Markets, Mission and Materiality will present compelling and informative sessions on emerging issues and key trends in sustainable and responsible investing, both for experienced practitioners and those new to the field.
This website will be updated frequently as new information becomes available Please check back regularly to see additional speakers and other program details.
We encourage you to stay until the scheduled conclusion of the US SIF Conference on Wednesday, May 21st to enjoy an exciting discussion regarding Challenges and Opportunities in Company Sustainability Practices, featuring panelists from McDonald's, Dupont and Hilton Worldwide. A closing wine reception will follow at 3:00 PM, exclusive to all US SIF conference attendees and exhibitors!
This year’s agenda will feature three parts: a review on the impact of community development finance institutions (CDFIs) based on a report released by the Carsey Institute, a discussion on two key “disruptors” --crowdfunding and the millennial generation--in the marketplace, and updates on the work of the members of the Community Investing Working Group. Enjoy an opportunity to learn and brainstorm about new developments and trends in community investing.
Approved for one CFP® continuing education credit. Approved for one CFA Institute continuing education credit. Approved for one IMCA (CIMA, CIMC, and CPWA) continuing education credit.
This year’s meeting will feature updates on the work of the Indigenous Peoples Working Group as well as the work of key partners in the areas of policy, corporate engagement, civil rights and community development. A strategic discussion will also be held on how the SRI field and IPWG can contribute to the work of its colleagues.
Corporations and Political Conflict
When corporations get caught up in political conflicts, what is an investor to do? Governments may issue edicts or impose sanctions on other countries for political reasons that potentially damage a company’s business interests, and investors can lose out. What is corporate best practice when operating in areas with abusive political power? How can investors be cognizant of risks and engage most effectively? Examples of such conflicts exist on different scales, from the dispute between Russia and Ukraine, to internal conflict inVenezuela or Egypt. What is the role of companies and investors to influence legislative or regulatory policies that protect business interests from political conflicts?
The Role of NGOs in Pursuing Corporate Change
Investors and NGOs are some of the most important stakeholders in promoting corporate change. But are their interests always aligned? This panel will discuss the various strategies and tactics employed by NGOs to advocate change in the areas of sustainability and responsible corporate behavior and how their role has evolved over the years. Are today’s NGOs sophisticated in building multi-stakeholder dialogues with companies to promote positive change? And what happens when their agenda is not aligned with shareholder value creation? In what situations should investors and NGOs collaborate and when is it counterproductive to collaborate? How can adversarial tactics employed by NGOs impact investor engagement with companies? We will hear from specialists, including NGO, investor, and company representatives.
Approved for three CFP® continuing education credits. Approved for three CFA Institute continuing education credits. Approved for three IMCA (CIMA, CIMC, and CPWA) continuing education credits.
The US SIF Foundation will provide a live training on the Fundamentals of Sustainable and Responsible Investment. 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.
Sustainable and responsible investment practitioners want to get the message out about the importance and impact of sustainability practices. They often do not make the time, or have the confidence or know-how to promote their views in the marketplace of public opinion. This session will ask and help us answer: What do we know, why does it matter, and how can we maximize our influence and impact? In this 2-hour interactive keynote, senior journalists from The Op Ed Project* will teach us how to own our expertise and make it heard. They will walk participants through the cutting edge research and methodology that the Project has unrolled at leading universities and foundations across the nation. Using live “thought experiments” and scenarios, they will address the core questions of influence and thought leadership. US SIF members will gain a better understanding of their own knowledge and experience, as well as actionable steps. This session has been made possible through the financial support of US SIF member Michelle Clayman, Managing Partner & CIO, New Amsterdam Partners.
*The OpEd Project is a social venture founded to increase the range of voices and quality of ideas in the world, starting with more women's voices. Working with top universities, foundations, think tanks, nonprofits, corporations and community organizations, the Project scouts and trains under-represented experts to take thought leadership positions in their fields. This session is open to all US SIF members attending Member Day.
Lisa Woll, CEO, US SIF Paul Hilton, Chair, US SIF
Michael Jantzi, CEO, Sustainalytics (moderator) Will Oulton,Global Head of Responsible Investment, First State Investments; Eurosif Board Member Jessica Robinson, CEO, the Association for Sustainable and Responsible Investment in Asia (ASrIA) Lisa Woll, CEO, US SIF and the US SIF Foundation
Description:
A look at some key issues in responsible investment in some of the world’s biggest regions. Representatives from Asia, Europe and the Americas will discuss the cultural, political and economic forces that shape sustainable investment in their regions and the prospects for further growth. They will focus in particular on developments since 2012, when the member associations of the Global Sustainable Investment Alliance published the first high-level review of sustainable investment worldwide.
Speakers:
Jed Emerson, Chief Impact Strategist, ImpactAssets Surya Kolluri, Managing Director, Policy and Market Planning, Bank of America Merrill Lynch Michael Sidgmore, Vice President, iCapital Network (moderator) Liesel Pritzker Simmons, Co-Founder, The Blue Haven Initiative
Over the next 40 years, Generation X and the Millennial Generation will potentially inherit an estimated $41 trillion from the Baby Boomer Generation. This new generation has a different view on the role of investing and its potential to solve the world’s most pressing social and environmental problems, commonly referred to as sustainable or impact investing. Join this panel to hear insights on the attitudes and goals of Generation X and Generation Y investors and how they are investing differently than their parents and prior generations.
Barb Brown, Principal and Co-Founder, BrownFlynn (moderator) Divya Mankikar, Vice President, North America, Trucost Curtis Ravenel, Global Head of Sustainability, Bloomberg, LP; Member, SASB Advisory Council Heidi Soumerai, Director of Environmental, Social and Governance Research, Walden Asset Management
Investors are demanding, and robust improvements are taking place, in portfolio-level performance reporting, specifically with regard to the environmental, social and governance (ESG) impacts of decisions at the asset management level. With materiality finally being codified and closely measured, investors have the opportunity to gain more insight than ever before into how their investments are performing from an ESG perspective. We'll hear from the architects of the most state-of-the-art materiality frameworks, as well as those implementing portfolio performance measurement and auditing, with an eye on where the field is heading over the next several years.
Ellen Kennedy, Manager, Environment, Water and Climate Change, Calvert Investments Tom Langan, Head of Government Relations and External Affairs, North America, Unilever Andrew Revkin, Writer, Dot Earth blog (moderator) Roland Van der Meer, Principal, Equilibrium Capital
By 2050 or so, the human population is expected to reach nine billion, essentially adding two Chinas to the number of people alive today. Those billions will be seeking food, water and other resources on a planet increasingly being hit by the effects of climate change. How can agricultural productivity be increased sustainably to ensure availability and access to all? This panel will discuss what these climatic shifts mean for companies in the food and agriculture business -- and how some investors are taking these projections into account.
Headley Butler, President and CEO, Landon Butler Shari Gilfillan, Equity Strategist for Sustainable Investors, UBS Scott Perry, Partner, NEPC (moderator) Brian Rice, Investment Officer, California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS)
Numerous large retirement systems are committed in principle to assessing environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria to manage portfolio risk and improve portfolio performance over the long term. In practice, the implementation of these principles depends on the expertise of the plan sponsors’ investment managers. This session, moderated by an investment consultant, will feature a representative from a state pension fund and two investment managers who work with retirement systems, who will share their experience in executing client objectives. What questions are being asked on ESG integration? How are these interactions changing manager attitudes and behaviors? What are the prospects for driving ESG integration deeper into the investment process?
Lisa Hayles, Institutional Investment Services, Boston Common Asset Management (moderator) Richard Liroff, Executive Director, Investor Environmental Health Network (IEHN) Mark Rossi, Co-Director, Clean Production Action, Founder and Chair of BizNGO Larisa Ruoff, Director, Shareholder Advocacy, The Sustainability Group of Loring, Wolcott & Coolidge
With serious regulatory gaps covering toxic substances, consumers and investors are increasingly concerned about the toxics commonly found in home cleaning, health and personal care products and urging the private sector to commit to more responsible product development. This panel will discuss recent initiatives by retail companies as well as consumer and healthcare products companies who are showing leadership in this area and look at how investors can help drive change.
Elise Balboni, Senior Vice President of Lending, Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Elyse Cherry, CEO, Boston Community Capital Kimberlee Cornett, Director, Social Investments, Kresge Foundation (moderator) Dave Castillo, CEO, Native Home Capital Napoleon Wallace, Executive Staff, Self-Help Credit Union
The session will focus on tangible community investing opportunities in three sectors—housing, small business development and consumer finance. It will also look at the role of intermediaries in identifying investible opportunities, achieving scale and measuring outcomes.
Can restaurants be sustainable if their workers struggle to live on some of the lowest wages in the United States? Saru Jayaraman, Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC-United), will discuss the US political policies that have created these conditions as well as ROC United’s efforts to organize restaurant workers to win workplace justice campaigns, partner with responsible restaurants, and launch cooperatively-owned restaurants. She will also share her ideas on how responsible investors can help promote positive changes in this sector.
The Hamilton LIVE!
Joined by Enclude President & CEO Laurie Spengler as a discussant, journalist and author of The Economics of Integrity Anna Bernasek will discuss the importance of trust and integrity as a largely invisible yet key foundation of our economy. Drawing on a variety of sectors as examples, Bernasek will explore how trust is involved in the simplest of transactions and what role trust and integrity can play in the continuing economic recovery after the 2008 financial crisis.
Approved for one CFP® continuing education credit. Approved for one CFA Standards, Ethics, and Regulations (SER) credit. Approved for one IMCA (CIMA, CIMC, and CPWA) continuing education credit.
Speakers: Benjamin Bailey, Portfolio Manager, Praxis Mutual Funds Michael Lent, Chief Investment Officer, Veris Wealth Partners (moderator) David Sand, Chief Investment Strategist, Community Capital Management Andrea Phillips, Vice President, Goldman Sachs
As a follow-up to last year’s well-regarded panel, “The Emergence of Fixed Income in Sustainable Investing,” this panel will hear from portfolio managers on the new and innovative ways that fixed income impact and sustainable investing is helping to fund the new economy—and the practical realities of incorporating it in performance-driven portfolios. Topics will include social impact bonds, green bonds and funding for disaster recovery/resilience.
Ellen Dorsey, Executive Director, Wallace Global Fund Linda-Eling Lee, Global Head of ESG Research, MSCI, (moderator) Spencer Hempleman, Portfolio Manager, Ardsley Partners Fredrik Regland, Quantitative Analyst, Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund (AP4)
The world has a rapidly closing window of opportunity to avert planetary disaster caused by runaway climate change. A financing gap exists between our existing energy mix, and the low carbon future we know we must be building towards. The session will discuss the portfolio benefits associated with lowered carbon exposure, speak to steps currently being taken by investors to address carbon in their portfolios, and explore new developments and investment vehicles for those seeking to enable the low carbon economy.
Josh Bivens, Research and Policy Director, Economic Policy Institute Michael Lind, Policy Director, Economic Growth Program, New America Foundation Cheryl Smith, Managing Partner, Trillium Asset Management (moderator) Scott Zdrazil, First Vice President, Director of Corporate Governance, Amalgamated Bank
Should investors care about the growing income inequality in the United States? If so, what actions can they take? This panel will provide an overview of the macroeconomic impact of income inequality and feature specific initiatives investors can support to develop high quality jobs and ensure greater wage security for workers in specific communities and sectors.
Lisa Woll, CEO of US SIF, will sit down with Former US Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle to talk about the importance of the engagement of sustainable, responsible and impact investors on Capitol Hill, how we can be most effective in pursuing a more sustainable financial system, and some of the many key social and environmental issues that investors seek to advance.
William Rosenzweig, founding CEO of the Republic of Tea, winner of the Oslo Business for Peace award, first director of UC Berkeley's Center for Responsible Business, and the founder of Physic Ventures, will talk about the challenges and opportunities in creating businesses rooted in delivering innovative products and advancing social and environmental value. He will assess how far we have come in creating a new model for companies, and the distance we still have to travel before all entrepreneurship is socially grounded.
Moderator: Erika Karp, CEO, Cornerstone Capital, Inc. Panelists:
Jeffrey Hogue, Senior Director of Global CSR and Sustainability, McDonald’s Dawn Rittenhouse, Director of Sustainable Development, DuPont Jennifer Silberman, Vice President of Corporate Sustainability, Hilton Worldwide
Senior sustainability officers from three diverse publicly traded US companies will discuss how they assess the sustainability challenges before their companies, decide which are material to their operations, and use improvements in this area as a driver of growth.