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Yale Initiative on Sustainable Finance (YISF)

Co-hosted by the Yale Initiative on Sustainable Finance and the Journal of Environmental Investing, this symposium brings together academics and practitioners to forward the conversation on Environmental, Social and Governance metrics.

Friday, September 22, 2017, 9:30am - 5:00pm
Yale School of Management, 165 Whitney Avenue, New Haven, CT
 

Papers from the symposium may be accessed here

Agenda:

09:30 Coffee 2400 Concourse

10:00 Welcome Classroom 2400

  • Dan Esty, YISF
  • Cary Krosinsky, JEI

10:30 State of Play in ESG Investing Classroom 2400

  • Todd Cort, YISF

11:15 AM: Break out Sessions

Breakout A: Identifying Alpha Classroom 4400
Moderator: David Richardson, Impax

  • Diana Glassman, Integration Strategy: The Missing Metrics That Matter To Investors: How Companies Can Develop ESG Financial Value Creation Metrics
  • Karina Funk, Brown Advisory: ESG and active alpha: How can ESG metrics help us understand both company and fund performance?

Breakout B: New Tools in ESG Analysis Classroom 4410
Moderator: Jim Hawley, TrueValue Labs

  • Mark Kriss, Macroclimate: Geofinancial Engineering Initiative, Using real time environmental data from satellites to move financial markets and improve climate outcomes
  • Erik Allen, Two Sigma Investments: The Application of Machine Learning to Sustainable Finance

Breakout C: Green Bonds Classroom 4420
Moderator: Sarah Wilson,
Nuveen

  • Patrick Bigger, University of Lancaster: Ratings, standards and practices for comingling risks in green bonds
  • Anadi Jauhari, Yale Initiative on Sustainable Finance, Emerging Energy & Environment Investing Group LLC

12:30 PM: Lunch 2400 Concourse

1:15 PM: Plenary Panel Discussion Classroom 2400
Materiality and Corporate Financial Disclosure
Moderator:
Lois Guthrie, World Business Council for Sustainable Development

  • Todd Cort, Yale Initiative on Sustainable Finance
  • Rodney Irwin, WBCSD
  • Brandon Leblac, EY
  • Eszter Vitorino and Bastion Buck, Global Reporting Initiative
  • Richard Pearl, State Street Corporation
  • Cyeria Jackson, Monsanto Company

2:15 PM: Break, coffee 2400 Concourse

2:45 PM: Break out Sessions

Breakout A: New Lenses Classroom 4400
Moderator: John
Streur, Calvert

  • Linda-Eling Lee, MSCI: Do Corporate Controversies Help or Hurt Performance? A Study of Three Portfolio Strategies
  • Gretchen Goldman, Union of Concerned Scientists: A Methodology for Assessment of Corporate Responsibility on Climate Change: A Case Study of the Fossil Fuel Industry
  • Bill Davis, Stance Capital: Performance and Impact: Can ESG equity portfolios generate healthier financial returns?

Breakout B: Broad ESG Data Classroom 4410
Moderator: Deborah Spalding, Commonfund

  • Todd Cort, YISF: Sustainability Metrics, What Investors Need but do not Get
  • Amy Springsteel, Voya Financial: The Value and Current Limitations of ESG Data for the Security Selector
  • Elyse Douglas, New York University: Responsible Investing, Guide to ESG Data Providers and Relevant Trends

Breakout C: Normalization of ESG Metrics Classroom 4420
Moderator: Rina Kupferschmid-Rojas, UBS

  • Riva Krut, Praxair: Learning How to Count: The complexities for ESG investors of comparing energy efficiency and GHG performance.
  • D Scott Showalter and Gilroy Zuckerman, North Carolina State University: Investor’s Guide to Analyzing Company Sustainability Performance.

Breakout D: Materiality Roundtable on Sustainability Reporting Classroom 4220
Moderator: Sabine Content, Global Reporting Initiative

  • This session is designed for reporting companies that want to take sustainability reporting to the next level by engaging further with GRI, their peers and experts in the field.
  • The Sustainability Reporting Roundtable helps reporting organizations take their reporting process further.

4:00 Wrap-up Discussion, Plenary Classroom 2400

  • Dan Esty, YISF

5:00 Close


Symposium Hosted By:

 


Symposium Sponsors:

Platinum Sponsor:


Gold Sponsors:

 

 

 

 

Roberta G. Gordon