Sustainable Investing: Risk, Value, Impact 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. Note: Agenda is subject to change.
The Community Investing Working Group (CIWG) has organized a tour around the Pilsen area of Chicago where Second Federal, now a division of Self-Help Federal Credit Union, offers new mortgage loans and financial products tailored to meet the needs of its predominantly Latino and immigrant community.
We will visit historic murals in Pilsen, do a mortgage modification street tour, meet a small business borrower, and tour La Casa, TRP's student housing development financed by Self-Help.
Agenda
Space is limited! Please indicate during registration for the US SIF conference if you plan to attend. The tour will return to the Westin hotel by 4:00pm.
Investing to Advance Women Globally
The role of women in the workplace - particularly at the board level - has received a significant amount of attention recently in the US and abroad. At the same time, there has also been a number of grassroots initiatives to further the social and economic empowerment of women and girls. The economic returns from supporting the full participation of women are widely understood - so what can investors do to address barriers and expand opportunities for women? Join us for a discussion of best practice examples of research, engagement and advocacy work with the aim of advancing women.
We plan to discuss both top-down and bottom up initiatives - from increasing boardroom diversity and women in senior leadership roles, to working to support women entrepreneurs and workers in the agricultural supply chain.
Panel 1: Research from around the world on women, inequality and corporate performance
Moderator: Sonia Kowal, Zevin Asset Management
Speakers: Kathy Mulvey, EIRIS/Conflict Risk Network; Howard Sherman, MSCI; Sarah Smith, Sustainalytics
Panel 2: What’s New in Shareholder Advocacy and Proxy Voting in Relation to Gender Equality?
Moderator : Shadé Brown, Calvert Investments
Speakers : Susan Baker, Trillium Asset Management; Courtney Keating, Glass Lewis
Panel 3: Specific Global Initiatives in Support of Women’s Empowerment
Moderator : Lisa Hayles, Boston Common Asset Management
Speakers : Mara Bolis, Oxfam America, Joe Keefe, Pax World
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.
4:30 – 5:00 Welcome and Update on US SIF Policy Priorities
5:00 – 5:30 Climate Change & The Road to Paris – Opportunities for Investors
Speakers:
Join us for a members-only briefing to explore US SIF policy priorities, celebrate our 2014 accomplishments, and share perspectives on the priorities and critical opportunities for investors to act on climate. In December 2015, delegates from 196 countries will gather in Paris for COP21, the 21st Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC). The world will be looking to these leaders to reach a new global agreement to address climate change and boost the transition towards resilient, low-carbon societies and economies. Al Gore has coined 2015 “the Year of Climate.” As we look ahead to Paris, what are the relevant issues for US SIF members and how can we take action together?
THIS MEETING IS OPEN TO ALL MEMBERS
Join US SIF and US SIF Foundation’s board, staff and your fellow members for the 2015 Annual Meeting! Priority items for discussion this year are US SIF’s 2016-2018 Strategic Planning process (including hearing from our strategic planning firm), the results of the demand assessment for an ESG/SRI certification and education, and 2016 plans for a joint initiative with the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) to promote sustainable investment. We will also do a brief overview of our 2014 work and 2015 priorities. You will also have a chance to meet our newly elected board directors. We look forward to seeing you at this important annual meeting. Not a member? Join Today!
Welcome and Conference Kick-off:
Opening Plenary: The Climate Challenge for Utilities
Drawing from 25 years of leadership in the electric utility sector, James Rogers will share his analysis of how domestic and international climate policy, combined with rapidly developing renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies, will affect energy providers in the next decade. What are the hallmarks of utilities and energy companies that are poised to compete and thrive in this changing landscape? How can we harness new technologies to provide clean sources of power to the 1.2 billion people on the planet who lack access to electricity?
Description:
Shareholder advocacy is a core strategy of sustainable and responsible investing, and filing shareholder resolutions is one of the most visible ways in which investors can practice responsible ownership. In recent years, more than 200 institutional investors and money managers have filed resolutions on environmental, social and governance issues at US publicly traded companies in order to make boards more accountable, to question risky executive pay practices and to raise concerns about unbridled corporate political spending, climate risk and numerous other issues. This panel will conduct a mid-season review of the leading campaigns of the 2015 proxy season, and their successes, disappointments and surprises.
Given the challenges of curbing the world's carbon dioxide and methane output—yet still keep the lights on and provide energy access to the 1.3 billion still in the dark—how can investors best navigate the current regulatory framework and reward innovative corporate approaches to produce and use low carbon energy? How can NGOs help influence the regulatory framework and investors to meet these challenges as we move toward the Paris COP meetings in December?
Approved for one CFP® continuing education credit. Approved for one CFA Institute continuing education credit. Aproved for one and a half IMCA (CIMA, CIMC, and CPWA) continuing education credits.
Description: Among the exciting new trends in sustainable investing is a focus on place. Concentrating investment capital on specific geographic regions can yield significant social and environmental impact alongside financial returns. Ideally the capital works in concert with existing philanthropic or government interventions, both financial and social, and taps the growing interest in investing in one’s backyard. A holistic approach can become a virtuous cycle: identifying and capitalizing on diverse areas of opportunity, and solving local problems. During this session, hear a range of perspectives from those actively implementing this approach as they discuss their motivations, strategies and experiences. Approved for one CFP® continuing education credit. Approved for one CFA Institute continuing education credit. Approved for one and a half IMCA (CIMA, CIMC, and CPWA) continuing education credits.
When considering corporate governance, what does it mean for US investors that Alibaba is based in China, Rakuten in Japan and Novartis in Switzerland? Each of these companies rises from starkly different cultures and regulatory regimes. Even within the familiar confines of the United States, corporate governance norms vary dramatically between staid old blue chips and frenetic young tech IPOs. Join us to discuss how corporate governance practices differ across cultural divides, including a review of how shareholder rights and ownership structure vary by market and company type and whether engagement is a standard practice or the exception to the rule.
The US SIF Foundation’s 2014 "Trends Report" indicates that over $6 trillion is invested or managed with attention to environmental, social and governance criteria. Advisors and consultants use the report to demonstrate growth in the sustainable and responsible investment industry. But what’s behind the numbers? How do investment consultants view the report and does their client experience substantiate the Trends’ findings? How does the media understand these numbers? And are investors really “walking the talk”?
This panel focuses on how sustainable and impact investors are addressing water-related investment risks and opportunities across sectors and asset classes. Panelists will include public equity investors who evaluate water-related management risks for different industry sectors as well as more thematic public & private equity investors who are focused on creating positive impact with investments that address different aspects of the water crisis such as infrastructure, water quality and supply, water treatment technologies and , water resource management and pricing.
In the world of private equity, a focus on sustainability is helping to identify total market return opportunities. We will learn about how ESG factors are being used to drive innovation in business models and how private capital more generally is participating in solving some of the world’s most important systemic challenges.
Darren Walker, President of the Ford Foundation, and Lisa Woll, CEO of US SIF, will have a conversation about the challenges and opportunities in global social change, ranging from sustainable development and accountable governments to economic opportunity and criminal justice. They will also talk about the National Advisory Board on Impact Investing, and how the Ford Foundation is working to ensure investment capital strengthens communities and advances social justice. You won’t want to miss this one.
The United States is the world's leader in incarceration with 2.2 million people currently in its prisons or jails--a 500 percent increase over the past 30 years, even though violent crime has decreased 60 percent over the same period. Less understood is the role that investors unwittingly play in this system through portfolio companies involved with private for profit prisons, prison labor or blocking employment for ex-prisoners.
Women have made advances in the United States and around the world in recent decades, but they have not achieved parity with men on socioeconomic measures ranging from pay and access to capital to representation on the boards of major corporations. A growing body of evidence suggests there is not only a moral argument for investing in women, but a business case as well. In response, several investment firms have created products to support companies and other institutions seeking to help women advance at all economic levels. This panel will explore these recent developments and the case for investing with a “gender lens.”
The art and science of ESG integration is rapidly growing and evolving. As more managers are incorporating ESG analyses into their strategies and doing so in different ways, how do consultants and asset owners evaluate them? Which strategies represent credible ESG integration, and which could be considered green-washing? How is impact on performance assessed?
Submitted for one CFP® continuing education credit. Approved for one CFA Institute continuing education credit. Submitted for one IMCA (CIMA, CIMC, and CPWA) continuing education credit.
John Taft, CEO of RBC Wealth Management-US, will discuss the ideas brought forth in his new book, A Force for Good, on how the financial services industry can contribute to positive social goals. In addition to Taft’s thoughts on the subject, the book includes recommendations from more than 20 respected financial minds – including former FDIC Chair Sheila Bair, David Blood of Generation Investment Management and John Fullerton of the Capital Institute. Drawing on these suggestions, Taft will elaborate on the concept of "Enlightened Finance" and how its principles can help address societal issues of concern, such as income inequality and climate change.
Eileen Fisher, the CEO of the apparel firm that bears her name, will discuss the novel ways in which her company puts sustainable practices at the core of its business model. Through programs such as Green Eileen and partnerships with organizations specializing in sustainability and women’s empowerment strategies, Eileen Fisher acts in support of the view that businesses can change the world and contribute to Gross National Happiness.
There has been an explosion in attention to climate risk and sustainability in higher education in the last decade that spans education, research, operations and community support that portends well for moving society on a more sustainable path, especially because higher education educates all of society's professionals and leaders. However, higher education has lagged behind foundations, pension funds, faith-based and other institutions with a public mission in aligning its $500 billion endowments with its mission and broad sustainability goals. The student-led fossil fuel divestment movement in the last three years has significantly changed the discussion about the direction of endowments. This panel will highlight how higher education is dealing with this issue and provide some insight into the future for this sector.