About the Course

Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) and Sustainable Finance have gained increasing attention over the past few years. Many institutional investors invest only in those companies that provide ESG performance reporting. ESG has considerations relevant to analysts, investors, other stakeholders, and employees. Your board should be discussing these issues and their impact every time it meets. This ESG and Sustainable Finance for Modern Leaders training course will give the delegates a clear, unbiased overview of an ESG framework and how it supports a company’s overall risk management. It examines each characteristic measured by the government, supranational, and private sector actors.

The delegates will gain deep insight into how these different facets of their organisational behaviour impact matter as diverse as they share price and public image perceptions. Likewise, it discusses how to look at corporate pressures & stakeholder expectations and their effects on risk identification and business success. Throughout, we will look at real-life case studies from current business situations. The key considerations from both the company and investor perspectives will be facilitated in detail to help you sharpen your organisational messaging and policy response for the 2020s.

Core Objectives

Delegates will achieve the following objectives:

• Define responsible investing in different cultures
• Define and Contrast: Sustainable investing, socially responsible investing, thematic investing, impact investing, environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing
• Understand the objectives of ESG
• Understand better both the risks and opportunities for investors
• Before there was ESG; understanding the context and history of ethical and socially responsible investment 

Training Approach

This training course will be conducted using a variety of live practice, theory, personal shared experience, and challenges to frame the learning. The delegates will look at videos and, where appropriate, work in groups with real-life case studies to improve their knowledge of this rapidly growing sector of Finance.

The Attendees

This training course will be valuable to professionals, including (but not limited to) the following:

• Regulators and Compliance
• Risk Manager
• Marketing/Communications/PR Staff seeking to understand the legal and reputational issues surrounding ESG investments
• Fund Managers and Investors who need to screen potential and current investments for ESG compliance
• Financial Reporting Teams seeking to understand relevant KPIs and performance measures for ESG-compliant investments
• HR Managers and Non-Executive Board Members with governance responsibilities need to be aware of the changing environment
• Active PE investment Teams, including in-house corporate finance and strategy teams seeking better ESG understanding to be more aware of compliant projects to enhance returns and improve performance measures

Daily Discussion

DAY ONE: WHAT IS ESG INVESTING? 

• What is sustainable and ESG investing?
• What are the latest trends driving sustainable and ESG investing?
• Standards, Principles, Law, and Regulation: A Confusing Picture
• What does it all mean for the relevant stakeholders?
• The evolving new FRC Stewardship Code

DAY TWO: ESG FACTORS AND THEMES

• Environmental: Energy Consumption, Emissions, Water Use etc.
• Social: Equality and Diversity, Data Security, and Employee Welfare
• Governance: Voting Rights, Stakeholder Engagement, and Board Accountability
• Which matters most and why?
• Industry and Sector Differences

DAY THREE: THE RISE OF ESG REGULATIONS

• An overview of ESG-related risks and how they can impact your business
• What is the evolution of non-financial regulations?
• What are voluntary initiatives worth considering?
• What is the best way to identify trends across the most regulated regions and sectors, so businesses can prepare for what is coming?
• What are material non-financial topics emerging and developing?

DAY FOUR: ESG RATINGS AND METRICS

• The problems with ESG scoring
• Data Quality, Rating Biases, and Lack of Standardisation
• Reporting Fatigue and Greenwashing 
• Investing using ESG Scores and Ratings
• Introduction to ESG Strategies
• Screening: Negative, Positive, Best in Class, and Impact

DAY FIVE: SHARE PRICE PERFORMANCE & RESPONDING TO INCREASED INVESTOR INTEREST

• Purpose-Driven Communications
• Increased Shareholder Engagement
• Middle Manager Involvement
• Do companies with higher ESG scores outperform?
• Equity Sector Characteristics