14:30 - 16:15

Kelly Clark (United Kingdom)
Founder and Managing Director - Marmanie Consulting Ltd.

G. Benjamin Bingham (United States of America)
Managing Director - 3Sisters Sustainable Management

ESG Research Process For Valuing What Is Truly Valuable

ESG is most truly relevant if the products and services behind the investments are essential solutions. A high ESG rating may be obtainable if there is a diverse board, plenty of charitable donations and community outreach, good employee relations, fair wages, energy efficiency and zero waste. But if the inherent product or service leads to waste, unhappiness, trauma or the like, are we truly valuing what is valuable? The speaker will discuss unique potential solutions that are inherent in each sector of the market that will be valuable to humanity and the planet. The investors that begin with the most relevant and sustainable solutions and acquire them before they are fully valued will maximize their profits financially while enjoying spiritual and social fulfillment. The ultimate goal for TBLI would be to develop financial markets that reflect real human values.

Amanda Young (United Kingdom)
SRI Officer - Newton Investment Management

The Importance Of Structure And Process

Jay Vontobel (Vietnam)
Associate Director - VietNam Holding Asset Management Ltd.

ESG Investing in Vietnam

Vietnam Holding Ltd., a closed-end equity investment fund dedicated to Vietnam, will present its conversion program towards a fully integrated SRI investor. The company’s practices include ESG considerations and direct engagement with portfolio companies. Taking into account the stage of development in this frontier market the fund has developed a customized research approach applying the methods of Inrate of Switzerland. The methodology takes into account the low transparency and nascent regulation in this transition economy, while focusing on key ESG issues in target industries. The fund will present the results of its portfolio rating and the impact it has had on the fund’s investment processes. Vietnam Holding’s sustainability rating is a milestone in the fund’s conversion to integrate sustainability considerations and allows the portfolio’s ESG performance to be measured going forward. As an integral part of its portfolio management the fund’s active engagement draws on the rating to address material issues with portfolio companies, and includes proxy voting and multi-stakeholder initiatives.

Philippe Spicher (Switzerland )
Chief Executive Officer - Inrate

Patrick de Jong (The Netherlands)
Senior Investment Analyst - Robeco

Responsible Investing Classification: An initiative in the Dutch Retail Asset Management Market

A wide range of ethical, sustainable, or responsible investment funds and products are currently offered to retail and/or institutional investors. Often, it is not clear to investors and other interested parties how exactly these products differ from more traditional investment products. It is also difficult to compare the approach and relative strengths of different “sustainable” products. The Responsible Investing (RI) Fund Classification methodology aims to provide more transparency to various users and as a result support them in making investment decisions.