive tangible change
- And more

Speakers:
- Dirk Soehnholz, CEO, Soehnholz ESG GmbH
- Nerina Visser, Director - ETF Strategist and Advisor, etfSA Portfolio Management Company

The ESG Innovation Hub is hosted by Georgina Mitchell, Consultant, WellHouse Consulting

Construct a multi-asset portfolio strategy with ESG ETFs

In the ESG economy, the impact of both financial and non-financial business decisions can have a far-reaching effect on investment returns. This can be problematic for advisors, as a much broader set of factors must be taken into account when assessing an investment decision.  When analysing a company’s ESG score, it can be difficult to know how to approach moral conflicts and grey areas. 

A good example of this kind of moral conflict is that of cryptocurrency. While proponents believe that crypto has the potential to level the economic playing field on a global scale, cryptocurrencies present a dilemma from an ESG perspective because of the negative environmental impact of crypto mining. To drive the uptake of ESG, financial professionals need to develop a consistent approach to dealing with moral conflicts that arise when assessing corporate performance.  

Which is why, in Episode 6 of the ESG Innovation Hub, we’ll be joined by speakers from across the financial industry, who’ll be sharing their insights into the moral grey areas in ESG and offering a comprehensive blueprint for mitigating any potential risk. 

We’ll be discussing: 
- The grey areas of ESG and the importance of knowing where they arise 
- Mitigate risk by engaging investors with comprehensive and objective reports that approach moral conflicts head-on 
- Future-proof your investment approach with a concrete strategy for overcoming ESG conflicts 
- And more

Confirmed speakers:
- Evan Vahouny, Chief Impact Officer, Proof of Impact
- Maria Drew, Director of Research for Responsible Investing, T. Rowe Price
- James Kinsbrook, Head of ESG, Thomas Lloyd

The ESG Innovation Hub is hosted by Georgina Mitchell, Consultant, WellHouse Consulting.

Overcoming conflicts in ESG

Over the past two years, with the unprecedented chaos caused by the global health crisis, focus on sustainability and ethical issues has continued to sharpen - resulting in a huge uptake of ESG investing opportunities. As interest for ESG investment solutions grows among investors, the financial industry needs to establish ways of measuring impact. 

Current measurement processes are typically inconsistent and lack any link to tangible outcomes. Because of the breadth of issues packed into the ESG acronym, and since stakeholders often have different priorities when it comes to a company’s overall ESG package, measuring a company’s ESG impact is no easy feat. 

In Episode 5 of ESG Innovation Hub, we’re exploring impact measurement strategies and discussing the challenges that arise when evaluating ESG performance for investors. 

Topics for discussion include:
- How can we measure the long-term impact of an investment solution?
- Managing conflicting priorities: which stakeholder’s needs should be prioritised when evaluating ESG ratings?
- Best practices for delivering consistent, reliable ESG reports - is ESG intelligence the answer?

Confirmed speakers:
- Abraham Lioui, Professor of Finance, EDHEC Business School
- Tom Adams, Co-Founder, 60 Decibels

The ESG Innovation Hub is hosted by Georgina Mitchell, Consultant, WelllHouse Consulting

Measuring Impact

Interest in how the private sector approaches ESG issues is growing, with customers and shareholders craving  transparency on the impact of business on society, and calling for more tangible actions to drive positive corporate impact. The rise of ESG investing over the past decade has effected real progress in improving our understanding of the impact of commerce on the environment, and governance standards have been developed to ensure those standards are met equitably. 

Progress is fragmented across the three factors of ESG and social factors are lagging behind, as their qualitative nature makes them more difficult for analysts to define and quantify. Despite growing interest in the s' of ESG, the lack of any common standards or benchmarks for evaluating social factors makes them harder for investors to assess. 

The global pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement have made people wake up to the urgent need for positive social change. Which is why, on Episode 4 of the ESG Innovation Hub, we're taking a deep dive into the social element of ESG investing and asking - what is needed to mainstream social factor investing? 

Join this episode to explore:

- Harmonisation, transparency and cohesion: how can we agree on social principles, metrics and financial standards?
- Active vs. passive investing: harnessing investments to affect real change in business
- Bridging the gap between investors' expectations and investments' material impact 
- And more

Confirmed speakers:
- Kristina Touzenis, Managing Partner, BST-Impact 
- Steve Cheng, Independent Consultant

This series is hosted by Georgina Mitchell, Consultant, WellHouse Consulting

Social factor investing: mainstreaming the 'S' of ESG

Achieving net-zero by 2050 is a mammoth task that requires cross-industry collaboration and support. Financial institutions are at the epicenter of this green revolution, tasked with the role of setting the pace and shape of our transition to net zero. For independent advisors and wealth managers, the shift to net-zero represents a huge opportunity. But it does not come without its risks. 

The first major challenge for advisors is in creating an effective assessment criteria, which ensures they are not greenwashing (marketing opportunities as sustainable when they are not.) Additionally, advisors need to understand how to offer clients better a stronger risk-return balance by diversifying. Doing this without impacting the overall sustainability of the portfolio can be tricky. 

In the third episode of BrightTALK’s Original Series, “ESG Innovation Hub” we’ll be inviting the brains behind some of this year’s most successful ESG portfolios to explore the future of sustainable investing and to present you with an action plan to constructing a sustainable and diversified net-zero investment portfolio. 

Register for this webinar to discover: 

- How investment trends are shifting in response to the net-zero transition
- The diversification vs. sustainability puzzle: how to offer ESG investors better risk/returns
- Avoid greenwashing: how to develop a future-proof sustainability assessment criteria
- And more

Interview with Chris Iggo, (Chief Investment Officer - Core Investments, AXA Investment Managers)

This series is hosted by Georgina Mitchell, Consultant, WellHouse Consulting.

Build a sustainable, diversified net-zero investment portfolio

A recent study by OnePlanetCapital found that almost a tenth of investors currently hold ESG investments, and the number is expected to double this year alone. As society becomes increasingly concerned by questions of sustainability and equity, investors want to be able to make investment decisions that reflect their convictions and support causes they care about. 

However, in the absence of any widespread benchmarks or definitions, wealth advisors need to drive communications with investors, delivering education and data to ensure transparency and build trust.

Join the second episode of BrightTALK’s Original Series, “ESG Innovation Hub” to hear from industry experts about their experiences engaging investors with ESG, and get to grips with the latest investor education strategies.

Join the webinar to:
- Bridging the knowledge gap: the case for investing in education
- Identify your investors’ expectations and deliver value by offering investment opportunities that address their needs
- Master ESG data reporting and disclosures to ensure investors understand what they’re investing in

Speakers:
- Brunno Maradei, Global Head of Responsible Investment, Aegon Asset Management
- Mikkel Bates, Regulatory Manager, FEFundinfo
- Michael Young, Manager of Education Programs, USSIF

Hosted by Georgina Mitchell, Consultant, WellHouse Consulting

Educate investors about ESG

Environmental, societal and governance factors demonstrated their importance as drivers of value last year, as businesses with higher ESG ratings outperformed others in the aftermath of the Covid-19 crisis. At the same time, investor sentiment is evolving - as society becomes more concerned about the environment and social equity, demand for investment products that reflect the investor’s own convictions has skyrocketed. 

For wealth managers and financial advisors, there are various approaches that can be taken to capitalise on growing demand for ESG investing options. The challenge is in understanding the nuanced differences between these approaches and anticipating which strategy will best align with investors’ needs. 

In the first episode of BrightTALK’s new original series, “ESG Innovation Hub,” we’re inviting leaders from across the global wealth industry to share their insights on the business case for ESG and to present a roadmap to help you integrate impact into your investment strategy. 

Join this session to explore: 

- Assessing assets - what qualifies as ESG?
- How to apply sustainable investing practices across the investment process and company operations
- Differences between qualitative vs. quantitative analysis techniques
- How to develop successful integration frameworks for ESG

Speaker:
- James Alexander, Chief Executive, UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association

Hosted by Georgina Mitchell, Consultant, WellHouse Consulting

Integrate impact into your investment strategy

Small-and-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) represent 90% of the business population in developed countries, according to the World Trade Organisation. As governments and consumers increase pressure on businesses to reduce their carbon footprints, SMEs are struggling to keep up. While many business leaders are convinced by the need to green their businesses, for many, the complex nature of ESG makes it hard to know where to start. 

Which is why, in Episode 13 of The ESG Innovation Hub, we’re inviting leaders from across the ESG space to share practical strategies that SME leaders can implement to drive sustainable transformation in their businesses. 

Topics for discussion include:

- Understand the drivers behind the ESG movement and how they impact SMEs
- Costs, risks and benefits of integrating ESG into the SME business plan
- Blockers to sustainable transformation and how to overcome them
- How to get started with sustainable transformation
- Partnership best practices: how to think about collaboration and source sustainable partnership opportunities
- How to develop a culture of sustainable change across the company
- And more…

Speakers: 
Luiz Gabriel Todt de Azevedo, ESG Division Chief at IDB Invest
Marie-Josée Privyk, Chief ESG Innovation Officer at Novisto
Reinhilde Weidacher, Global Head of ESG Data Strategy at ISS ESG 

ESG Innovation Hub is hosted by Georgina Mitchell, Consultant, WellHouse Consulting

SME Guidebook to Sustainable Transformation

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