Live Course on the Fundamentals of Sustainable and Responsible Investment

Register for the conference, and you will receive a discount on the registration fees for this course.        

The US SIF Foundation will provide a live training on the Fundamentals of Sustainable and Responsible Investment. The morning classroom training will be held from 8 AM to Noon at Morningstar in Chicago on May 21, preceding our annual conference.  Client demand for sustainable and responsible investment continues to grow.  This course is the tool for financial advisors and other professionals to gain the knowledge to meet this demand.  The course will explain how to talk about SRI with clients, incorporate SRI into investment portfolios, and understand the latest trends and research in this field.  It will be led by expert sustainable investment practitioners.

Overview of the course

Module 1: An Overview of SRI

Module 2: SRI Portfolio Construction and Shareowner Advocacy

Module 3: Current SRI Trends and Issues

Module 4: Communicating your SRI Expertise with Clients

Fees for Conference Attendees:

Continuing Education Credits

Fundamentals of Sustainable and Responsible Investment is accepted by the CFP® Board for 3 CE Credits. CFA Institute has also approved this program, offered by US SIF Foundation, for 3 CE credit hours. If you are a CFA Institute member, CE credit for your participation in this program will be automatically recorded in your CE tracking tool.

For more information, please contact Terry Thornton, Assistant Director of Professional Education, at tthornton@ussif.org.

Speakers

	Justin Conway is the Senior Director of Investment Partnerships at Calvert Foundation, a national nonprofit managing over $400 million in community development, microfinance, and social enterprise investments. He is responsible for business and industry development, manages the firm’s financial services and distribution relationships, and works closely with the investors and financial advisors that are at the forefront of using investment capital for social impact. Prior to Calvert Foundation, Conway managed the Community Investment Program of the Social Investment Forum and Green America, where he was instrumental in growing the overall demand for community investing among financial professionals. Before that he worked on economic and legal issues in both Asia and Central America. Conway serves on the board of US SIF and numerous other advisory boards and committees in the sustainable and impact investing industries.
	Paul Ellis has been a certified financial planner and franchise advisor with Ameriprise for over 20 years. He recently sold his franchise practice in order to devote more time to consulting with advisors on incorporating Sustainable and Responsible Investing (SRI) into their practice growth model. Over the past 10 years Ellis has become a nationally recognized expert on sustainable investing. He has been interviewed by the Wall Street Journal and his article on integrating sustainable investing into advisor practices was recently published in Financial Advisor Magazine.  Ellis has established a wide-ranging and deep network within the sustainable investment community, and is regularly called upon to provide the financial advisor’s perspective on investor relations. He communicates regularly with the CEO’s and senior analysts of the largest sustainable investment firms, ensuring that his knowledge of the industry is both cutting edge and personal. A US SIF member since 2003, Ellis is also a member of the US SIF Foundation Education Committee, which developed the Fundamentals of Sustainable and Responsible Investment, US SIF Foundation's first online course.
	Georgett Frazer CPA, CFP®, AIFA® contributed toward the content of the US SIF course: Fundamentals of Sustainable and Responsible Investment. She recently completed a 25+-year career as a financial planner and wealth manager specializing SRI. Her previous work included teaching as a tenured Associate Professor of the Department of Business and Economics at the University of Wisconsin Colleges and conducting research in the fields of risk management and resource economics. Currently Frazer is a consultant to organizations seeking to develop their operational procedures toward a robust fiduciary standard. She serves on US SIF’s Education Committee and as Co-chair of US SIF’s Community Investing Working Group. Frazer is also a member of the Board of Directors for Envest Microfinance Co-operative.
	Darragh Gallant is Managing Director, US and Director of Institutional Relations, North America for Sustainalytics. In her role, Gallant is responsible for managing operations in the US, and for directing business development, sales, marketing and client relations in North America. Gallant has 14 years of experience within the responsible investment industry in the US. Prior to joining Sustainalytics, Gallant directed marketing and client relations for KLD Research & Analytics, Inc., and also has over seven years of experience as an ESG analyst on both the sell side and buy side. Darragh serves on the Steering Committee of SIRAN and board of directors for US SIF and the US SIF Foundation.
	Paul Hilton, CFA, is a Portfolio Manager at Trillium Asset Management. He has been involved in sustainable and responsible investing for over 15 years, working on both the investment and sustainability research and advocacy sides. Prior to joining Trillium in 2011, Hilton was Vice President, Sustainable Investment Business Strategy at Calvert Investments, leading SRI product and business development. He also previously held senior positions within Calvert’s Equities and Marketing Departments. Before Calvert, Hilton served as Portfolio Manager for Socially Responsible Investing at The Dreyfus Corporation, and as Research Analyst in the Social Awareness Investment (SAI) program at Smith Barney Asset Management, then a division of Citigroup. He started his career in the field of SRI as an analyst with the Council on Economic Priorities. Hilton serves as Vice Chair of the board of US SIF. He served as Treasurer of the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP-FI) and was co-project lead on the influential UNEP-FI report entitled: Fiduciary Responsibility – Legal and Practical Aspects of Integrating Environmental, Social and Governance Issues into Institutional Investment.
	Michael Lent is a founding principal and the Chief Investment Officer of Veris Wealth Partners, a wealth management firm specializing in sustainable investing. The firm is dedicated to aligning families’ and foundations’ financial objectives with their mission and values. For 17 years, Lent has delivered financial planning and investment consulting services to high net worth families, family offices and foundations. Prior to Veris, he co-founded the New York office of Progressive Asset Management, the first full service national broker/dealer to focus on socially responsible investing. Lent is currently Chair of the Board of Directors of US SIF: The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment. He is also Treasurer and a Trustee of the Edward W. Hazen Foundation. Lent is a Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA) and a member of the Investment Management Consultants Association (IMCA). He graduated from the University of California at Santa Cruz with a B.A. in Biology.
	Timothy Smith is Senior Vice President and Director of ESG Shareowner Engagement at Walden Asset Management. Smith joined Walden in October 2000. His primary responsibilities include overseeing shareholder advocacy and public policy and being a spokesperson for Walden on ESG issues. Walden has been a national leader in responsible investing for over 35 years, working on the environment, climate change, sweatshops, executive compensation, and corporate governance among other issues. Previously, Smith served for more than two decades as Executive Director of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, where he helped translate statements of concern by the religious community about corporate conduct into action and assisted ICCR’s religious member organizations and responsible investment partners in their ethical investing and shareholder advocacy.