Episodes
-
In this episode of the Sustainability Story podcast, host Nicole Gehrig welcomes Dr. Carmen Nuzzo, executive director of the Transition Pathway Initiative Centre (TPI Centre) at the London School of Economics and Political Science. The conversation centers around the TPI Centre's mission as the academic partner of the global investor initiative, highlighting the TPI tools, which provide independent, authoritative research and open-access data on corporate, bank, and sovereign entities’ progress in transitioning to a low-carbon economy. Carmen explains how investors can leverage these tools to assess sustainability efforts and make informed decisions in their investment strategies. Join us for insights into the vital role of data in driving sustainable investment practices.
-
Host Deborah Kidd, CFA talks with Monika Freyman, CFA, Vice President of Sustainable Investing at Addenda Capital, about the challenges asset owners and asset managers face when aiming to protect portfolios from the financial impacts of climate change. Monika shares practical advice on developing a comprehensive investment policy, measuring and managing the complexities of climate risk, and balancing climate goals with fiduciary duty. She emphasizes the importance of adhering to fiduciary duty fundamentals by ensuring that investment practices remain sound when integrating climate considerations.
-
Missing episodes?
-
Host Nicole Gehrig welcomes Dean Hand, Chief Research Officer at the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN). They delve into the critical topic of impact investing, clarifying its definition amidst common misconceptions in the investment marketplace. Dean shares insights on the GIIN's role in promoting impact investing and its commitment to developing effective practices that address global challenges. The episode highlights the importance of investing with the intention to generate positive and measurable social and environmental outcomes. Tune in to gain insights into the role of impact investing in addressing the world's pressing challenges.
-
Listen in as Dr. Jane Thostrup Jagd, Director of Net Zero Finance at We Mean Business Coalition, and Josina Kamerling, Head of EMEA Regulatory Outreach at CFA Institute, discuss the necessity of integrating sustainability departments within companies, particularly in collaboration with financial teams. The challenge lies in ensuring that knowledge about sustainability extends beyond mere compliance and reaches all levels of the organization. There is a call for greater openness from financial professionals towards sustainability agendas. The conversation also touches on the readiness of investors to comprehend and utilize new sustainability reports, highlighting a current gap in understanding that needs to be addressed for effective implementation in the future.
#Sustainability #SustainabilityStory #NetZero #EURegulations
-
In this episode of the Sustainability Story, host Deborah Kidd, CFA, talks with Dr. Aniket Shah, Managing Director and Global Head of Sustainability and Transition Strategy at Jefferies Group, LLC. Aniket leverages his work across academia, public policy, and financial markets to provide unique insights into the energy transition roadblocks and the three keys to overcoming them. He shares his insights on profiting from investment opportunities in climate technologies and why climate adaptation investments deserve special focus.
-
In this episode of the Sustainability Story podcast, Nicole Gehrig, Director of Global Industry Standards at CFA Institute, is joined by Lindsey Stewart, CFA, Director of Stewardship Research and Policy at Morningstar Sustainalytics. Together, they explore key themes in the realm of stewardship. Lindsey shares his insights on how institutional shareholders are approaching proxy voting and engagements that focus on environmental and social issues. Key topics covered include say on climate votes, the influence of proxy advisors, collaborative initiatives, and the significance of voluntary stewardship codes. The discussion highlights how regulatory differences in Europe and the US impact the prioritization of sustainability themes by investors on both sides of the Atlantic.
-
In this episode of "The Sustainability Story," co-host Josina Kamerling welcomes Nels Italo, Director of Product Strategy for Regulatory Solutions at FactSet. They delve into Nels' diverse background, from working in signals intelligence in the US Navy to becoming a corporate M&A attorney before focusing on financial service regulations. The conversation highlights the complexities of global financial regulations and the challenges faced by investors in understanding diverse accounting standards. Tune in to gain insights on navigating buy-side regulatory requirements in a global financial landscape.
-
In this episode of the Sustainability Story, host Deborah Kidd, CFA, interviews Paula DiPerna, author and Special Advisor to the CDP. In her book, Pricing the Priceless: The Financial Transformation to Value the Planet, Solve the Climate Crisis, and Protect Our Most Precious Assets, Paula offers a compelling argument for the need to assign economic values to nature’s essential resources. Paula takes us on a journey through history, world travel, case studies, and financial theory to demonstrate how bringing natural assets onto corporate and sovereign balance sheets, investing in resource-linked financial instruments, and putting a price on carbon are the keys to combating global warming and preserving the Earth’s resources.
-
In this episode of The Sustainability Story, host Andres Vinelli interviews Marcos Buscaglia, an economist and author of Beyond the ESG Portfolio: How Wall Street Can Help Democracies Survive. Marcos discusses the impact of capital markets on funding democracies and autocratic regimes, emphasizing the importance for investors to consider democracy amidst global democratic decline. He highlights the interconnectedness of countries and how a democratic decline in one nation can have repercussions worldwide. Marcos' insights shed light on the role of capital markets in shaping political landscapes and the need for ethical investment practices.
-
This episode of the Sustainability Story explores the world of impact investing in real estate, with a specific focus on affordable housing. Host Andres Vinelli is joined by Jeff Brenner, President and CEO of IMPACT Community Capital, an investment advisor dedicated to advancing opportunity in under-invested communities. They discuss the origins of IMPACT and its mission to make investments that have a positive impact on communities. They also delve into the challenges and opportunities in the affordable housing space and how impact investing can help address issues of poverty and equity. Tune in to learn more about the potential for investors in this asset class and the importance of building sustainable infrastructure for under-invested communities.
-
2023 was a year of milestones for regulations and standards to improve sustainable investment transparency, comparability, and credibility. In this episode of The Sustainability Story, host Deborah Kidd, CFA, talks with James Alexander, chief executive at UKSIF. They discuss the new UK regulation for sustainable investment product labels, the IFRS international corporate sustainability disclosure standards, and the establishment of harmonized definitions for key responsible investment terms by the PRI, GSIA, and CFA Institute. James shares his views on the successes of the past year and the work that still needs to be done to create a sustainable finance system.
-
In this episode of the Sustainability Story podcast, Andres Vinelli is joined by Harriet Waters, the head of environmental sustainability at the University of Oxford. Harriet shares the highlights of Oxford's sustainability journey and explores the lessons learned that can be applied to other organizations. She discusses her personal journey into environmental issues and how she became involved in the field. Tune in to learn about Oxford's sustainability strategy and gain valuable insights for your own sustainability initiatives.
-
In this episode of The Sustainability Story, host Sandy Peters is joined by Brian Tomlinson, a managing director in Ernst & Young's financial accounting and advisory services practice. They discuss the EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and its impact on non-EU-based multinationals. While the extraterritorial nature of the EU's reporting requirements may be known among policy experts, it is less understood by US companies and investors. The episode delves into the potential implications and importance of this directive for sustainability reporting and investment decision making.
-
As the world economy transitions from high carbon to low carbon, the largest global investment in history is underway. In this episode of The Sustainability Story, host Deborah Kidd, CFA, talks climate bonds, transition, and policy with Sean Kidney, CEO of Climate Bonds Initiative, an international NGO working to mobilize global capital for climate action. Learn how bond investors can both drive change and profit from a world that is rapidly evolving, and why Sean says the policy action he’s seeing fills him with hope at what he calls our 11th hour.
-
Josina Kamerling, Head of Regulatory Outreach EMEA at CFA Institute, and Rob Bauer, Professor of Finance at School of Business and Economics, Maastricht University, and co-author of the paper “Private Shareholder Engagements on Material ESG Issues,” discuss the main findings of his research and how private engagements can address financially material ESG issues while contributing to firm performance.
Read the full report here: https://cfainst.is/3F9YbdT
-
In this episode of The Sustainability Story, host Andres Vinelli interviews Dr. Spencer Glendon, founder of Probable Futures—a nonprofit organization focused on climate science accessibility from the CFA Institute Climate Risk and Returns conference. Dr. Glendon, an expert on climate change with a background in finance and economics, shares his journey and the importance of climate literacy. He explains the importance of climate literacy and how it intersects with environmental issues. Tune in to gain insights into the work being done to influence the conversation on climate change.
Visit https://probablefutures.org to access interactive maps, science, historical context, and stories to help visualize a range of possible climate futures. -
In this episode of the Sustainability Story, we tackle two areas of mass confusion in the world of sustainable investing: what should be done about the divergence in ESG ratings, and what works and doesn't work in impact investing. Deborah Kidd, CFA, talks with Dr. Julian Kölbel, Assistant Professor in Sustainable Finance at the Center for Financial Services Innovation at the University of St. Gallen and Research Associate at MIT Sloan, where he co-founded the Aggregate Confusion Project. Julian is also host of the podcast Innovations in Sustainable Finance.
https://fsi.unisg.ch/en/insights/innovations-in-sustainable-finance/
With an estimated one-third of the world's assets under management being managed sustainably, ESG ratings have come under increasing scrutiny by regulators. We discuss issues around the reliability of ESG ratings, whether they should be regulated, and how investors can make sense of them. Our conversation then turns to impact investing, where we learn about evidence-based strategies and the key component necessary for actually making an impact.
-
Are you ready to crack the code on sustainable investing? We promise a plethora of insights in our thought-provoking conversation with Brian Minns, CFA, the Managing Director of Responsible Investing at University Pension Plan Ontario. Fusing his engineering acumen with financial expertise, Brian is at the forefront of driving environmental, social, and governance (ESG) values in investments. Not only will you hear about his transformative journey from engineer to finance guru, but he also reveals how he co-founded the Canadian Responsible Investment Working Group and illuminates the ongoing growth in understanding sustainable finance among professionals.
Fasten your seat belts as we navigate through the second half of our discussion, where Brian takes the wheel, guiding us through the University Pension Plan's approach to integrating ESG factors into their investment process. He tackles the tough questions around proxy voting, greenwashing and how to assess partners effectively. In an especially riveting segment, we confront the looming hurdles in our race towards net zero emissions — a challenge that demands rapid emissions reductions, regulatory intervention, and carbon pricing. Brian's compelling call-to-action encourages us all to start addressing environmental issues and climate change — it's an episode that's sure to spark your curiosity and leave you inspired! - Show more
