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Investors are increasingly seeking to design portfolios that achieve financial goals (return & risk) and have environmental and social impact. This session will look at how to assess the effect of ESG issues on macro economies and markets and how to engineer a scalable strategic asset allocation that delivers consistent financial performance and is aligned to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
View Karen’s presentation slides here[vc_quotes layout=”accordion” quotes=”%5B%7B%22name%22%3A%22Karen%20Karniol-Tambour%22%2C%22job_role%22%3A%22Head%20of%20investment%20research%2C%20Bridgewater%20Associates%20(United%20States)%22%2C%22content%22%3A%22Karen%20Karniol-Tambour%20is%20the%20Head%20of%20Investment%20Research%20at%20Bridgewater%20Associates%2C%20the%20world%E2%80%99s%20largest%20hedge%20fund%20with%20%24160%20billion%20in%20institutional%20investments.%20In%20this%20capacity%2C%20she%20oversees%20a%20team%20of%20over%20150%20investment%20professionals%20researching%20and%20building%20systematic%20strategies%20to%20trade%20global%20financial%20markets.%20Karen%20oversees%20Bridgewater%E2%80%99s%20systemized%20investment%20logic%20for%20trading%20fixed%20income%2C%20with%20a%20secondary%20responsibility%20for%20equities%2C%20and%20is%20a%20regular%20author%20of%20Bridgewater%E2%80%99s%20Daily%20Observations.%20She%20meets%20regularly%20with%20investors%20and%20policymakers%2C%20and%20represented%20Bridgewater%20at%20the%20World%20Economic%20Forum%20in%20Davos%20in%202017%20and%202018.%5CnKaren%20graduated%20from%20Princeton%20University%E2%80%99s%20Woodrow%20Wilson%20School%2C%20where%20she%20studied%20under%20Nobel%20Laureate%20Daniel%20Kahneman%20and%20was%20awarded%20the%20Gale%20F.%20Johnson%20Prize%20in%20Public%20Affairs.%20%20Born%20and%20raised%20in%20Israel%2C%20Karen%20has%20worked%20with%20nonprofit%20Seeds%20of%20Peace%20since%20she%20was%20a%20teenager%20and%20serves%20as%20member%20of%20its%20Global%20Leadership%20Council.%20Committed%20to%20enhancing%20women%E2%80%99s%20leadership%20in%20finance%2C%20Karen%20is%20an%20active%20angel%20investor%20focusing%20on%20technology%20startups%20led%20by%20women.%20She%20is%20a%20Council%20on%20Foreign%20Relations%20Corporate%20Leader%20and%20was%20included%20in%20Business%20Insider%E2%80%99s%20Rising%20Stars%20Under%2035%20in%20Asset%20Management%5Cn%22%2C%22image%22%3A%2233594%22%2C%22linkedin%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Fsaker-nusseibeh-cbe-6b15a85%2F%3ForiginalSubdomain%3Duk%22%7D%5D” title=”Speaker” el_class=””][vc_quotes layout=”accordion” quotes=”%5B%7B%22name%22%3A%22Amanda%20White%22%2C%22job_role%22%3A%22Director%2C%20institutional%20content%2C%20Conexus%20Financial%20(Australia)%22%2C%22content%22%3A%22White%20is%20responsible%20for%20the%20content%20across%20all%20Conexus%20Financial%E2%80%99s%20institutional%20media%20and%20events.%20She%20is%20responsible%20for%20directing%20the%20bi-annual%20Fiduciary%20Investors%20Symposium%20which%20challenges%20global%20investors%20on%20investment%20best%20practice%20and%20aims%20to%20place%20the%20responsibilities%20of%20investors%20in%20wider%20societal%2C%20and%20political%20contexts%2C%20as%20well%20as%20promote%20the%20long-term%20stability%20of%20markets%20and%20sustainable%20retirement%20incomes.%20She%20is%20the%20editor%20of%20conexust1f.flywheelstaging.com%2C%20the%20online%20news%20and%20analysis%20site%20for%20the%20world%E2%80%99s%20largest%20institutional%20investors.%20White%20has%20been%20an%20investment%20journalist%20for%20more%20than%2020%20years%20and%20has%20edited%20industry%20journals%20including%20Investment%20%26%20Technology%2C%20Investor%20Weekly%20and%20MasterFunds%20Quarterly.%20She%20was%20previously%20editorial%20director%20of%20InvestorInfo%20and%20has%20worked%20as%20a%20freelance%20journalist%20for%20the%20Australian%20Financial%20Review%2C%20CFO%2C%20Asset%20and%20Asia%20Asset%20Management.%20She%20has%20a%20Bachelor%20of%20Economics%20from%20Sydney%20University%20and%20a%20Master%20of%20Arts%20in%20Journalism%20from%20the%20University%20of%20Technology%2C%20Sydney.%20She%20was%20previously%20a%20columnist%20for%20the%20Canadian%20publication%2C%20Corporate%20Knights%2C%20which%20is%20distributed%20by%20the%20Globe%20and%20Mail%20and%20The%20Washington%20Post.%20White%20is%20currently%20a%20fellow%20in%20the%20Finance%20Leaders%20Fellowship%20at%20the%20Aspen%20Institute.%20The%20two-year%20program%20consists%20of%2022%20fellows%20and%20seeks%20to%20develop%20the%20next%20generation%20of%20responsible%2C%20community-spirited%20leaders%20in%20the%20global%20finance%20industry.%22%2C%22image%22%3A%2233531%22%2C%22linkedin%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Famanda-white-101a7515%2F%3ForiginalSubdomain%3Dau%22%7D%5D” title=”Moderator” el_class=””][vc_empty_space height=”10px”]
It is increasingly obvious that it is not feasible to be an investor without thinking hard about issues of sustainability. It is impossible to map the expected future path of the world without considering the SDGs.
The biggest change in perspective required is the evolution from risk/return to risk/return/impact. We believe it is very practical and achievable for institutional investors to consider all three dimensions. There is no need to sacrifice return in order to meet impact targets.
Investors should build a diversified portfolio of sustainable assets, scalable to your whole portfolio. Assets should be chosen that further your goals.
The sustainability investment data ecosystem is growing rapidly. What we are doing today may be ten times better in a few years.
Net zero by 2050 could be a secondary goal to the SDGs, or it could be your only goal. You can then buy assets to build a portfolio to meet that goal.
‘In our minds a lot of investors are overly skewed to equities. In our view this is a huge mistake. It leaves you very naked if something unexpected happens.’
ESG factors are critical to generating alpha simply because ESG factors are critical to the world’s present and future.
We believe it is our duty as investors to raise awareness of where we can find investible opportunities aligned to specific SDGs and where we cannot. This will help maximise opportunities and help address gaps.
One of the most important, upcoming challenges at CalSTRS is how the fund should evaluate Chinese investments from a human capital and environmental standpoint, says Chris Ailman, chief investment officer at the giant pension fund.
What policies for greening
the crisis response
and economic recovery?
Lessons learned from past
green stimulus measures
and implications for the
COVID-19 crisis
The Harvard endowment is about half way through its transition to external investment management and will work with its service providers to implement the university’s new directive, to position the portfolio in line with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
The COVID-19 crisis is likely to have dramatic consequences for progress on climate change. Imminent fiscal recovery packages could entrench or partly displace the current fossil-fuel-intensive economic system.
Asset allocation plays such a fundamental role to determining long-term returns that ignoring these sustainability issues – where the impacts affect economies, businesses and society over decades – just does not make sense.
How can investors be a catalyst for change and have an active voice in a sustainable recovery? This episode explores the role of investors and how they can collaborate for effective collective action. It includes the work of one of the leaders in sustainable investing and the biggest pension fund in Europe, APG. It invites investors to have an active voice in a sustainable recovery.
There is a lack of understanding in investment decision-making about how big the climate crisis is which could lead to investments and risks being mis-directed, according to Professor Cameron Hepburn, Professor of Environmental Economics at Oxford University.
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