ESG and Sustainable Finance

Betribsiwwergräifend Formatioun

U wie riicht sech d'Formatioun?

  • Financial advisors
  • Investment advisors
  • Private bankers
  • Accountants
  • Wealth Managers
  • Attorneys
  • ESG advisors
  • Auditors

Erreechten Niveau

Avancéiert

Dauer

20,00 Stonn(en)

Sprooch(e) vun der Déngschtleeschtung

EN

Nächst Sessioun

Ziler

With ESG being in the market since 2005 it the last years that it has evolved to a growing necessity for companies and financial institutions. A norm of the market soon to become necessity, should be first of all followed and supported by banks, insurers and investment firms. A driver for sustainability and responsibility towards a safer and better world.

Inhalt

KEY DEFINITIONS, DEVELOPMENTS AND DRIVERS

  • Importance of environmental, social and governance risks for the economy
  • The concept and risks of climate change
  • Definition of sustainable finance and ESG investing
  • Brief introduction to key concepts in a historical context – corporate and social responsibility, ethical, socially responsible, thematic and impact investing
  • Main international Agreements: UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Paris Agreement on Climate Change
  • European Commission initiatives: Action Plan on Financing Sustainable Growth
  • UN PRI Interventions: Principles for Responsible Investment, Principles for Sustainable Insurance and Principles of Responsible Banking

ESG FACTORS AND IMPACT ON SECURITY ANALYSIS/VALUATION

  • Identification of the general environmental, social and governance factors/issues
  • The concept of materiality and its importance for the ESG analysis
  • Materiality map of ESG risks and opportunities among sectors
  • Impact of ESG characteristics/profile on equity valuation, risk and performance
  • Impact of ESG characteristics/profile on bond investments’ risk/return
  • Reporting and sources of analysis of non-financial information
  • Main providers ESG ratings and company analysis

SUSTAINABLE INVESTING APPROACHES AND STRATEGIES

  • Classification and basic principles of ESG investing approaches
  • Negative screening approaches: exclusion/negative screening and norms based screening
  • Positive screening approaches: best-in-class and integration
  • Generating impact: Thematic investing and impact investing
  • ESG considerations in the process of portfolio construction
  • Trends over time and world regions

ENGAGEMENT: ELEVATING THE IMPORTANCE OF SUSTAINABILITY ISSUES AT COMPANIES’ LEVEL

  • Understanding engagement versus exclusion/divesting
  • Tools for engagement: active ownership/shareholders’ activism, constructive dialogue and proxy voting
  • The relevance of corporate social responsibility to attain and disclose sustainability goals
  • Greenwashing and associated reputational responsibility/risk
  • Role of institutional investors’ engagement in investee companies to improve ESG practices/orientation
  • Stewardship codes

SUSTAINABLE MUTUAL FUNDS AND COLLECTIVE INVESTMENT VEHICLES

  • Diversity of sustainable mutual funds based on different investing approaches
  • Key findings of studies comparing ESG and traditional mutual funds
  • Active and passive investing by sustainable mutual funds: the values and challenges of each approach
  • The market of sustainable ETFs
  • Definition of an ESG benchmark, variety of ESG benchmarks according to investing approaches and use of benchmarks for performance evaluation
  • Climate benchmarks and low-carbon benchmarks
  • The process and providers of ESG ratings for mutual funds
  • How should investors and financial advisors read/interpret ESG/sustainable ratings?

A MAIN EXAMPLE OF IMPACT INVESTING: GREEN BONDS AND SOCIAL BONDS

  • Definition of green bonds and their role for environmental sustainability
  • Eligible projects for green bond issues
  • The green bond market
  • Main differences between Green Bond Principles and the EU-green bond standard
  • Pricing of green bonds versus pricing of conventional bonds
  • Definition of social bonds and Social Bond Principles
  • Green and Social together: sustainable bonds

SHORT ANALYSIS OF OTHER SUSTAINABLE FINANCIAL PRODUCTS

  • SG criteria/approaches in insurance products
  • ESG criteria/approaches in banking products
  • ESG criteria and private equity
  • ESG/sustainable certificates

EU LEGAL FRAMEWORK ON THE INTEGRATION OF ESG FACTORS BY INVESTMENT FIRMS AND FINANCIAL ADVISORS

  • Main EU-level harmonized criteria to determine whether an activity is environmentally sustainable
  • Disclosure of information by investment firms and financial advisors on the integration of sustainability risks in investment decision-making processes and advice on financial products.
  • Integration of sustainability factors under the UCITS, AIFMD and MIFID II regulations.

Certificat, Diplom

Certificate of attendance

Organisatiounsmodus

  • 20 hours of self study including articles and presentations
  • Full lifetime access to learning material

Zousätzlech Informatiounen

Instructor:

Mark R Outhwaite
ESG expert, AML / prevention of financial crime, trainer