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Workshop
ESG and Sustainable Finance

Price: €350

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€350

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Self study

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Approx. 20 hours to complete

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15 CPD hours

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Certificate of attendance

Introduction to the class

With ESG being in the market since 2005 it the last years that it has evolved to a growing necessity for companies and financial institutions. A norm of the market soon to become necessity, should be first of all followed and supported by banks, insurers and investment firms. A driver for sustainability and responsibility towards a safer and better world.

Who should attend?

  • Financial advisors

  • Investment advisors

  • Private bankers

  • Accountants

  • Wealth Managers

  • Attorneys

  • ESG advisors

  • Auditors

This course includes:

  • 20 hours of self study including articles and presentations

  • Full lifetime access to learning material

  • Certificate of attendance

How it works?

Workshops take place on Hapeiron, an Interfima e-learning platform.

  1. Enroll to the class from this page

  2. After enrollment you'll receive a registration link to access the platform 

  3. Complete all learning material

  4. Get your certificate of attendance

Do you want this class in-house?

We can deliver this class in-house for your organization's employees.

CPD Recognition

The syllabus of this workshop is eligible for 15 CPD hours in Regulation & Governance.
Criteria and CPD hours are verified directly by your association, regulator or other bodies which you hold certification or membership.

What you will learn

KEY DEFINITIONS, DEVELOPMENTS AND DRIVERS

  • Importance of environmental, social and governance risks for the economy

  • The concept and risks of climate change

  • Definition of sustainable finance and ESG investing

  • Brief introduction to key concepts in a historical context – corporate and social responsibility, ethical, socially responsible, thematic and impact investing

  • Main international Agreements: UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Paris Agreement on Climate Change

  • European Commission initiatives: Action Plan on Financing Sustainable Growth

  • UN PRI Interventions: Principles for Responsible Investment, Principles for Sustainable Insurance and Principles of Responsible Banking

ESG FACTORS AND IMPACT ON SECURITY ANALYSIS/VALUATION

  • Identification of the general environmental, social and governance factors/issues

  • The concept of materiality and its importance for the ESG analysis

  • Materiality map of ESG risks and opportunities among sectors

  • Impact of ESG characteristics/profile on equity valuation, risk and performance

  • Impact of ESG characteristics/profile on bond investments’ risk/return 

  • Reporting and sources of analysis of non-financial information

  • Main providers ESG ratings and company analysis

SUSTAINABLE INVESTING APPROACHES AND STRATEGIES

  • Classification and basic principles of ESG investing approaches

  • Negative screening approaches: exclusion/negative screening and norms based screening

  • Positive screening approaches: best-in-class and integration

  • Generating impact: Thematic investing and impact investing

  • ESG considerations in the process of portfolio construction

  • Trends over time and world regions

ENGAGEMENT: ELEVATING THE IMPORTANCE OF SUSTAINABILITY ISSUES AT COMPANIES’ LEVEL

  • Understanding engagement versus exclusion/divesting

  • Tools for engagement: active ownership/shareholders’ activism, constructive dialogue and proxy voting

  • The relevance of corporate social responsibility to attain and disclose sustainability goals

  • Greenwashing and associated reputational responsibility/risk

  • Role of institutional investors’ engagement in investee companies to improve ESG practices/orientation

  • Stewardship codes

SUSTAINABLE MUTUAL FUNDS AND COLLECTIVE INVESTMENT VEHICLES

  • Diversity of sustainable mutual funds based on different investing approaches

  • Key findings of studies comparing ESG and traditional mutual funds

  • Active and passive investing by sustainable mutual funds: the values and challenges of each approach

  • The market of sustainable ETFs

  • Definition of an ESG benchmark, variety of ESG benchmarks according to investing approaches and use of benchmarks for performance evaluation

  • Climate benchmarks and low-carbon benchmarks

  • The process and providers of ESG ratings for mutual funds

  • How should investors and financial advisors read/interpret ESG/sustainable ratings?

A MAIN EXAMPLE OF IMPACT INVESTING: GREEN BONDS AND SOCIAL BONDS

  • Definition of green bonds and their role for environmental sustainability

  • Eligible projects for green bond issues

  • The green bond market

  • Main differences between Green Bond Principles and the EU-green bond standard

  • Pricing of green bonds versus pricing of conventional bonds

  • Definition of social bonds and Social Bond Principles

  • Green and Social together: sustainable bonds

SHORT ANALYSIS OF OTHER SUSTAINABLE FINANCIAL PRODUCTS

  • SG criteria/approaches in insurance products

  • ESG criteria/approaches in banking products

  • ESG criteria and private equity

  • ESG/sustainable certificates

EU LEGAL FRAMEWORK ON THE INTEGRATION OF ESG FACTORS BY INVESTMENT FIRMS AND FINANCIAL ADVISORS

  • Main EU-level harmonized criteria to determine whether an activity is environmentally sustainable

  • Disclosure of information by investment firms and financial advisors on the integration of sustainability risks in investment decision-making processes and advice on financial products.

  • Integration of sustainability factors under the UCITS, AIFMD and MIFID II regulations. 

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