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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.
Last week BlackRock’s Larry Fink announced the company would put climate change centre-stage across its $7 trillion portfolio after what critics have called years of prevarication. Sarah Rundell looks behind what the statement could mean in practice.
At the international business of Federated Hermes, we believe that the investment management industry could be a potent force in building a better world; but today that potential is largely unfulfilled.
Impact investment and its combination of financial returns and social or environmental purpose is beginning to move from fringe to the financial mainstream in part because the long-held concept that investment should only maximise shareholder value is beginning to fade.
As concerns about climate change reach fever pitch, Harvard Business School has published a report that shows investment strategies that “aggressively’ reduce carbon emissions can significantly boost fund performance.
Ben Caldecott from The Oxford Sustainable Finance Programme at the University of Oxford explains how emerging technologies, changing client preferences, new regulatory landscapes, and evolving economic geographies create new opportunities for more effective engagement and forms of active ownership.
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