When it comes to Environmental, Social, Governance performance, how much is enough?
Bruin launched our 2020 ESG Initiative to help our Financial Services clients increase their level of commitment to diversity and to decrease their carbon footprint.
We are committed to encouraging a sustainable future within Financial Services, whilst attracting top talent that will help to influence this.
We are intent on being a catalyst for change.
Join fellow peers across financial services and register for our ESG Webinar Series.
(This webinar series has now concluded but you can watch all of the webinars by clicking the links below next to each webinars description. We have also released the webinars in Podcast format which can be viewed here)
What is happening at these seminars?
Join leading C-suite Investment Leaders, ESG Specialists, Asset Owners, Data Innovators, Environmental Consultancies, Talent Acquisition Specialists, Diversity Specialists, Impact Measurement Advisory firms – to hear their exclusive insights that will enable us to identify and deliver concrete actions and drive change within the financial services community.
This virtual summit assembles 25 speakers across 5 sessions, with live discussions followed by interactive Q&A.
This will be an interactive discussion, brainstorming solutions around how we can advance ESG within our own firms, and the wider communities around us.
A more widely integrated approach to ESG would have multiple benefits and would be extremely powerful. It would be better for our circular economy and have a significant social impact – It would result in a more diverse workforce, better lifestyles, well being for our communities and a healthier planet.
Who is speaking at the webinar series?
Hear from senior leaders including:
- Darren Johnson – COO, Impax Asset Management
- Lisa Beauvillain – Managing Director, Impax Asset Management
- Tina De Baere – Head of ESG, Cairn Capital
- Andrew Parry – Head of Sustainable Investing, Newton Investment Management
- Tarne Bevan – COO, Greencoat Capital
- My-Linh Ngo – Head of ESG Investment, Bluebay Asset Management
- Rebecca Craddock-Taylor, Director, Sustainable Investment – Gresham House
- Patrick Thomas – Investment Director/Head of ESG, Canaccord Wealth
- Hortense Bioy – Director of Sustainability Research, Morningstar
- Louise Dudley – Porfolio Manager & Board member of the UK Sustainable Investment & Finance Association, Federated Hermes
- Ben Dear – CEO, Osmosis Asset Management
- Alex Edmans – Professor of Finance at London Business School, TED speaker, and author of “Grow the Pie: How Great Companies Deliver Both Purpose and Profit”. Serving on RLAM’s Responsible Investment Advisory Committee
- Thora Frost – Senior Manager, Green Finance, Carbon Trust
- James Ghaffari – Managing Director, BCorp
- Heidi Ridley/ Kathryn McDonald – Co Founders, Radiant ESG
- Martin Rich – Co Founder, Future Fit Business
- Andrew Watson – Co Founder, Rethinking Capital
- Denise Delaney – Partner, SustainAbility (ERM)
- Kimberley Lewis – Director of Engagement, Federated Hermes
- Christina Curtin – Director of Education at CFA Society of the UK
- Natalya Zeman – ESG Associate, Capital Group
- Lindsay Smart – Head of ESG Integration, The Good Economy
- Martina Merten – SVP Strategic ESG Engagement, Moody’s Corporation & President, Network for Sustainable Financial Markets (NSFM)
- Shân Millie – Founder, Bright Blue Hare
- Dr Christine Chow – Director Global Technology Lead & Head of Asia Global Emerging Markets,EOS Federated Hermes International
- Michael Berns – Director, AI & FinTech Leader, PWC
- Sam Tidswell–Norrish – International CMO, Dun and Bradstreet
What key themes will be discussed?
1. The Story Behind Talent and ESG
- How do organisations compete in ‘The War on Talent?’ We would like to present meaningful data related to how ESG is impacting career motivations, job roles and organisational structures throughout the Financial Services sector. A strong approach to ESG can help financial services firms to attract talent.
- How can you integrate ESG across your entire organisation? What is the best way of setting up teams and reporting lines? What training will be provided?
- What are careers in ESG like? We will hear from ESG Specialists about their own career experiences and what it’s like to work in environmentally and socially focussed roles. This will also be an opportunity for pupils from Schools and Universities to learn about ESG careers in Finance.
- What is the best way to get a job in ESG? How do you get a job in ESG if you don’t have existing experience, but you want to make a difference? What do you do if you are 5 years into your career, but want to make the move now?
2. Why ESG is the Future of Finance?
- What is the New Normal in Sustainable Investing in the aftermath of COVID-19? It seems we are entering an era where ESG products are moving into the mainstream and the pandemic has been a key accelerator towards this.
- How can we accelerate the ESG movement so that we get there even quicker?!! Are we moving fast enough? We are still not where we need to be and behaviours haven’t caught up with ambitions yet.
- Will there be any investment in 10 years which isn’t ESG? Will there be a distinction between sustainable and traditional investing?
- How can companies deliver both profit and purpose? Improving ESG performance can be beneficial for customers, shareholders AND employees!
3. How can you Fully Integrate ESG?
- How can firms ensure ESG is integrated both internally and externally? What amount should it cross over and how much does it need to be reflected in the culture internally?
- How can organisations shift the level of behaviour internally to ensure they have credibility?
- How can you assess your impact? Setting business goals and targets to ensure you are removing any negative impacts on society and the environment. Practical steps you can take to advance your ESG journey.
- Should we integrate Sustainability into mainstream accounting standards?
- How can you integrate ESG by asset class? How do you prioritise the focus of ESG Integration by asset class and what is expected in terms of output? This will become a key topic this year with the ‘ESG Disclosures’ scheduled to go live from March 2021
- How can we combat greenwashing?
4. How can you prevent the ‘Environment’ being sacrificed in light of the importance of ‘S’ and ‘G’ during a Pandemic?
- In conjunction with Climate Week, we are keen to explore whether our panel are climate optimists or climate pessimists!
- How will we rise to the Net Zero challenge for 2030?
- How can we move from climate negative to climate positive? The next three years will determine the course of the next thirty years. We now have the chance to flatten the climate curve!
- How do we ensure that conversations about the climate crisis aren’t put on hold whilst other social and governance aspects become more prominent during a pandemic?
- Why do Boards need to enhance climate expertise? How can decision making be aligned to a Net zero strategy?
- How can we enable developing nations such as Africa to position themselves for climate change? What can we do to enhance global prosperity?
- What are other solutions to combat climate change? Globally we need to invest $2.4 trillion every year to fully decarbonise, and we are currently investing less than a quarter of that. What are the best areas to invest and how we can start to use them at scale before it’s too late?!
5. How can you ensure that ‘Social’ Factors such as Equality are Fully Embedded?
- How can we encourage a more diverse workforce within financial services? We will discuss the Talk About Black movement that has had a big impact on the investment management industry. We will also discuss the effects of the pandemic on gender equality and how we can work to combat these.
- How can we address issues related to Social Mobility? As PRI’s CEO Fiona Reynolds puts it’ Responsible investors must address systemic racism and inequality. This will be neither simple nor straightforward, but we cannot shy away from the challenge any longer.’ We now find ourselves at an intersection. This is the year for change. It’s time to make some noise!
- How can data and reporting help? Gender pay gap reporting is widely accepted, and discussions are advancing quickly around ethnicity reporting and the ‘Race at work Charter’, which is similar to the ‘Women in Finance Charter’.
- How can we make education key when encouraging diversity within our corporate environments? We are inviting a diverse mix of lower ranked schools/universities to attend our webinars through charities such as Upreach, Investment 2020, Black Enterprise Group, Migrant Leaders and The Diversity Projects ‘Early Career’s workstream – in order to give students from disadvantaged backgrounds the opportunity to hear about careers in Finance and ESG.
6. The Age of Authenticity and ESG: Challenges & Opportunities of AI & FinTech
- What are the primary driving forces in the FinTech space? Almost half of the global workforce today are millennials and they care about ESG. FinTech start-ups with ESG embedded in their businesses are more attractive to the best talent, and can safeguard young fast growing companies from scandal. What can firms do to ensure they are safeguarded, and what are other driving forces in the technology enabled ESG space?
- What are some of the key developments in ESG, AI and Fintech, and implications for corporates and investors? What are the challenges and opportunities of AI and FinTech? Over the last five years we have seen an explosion in VC funds focusing on Fin tech start-ups in the ESG space.
- What are remaining barriers and conundrums that remain in the ESG data domain – and how can AI and Fintech help to address these?
- When people talk about bias in AI? Where does that come from? Can we fix it?
- How far is FinTech/InsurTech contributing to enabling firms to make ESG aspirations a reality?
- Is AI a force FOR ‘ESG-authenticity’ — or a Blocker? Is AI / Fintech a strategic enabler – or a barrier?