The debate about how to integrate sustainable and ESG approaches to investment management has focused a lot on the returns generated by comparing both inclusionary and exclusionary approaches to major market indices…. But how much more, or less, should you be willing to pay for a company based on whether it’s sustainable?
Our guests for this panel include Shaheen Contractor, Senior Research Strategist, Environmental, Social and Governance, Bloomberg Intelligence and Robert Fernandez, Director of ESG Research, Breckinridge Advisors, a $44 bln aum fixed income asset manager in Boston.
They will help us dig into research supporting their conclusions and discuss how to integrate thinking about what sustainability is worth into calculating both equity and bond valuations. Douglas Burtnick, CFA a member of the CFAP SITLG, long-time sustainable investor and former deputy head of North American Equities at Aberdeen will moderate.
About Our Panelists & the CFAP Sustainable Investing Thought Leadership Group:
Shaheen Contractor, CFA, is a Senior Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Research Strategist for Bloomberg Intelligence, a platform that provides research on industries, companies, government, litigation and the economy, available on the Bloomberg Professional Services at BI. Her research efforts include analyzing ESG performance and its impact on risk, return and valuations across industries; drivers and challenges for ESG funds and the impacts of a low carbon transition.
Mrs. Contractor has a Master of Science degree in Sustainability Management from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree from Symbiosis International University.
Robert Fernandez, CFA is director, environmental, social and governance (ESG) research at Breckinridge Capital Advisors, an investment advisor based in Boston. He is also a member of the firm’s Sustainability Committee and Stewardship Committee.
In his role, Rob leads Breckinridge’s ongoing ESG integration and engagement efforts, regularly contributes thought leadership and performs corporate credit analysis. Rob is a member of the Board of Directors for the United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley and a member of the CFA Institute's ESG Technical Committee.
He holds a B.S. from Boston College, an MBA from the Boston University School of Management, and a Master of Liberal Arts in Sustainability from the Harvard University Extension School. He is a CFA Charterholder and is an FSA Credential holder.
Dr Cornelis T. van der Lugt is Senior Manager at S&P Global, where he leads from Switzerland the IT & COMMS, REAL ESTATE and FINANCE Sectors in its ESG Research Branch. The Branch manages the annual S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA), developed to provide CSA Scores that are among the key factors considered for determining eligibility of companies for potential inclusion in the S&P Dow Jones Indices’ Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI), as well as numerous other ESG Indices including the S&P 500 ESG and the S&P Global 1200 ESG Indices.
Cornis has over 20 years of experience working globally in the field of sustainability standards and responsible investment. He holds the SASB FSA credential, Certified ESG Analyst qualification of the European Federation of Financial Analysts Societies (EFFAS), MBA from the business school Haute Ecole de Commerce (HEC) in Paris, France, and PhD from the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa.
The CFAP Sustainable Investing Thought Leadership Group provides a forum to advance the dialogue regarding the role of sustainable investing in today's capital markets and beyond. In particular, the group directs its attention to furthering an understanding and clarifying the risks and opportunities linked to environmental, social, and governance issues.
If you have any questions regarding becoming part of the Sustainable Investing Thought Leadership Group, please contact CFAP member Michael Cosack at [email protected].