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Global Sustain Forum sum up: 4th ESG Responsible Investments & Sustainable Finance Forum

Global Sustain GmbH part of Global Sustain Group (https://globalsustaingroup.com/) organised successfully for the fourth consecutive year in collaboration with Forum for Responsible Investment (FNG) & InvestitionsBank Berlin the 4th ESG Responsible Investments & Sustainable Finance Forum Series in Berlin on 1.10.2019 at the Conference Centre of InvestitionsBank Berlin (www.esgconference.com) with the participation of 17 senior speakers from 6 countries and with the support of 20 forum partners from 6 countries. The above forum format series is a unique international communication and dialogue platform regarding ESG Responsible Investing and Sustainable Finance topics for the Financial, Investment, Banking Industries as well as for Sustainability sector and Policy too.

Forum conclusions and highlights.
Some common remarks from most forum speakers, presentations and panels were the following: ESG Responsible Investment and sustainable finance strategies are no longer something nice to have but “must” have for Banks, Asset Managers, Investors in general especially in the light of the upcoming EU Taxonomy Regulation, as well as for corporations, especially for the listed ones. The ESG market is growing in the last years in Europe as well as globally.

There is an increasing number of PRI Signatories as well as a growing number of ESG funds and ESG relevant funds, due to higher demand by investors, especially by institutional investors. Many mainstream Asset Managers already offer ESG financial products or plan to offer ESG relevant financial products. Market studies and market practices showcase a correlation between ESG Investment Strategies with Risk Reduction as well as with better Performance, especially in the midterm and long term.

 

Sustainable Finance is not only about Responsible Investments but also about Responsible Banking and responsible project finance / loan policy. Therefore Banks also should have ESG integrated into their core strategy. The great support of the UNEP FI Initiative by many leading banks confirm the high interest of banks on topic too. There is a growing number of market driven ESG relevant self-regulation initiatives, beyond PRI (such as UNEP, TCFD etc.), which are in the right direction and will contribute positively in the development of an ESG culture, educating also the market.

The recognition of commonly accepted ESG Standards and Strategies is perhaps one of the largest industry challenges and this problem needs to be tackled. The EU Taxonomy contributes in that direction, but it is not enough as condition. The upcoming EU Taxonomy Regulation, which is in the right direction, will impact and change the financial and investment field and will be a step forward for a new era in sustainable finance and ESG Investing for Investors, Banks, Insurances, Financial Advisors, Rating Agencies etc.

There is an ESG Investing and Sustainable Finance Policy and Regulatory Push but that is not enough. Though the EU Taxonomy will not solve all the problems and challenges of the Sustainable Finance Industry. Europe is currently leading the way in sustainable finance. It is inevitable that the US will follow probably with a similar regulation. Except the need for common ESG Standards, a more structured and with clear rules ESG Dialogue between Investors and corporations will help too. Banks should be also able with ESG Strategies to evaluate better their investment and credit risks and opportunities.

The lack of commonly recognized ESG Investing Standards, the existing “Green Washing” trend in the financial industry by some market players, the lack of clear ESG relevant regulation globally, the lack of market education and expertise, the use of still different language between investors and corporations and the necessity for use of reliable ESG score models and ESG relevant software tools are just a few of the challenges for the financial and investment industry.

Central Banks need also to take action in a more ESG relevant direction. The policy and regulatory push is a first positive step. More steps need to be taken towards the path of commonly recognized ESG standards. The good news is, that the ESG Investments market does not look like currently a market bubble. The market trends look positive also for the coming period. It seems, we are at the beginning of a market journey, where ESG Investing will turn potentially from niche to mainstream.

Forum was supported by established brands and organisations: InvestitionsBank Berlin, Forum for Responsible Investment, RepRisk, Trillium Asset Management, WeSustain, Piraeus Bank, Allianz Agency Buesch, Bethmann Bank, SRH Berlin University of Applied Sciences, Handelsblatt (Sustainable Investments Edition), CSRWire, Absolute Research, Altii.de, GeSi, Good Events, ANT1 Group, CAPITALS Circle Group, FinTech Summit, York Finance Conference, International Bankers Forum.

Among forum speakers were senior executives from: RepRisk, Trillium Asset Management, EBRD, European Investment Fund, InvestitionsBank Berlin, FNG, Piraeus Bank, Santander, Luxemburg Stock Exchange, Oil & Gas Climate Initiative, CRIC, Social Value International, Global Sustain etc.

We are excited and we announce that Global Sustain is going to organize also in 2020 the 5th ESG Responsible Investments & Sustainable Finance Forum Series in Frankfurt and in Berlin. Dates to be announced. For further information and forums partnership opportunities, please contact:
International.affairs@globalsustain.org. 

 

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Highlights of 4th ESG Responsible Investments & Sustainable Finance Forum

Frankfurt 2019

4th ESG Responsible Investments & Sustainable Finance Forum Frankfurt 2019

Global Sustain Group (https://globalsustaingroup.com/) organised successfully for fourth consecutive year in collaboration with Forum for Responsible Investment (FNG) & SEB AB Frankfurt Branch the 4^th ESG Responsible Investments & Sustainable Finance Forum  in Frankfurt on  21.5.2019. 

Among forum speakers were senior managers from: European Investment Bank (EIB), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), SEB AB Frankfurt Branch, BMO Global Asset Management, FNG, Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI), Cicero Climate Research Center, SD-M, Global Sustain and others.

Based on the speakers’ presentations, the panel interactive discussions and remarks, following are in brief the main topics, highlights and conclusions of the forum.

A common conclusion and signal from all speakers and panels was, that the ESG Market in most asset classes and especially fixed income (and especially Green Bonds) is not only growing gradually in the last years with positive trends, but there is also a high demand for such ESG products. In other words, ESG is turning from a Niche Trend to a Mainstream Trend. The PRI signatories number is rising, the ESG Assets under Management (AuM) and the number of Mainstream Investors turning into ESG is also rising.

There are many different ESG Investment Strategies and ESG Investment Score Models and one has to be careful, which ones we use, how to use them and how to evaluate them, therefore there is a need for a very careful approach to the ESG Investment process. There was a common estimation, that ESG Engagement Dialogue and link ESG with TCFD can be helpful. All these KPIs are growing, confirming the ESG positive market trend not only at the institutional level but also at the retail market as well.   

Volker Weber, President FNG, referred to the activities of FNG and growing interest by banks and investors in ESG as well as on the positive market trend of ESG Investments. 

Stefan Pletzer, Head of Financial Institutions, SEB AB Frankfurt Branch as well as other senior SEB managers (Christina Wadsjö, Co-Head ESG Analysis der SEB Investment Management AB, Terje Anderson, Head of Markets, SEB AB Frankfurt Branch) referred to the rising demand for ESG products, especially in the Green Bonds market, confirmed the outperformance of ESG products, especially Green Bonds VS mainstream bonds, estimated also a positive trend for ESG market in the next years, talked about the importance of engagement and ESG dialogue and underlined the importance of climate risk as financial risk and among ESG factors, with environment as the most important and more concrete quantifiable one. 

Yannis Salavopoulos, Managing Director Global Sustain GmbH & Group Head Int. Affairs (Forum host), referred among others to the comparative advantage ofthe already ESG-ready Investors, VS Mainstream ones, on the light of the upcoming new EU Regulation on Sustainable Investment Disclosure Rules, which is changing the investment industry as we know it. He mentioned the need for common ESG Standards, substantial ESG Integration (quantifying the weight of E, S & G) and adoption of structured ESG Dialogue by Investors.

He projected following trends for the coming years in the ESG market: 1. More ESG oriented Regulation in EU. Towards common accepted standards as the greatest challenge. 2. More and new ESG Market Players. 3. From exclusion to greater ESG Integration.Differentiation between ESG Strategies. 4. Greater Shareholder Dialogue & Activism. 5. More Sophisticated and ESG-relevant Reporting by listed Corporates, More divestments in specific sectors with negative ESG impact. 

Michael Spanos, Managing Director, Global Sustain Group, underlined the importance of climate Risk as Financial factor and the TCFD Initiative and Reporting as well as the link between TCFD & ESG. He talked about the TCFD Reporting both for Corporates, Banks and Investors linking it with the ESG integration by listed Corporates. He also referred to the alignment of the TCFD Recommendations with the European Directive on Non-Financial Reporting (NFR) and highlighted some case studies of the current practices in TCFD reporting, presenting also a roadmap for companies to consider towards the transition to a low carbon economy.  

Nina Roth, Director, ESG Investments, BMO Global Asset Management referred among others, to the importance of ESG Engagement Dialogue with companies, in which is invested as success factor with three different approaches linking all three also with UN SDGs integration: Bottom up (Prioritize companies), top down (thematic engagement), event – driven (reactive engagement).  

Marius Cara, Deputy Director, Investor Relations, European Investment Bank, referred to the leading role of EIB as important stakeholder in the discussions about the upcoming EU Regulation on Sustainable Investments Disclosure Rules, to the recent successful launch of the first Sustainability Awareness Bond by EIB, following many series of Green Bonds in the past. EIB is acting as a catalyst in the Bonds market, confirming the high demand, dynamism and positive trend of the Green Bonds and Sustainability Bonds in general.  

Dr. Axel Hesse, Founder S-DM GmbH, talked about a positive trend in the ESG market, on the importance and added value of ESG Analysis and focused on the need of common recognised ESG Standards and also on how and which is the best way to achieve common ESG Standards.   

Maya Hennerkes, Lead ESG, Financial Intermediaries, EBRD, mentioned among others, that ESG is already an important topic not only at EBRD but also even Central Banks call for action and consider all three ESG pillars important. For EBRD, ESG is important both for the strategy as well as in the financing of projects. ESG performance is a requirement for EBRD when evaluating projects for financing. 

Luis Neves, Managing Director of Global e-Sustainability Initiative underlined the importance of linking Sustainability and ESG with Digital Transformation and Innovation. All corporations need in the future to adopt more innovative software solutions, in order to analyse investment decisions as well as different climate risk scenarios and be able to identify climate risks and opportunities by being able to evaluate metrics with the use of technology. GeSI has developed a technology software toolkit and guide on how to apply a standard approach to TCFD across the ICT sector. 

Alexander Oliver Berg, Senior Advisor, CICERO Climate Research Institute, was as all other speakers very positive about the ESG Market trend and especially the Green Bonds Market but was relatively critical towards the upcoming EU Regulation. He argued that the EU Regulation may lead to a niche market, if definitions are too strict and/or to the lowest common denominator, the taxonomy could de-motivate green market leaders, the proposed taxonomy approach does not currently provide an integrated framework for informing investors about climate and environmental risks. CICERO has developed a proprietary ‘green’ ranking system, which was presented at the Forum.

Among forum partners this year were: SEB AB Frankfurt Branch, Trillium Asset Management (USA), Bethmann Bank (ABN AMRO Group) FNG, Handelsblatt, Global e-Sustainability Initiative, Absolute Research, Altii.de, Good Events, ANT1 Group, CAPITALS Circle Group. Forum was featured on various German media.

Save the Date for the 4^th ESG Responsible Investments & Sustainable Finance Forum in Berlin on 1.10.2019 – http://esgconference.com/. For further information and forums partnership opportunities, please contact: International.affairs@globalsustain.org.

 

 

 

(Frankfurt, 21.5.2019 in cooperation with SEB AB -Frankfurt Branch- & FNG and in Berlin, 1.10.2019 in cooperation with Investment Bank Berlin & FNG)

Forum web: www.esgconference.com

Global Sustain Group (https://globalsustaingroup.com/) organizes for fourth consecutive year in collaboration with Forum for Responsible Investment (FNG – the leading Association for ESG & Sustainable Finance in Germany, Austria, Switzerland & Lichtenstein) the 4^th ESG Responsible Investments & Sustainable Finance Forum Series 2019 (http://esgconference.com/) in Frankfurt on 21.5.2019 in cooperation with SEB Bank AB -Frankfurt Branch- (SEB AB Bank Conference Centre) and in Berlin on 1.10.2018 in cooperation with Investment Bank Berlin (IBB Conference Centre).

The ESG Responsible Investments & Sustainable Finance Forum has been established as a unique international knowledge transfer, dialogue and network platform in the financial, investment and banking industry, connecting ESG Investments, Sustainable Finance & Banking with Sustainable Brands, bringing together senior speakers and attendees from above fields, offering sophisticated knowledge from senior experts, high level dialogue, and networking.

Among forum partners are SEB AB (Bank), Investment Bank Berlin, Trillium Asset Management, FNG, Absolute Research, CAPITALS Circle Group etc. Among forum speakers are seniors from above organisations as well as from European Investment Bank, MARS Europe, Social Value International etc.

The ESG / SRI Market grows at a stable pace in the last years and it is becoming gradually from a niche to a market trend, since most main market players, even mainstream ones, offer already ESG products. The Forum is a high level business dialogue on the actual ESG / SRI Market Trends and ESG Investment Strategies, the most trendy sectors and thematic topics for ESG Investors, the proposed by EU Sustainable Finance Regulatory – Taxonomy Legal Framework, new Sustainable Finance Initiatives, the TCFD and other trends as well as evaluation of ESG Data, the integration of ESG Metrics not only in the Investors & Asset Management Firms’ Strategies but also in the Corporations’ Strategy.

Global Sustain Group is an international Consulting with 13+ years market presence (GRI Data Partner, PRI, TCFD Signatory) and expertise in ESG Strategies & Models, ESG Integration, ESG Funds/Data Screening & ESG Market Intelligence, Sustainability Reporting, Sustainability Compliance & Sustainability Strategy etc. Global Sustain is headquartered in London with companies in Berlin and in Athens, an office in Brussels and affiliates in New York and Nicosia. The company is also community driven with 400+ organizations and firms as members, among others from the financial, banking and investment industries.

We would like to raise your attention to the ESG Responsible Investments & Sustainable Finance Forum Series 2019, organized with success in Germany the past three years and let you know that the 4th one is coming in 2019. The 4th ESG Responsible Investments & Sustainable Finance Forum Series 2019 (Frankfurt 21.05.2019 in cooperation with SEB Bank, Berlin 01.10.2019 in cooperation with Investment Bank Berlin) offers speaking as well as partnership opportunities of great interest for you and your company. 

Please find the Forum Partners / Sponsors Deck with the relevant benefits and the agenda here. You may also visit the forum Website or Agenda 2018 to see the agenda and speakers of the previous ESG forum 2018 which took place in Berlin. 

After three successful years, we partner once again with the most important institutional association in Germany and in DACH Region, called Forum for Responsible Investment (FNG), which is the relevant association of responsible investors, managers and green banks as well as with SEB Bank & Investment Bank Berlin. For another year we partner with leading media such as Handelsblatt and accommodate senior speakers from leading firms of the investment, financial industry and corporate world. 

Previous participations: European Investment Bank, S&P Global/Trucost, MSCI, Triodos Bank, Deutsche Börse, Arabesque AM, BP, AON, German Council for Sustainable Development, Investment Bank Berlin & more. 

For your information, we recently conducted an ESG/SRI relevant market study under the title: “ESG Investing. From Niche to Mainstream”, which you may find here. 

We would be honored to have you engaged as forum partner and speaker in one or more of our ESG Forums in 2019. 

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We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to each of you who participated in the 3rd ESG Responsible Investments, Green Finance & Brands Forum 2018 in Berlin on 26.9.2018.

Seniors from investment, funds & banking industries as well as from corporations, startups, service providers and associations gave their time and resources to attend and to contribute. You made the Conference a success and it was a great pleasure to see so many of you there!

Hopefully you enjoyed both the scientific part and the social program and that you used the opportunity to extend your existing networks. We are sure that the cooperation with most of you will continue in the near future.

We would like to give special thanks to the Speakers of the conference and to the Conference Center of Investment Bank Berlin for hosting us during the event, and furthermore to effective teams who did outstanding work in organizing the event: Allianz Representation Büsch, Talenteco, Handelsblatt Sustainable Investments Edition, Absolut Research, Business Wire and CAPITALS Circle Group.

Our 4th ESG Investments & Sustainable Finance Forum will take place on 1.10.2019 again in cooperation with Investment Bank Berlin, Forum for Responsible Investment & International Bankers Forum. 

@Investitionsbank Berlin Conference Center

Location: Bundesallee 210,10719, Berlin

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Global Sustain Responsible Investments Berlin Forum 2018 review

 

Global Sustain (https://globalsustaingroup.com/) organised with great success in a full hall for 3rd consecutive year in cooperation and partnership with Forum for Responsible Investment (FNG), Investment Bank Berlin (IBB) and International Bankers Forum (IBF) the 3rd ESG Responsible Investments, Green Finance & Brands Forum 2018 (http://esgconference.com/) in Berlin on 26.9.2018 at the Conference Center of Investment Bank Berlin, with the motto this year “ESG, from Niche to Mainstream?”.

 

Seniors from investment, funds & banking industries as well as from corporations, startups, service providers, associations, policy attended the forum and interacted with speakers and panelists. At the forum spoke seniors from different organisations, which represented European Investment Bank, BP, Trucost -part of S&P Global-, Investment Bank Berlin, Arabesque Asset Management, German Council for Sustainable Development, RMA Asset Management, Forum for Responsible Investment, Investment Bank Berlin, International Bankers Forum, ESMT Berlin.

 

The Forum was supported by Allianz Representation Büsch, Talenteco, Handelsblatt Sustainable Investments Edition, Absolut Research, Business Wire and CAPITALS Circle Group and was featured on several international English and German media from investments and finance segment.A common conclusion and signal from all speakers and panels was, that the ESG / SRI Investments is something very positive, that is something not only for the institutional and retail investors but also for the private investors, that many ESG Indexes and funds outperform in comparison to mainstream indexes and funds (therefore the not good performance of ESG is a myth). Europe is ahead of USA and Asia regarding ESG Investments, ESG can be part of a mainstream portfolio and it does not mean that a fund has to invest 100% of the portfolio in an ESG way.

 

There are many different ESG Investment Strategies and ESG Investment Score Models and we have to be careful, which ones we use, how we use them and how we evaluate them, therefore there is a need for a very careful approach to the ESG Investment process and techniques and a need for an expert advisory regarding the ESG integration process, since every mistake can have financial impact. There are also many European and international regulation oriented initiatives either EU driven (EU legal framework proposal for the Sustainable Finance), state driven (e.g. in France) or market driven (e.g. TCFD), that try to support and will some new KPIs and a kind of classification in the ESG industry.

 

Though these initiatives do not solve the important problem of the lack of common international standardization in the ESG industry. The long transition period of some of the initiatives (e.g. EU proposal), can have as an effect to be potentially outdated, when it will become effective after a few years, since we do not know at what stage will be the market at that time.On the topic of regulation, of what kind of regulation we need and if the proposed by EU regulation is enough or is too much, there were different approaches by the various forum speakers. ESG Integration is not relevant only for Investors and financial institutions but also for corporations, especially the listed ones, ESG is correlated with TCFD, Sustainability reporting but also SROI. Germany, although it is the largest economy in Europe, it lacks behind, in comparison to France or UK regarding ESG Investments.

 

Although it was a common estimation, that, ESG Market looks like, that it will continue to grow next years at a stable pace, meaning the trend is positive, there were different approaches regarding if it can become a potential market bubble or not, but for sure there is no risk for a bubble in a short term. ESG Investments is still a niche, with a positive trend and it can under conditions turn after a few years to a potential mainstream.The above Forum that has been established as a high level communication and dialogue platform in the investment and finance industry connecting ESG Investments, Green Finance & Banking with Sustainable Brands is going to take place again next year in Berlin but also in Frankfurt.See you all again in 2019.

 

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Global Sustain Group / Global Sustain GmbH (https://globalsustaingroup.com/) organizes for 3rd consecutive year in cooperation and partnership with Forum for Responsible Investment (FNG – the leading Association for ESG & Green Finance in Germany, Austria, Switzerland & Lichtenstein), Investment Bank Berlin (IBB) and International Bankers Forum (IBF-­‐The German leading Banking & Finance Network) the 3rd ESG Responsible Investments, Green Finance & Brands Forum 2018 (http://esgconference.com/) in Berlin on 26.9.2018 at the Conference Center of Investment Bank Berlin, with the motto this year “ESG, from Niche to Mainstream?”.

 

A Forum that has been established as a communication platform in the industry connecting ESG Investments, Green Finance & Banking with Sustainable Brands, bringing together senior speakers and attendees from above fields. Among speakers are executives and senior representatives from European Investment Bank, BP, Trucost (part of S&P Global), Arabesque Asset Management, German Council for Sustainable Development, Forum for Responsible Investment, Investment Bank Berlin and more.

 

The Forum is supported also communication wise by Handelsblatt Sustainable Investments Edition, Absolut Research, Business Wire and so forth.The 3rd ESG Responsible Investments, Green Finance & Brands Forum featured on the following leading international Sustainability. Sustainable Finance & ESG/ SRI Responsible Investments Media, Institutions, Associations, Communication Platforms, Companies, Events and so forth, as they are presented below with the corresponding links:

 

– Handelsblatt (The leading economic newspaper in Germany). Print version at their special edition for the topic.

 

– Absolut Research (German well-known media on Investments esp. ESG)

 

–Altii
https://www.altii.de/marktmeinung/2494/esg-responsible-investments-and-sustainable-finance-from-niche-to-mainstream/

 

– Forum for Responsible Investment portal 

https://www.forum-ng.org/de/ (At their first page) plus at news plus as the separate link

 

– International Bankers Forum  

 

– Sustainable Finance Hub Germany (Initiative of the German Government)

 

– Corporate Responsibility Interface Center 

 

– CSR Wire

 

– Trucost

 

– Association for Environmental Management & Sustainability in Financial Institutions, VFU

 

– TriplePundit  

 

– Invest with Values 

 

– Institutional Money (German online media on investments, esp. ESG)

 

– Mapado (Online Events Platform)

 

– All Events in (Events platform)

 

– Eventul (Events Platform)

 

– Evensi (Events Platform)