Impact Investing: Opportunities and Challenges for institutional investors
25-26 September 2019
Baku, Azerbaijan
Description
Sustainable Investing has grown rapidly over the past 10 years. It increasingly offers institutional investors the opportunity to earn a risk-adjusted, market-rate return on their investments while having a positive social or environmental impact. The conference will cover the discussions of current trends and the future of impact investing, evolving markets and asset classes, strategic implementation of the impact investment themes, the latest measurement and reporting tools and the role of governments in impact investing mainstreaming.
September 25
19:00 – 21:00 – Welcome Cocktail Reception (Fairmont Hotel Baku)
September 26
08:00 – 09:00 – Registration (Hilton Baku Hotel)
09:00 – 09:05 – Welcome Remarks, Mr. Shahmar Movsumov, CEO of the State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ)
09:05 – 09:20 – Opening Presentation, Mr. Rohit Talwar, CEO, Fast Future
Session 1: Impact Investment Defined
09:20 – 10:30 – The first session is dedicated to the discussion of the core attributions of impact investing and its difference from ESG and SRI. It is essential to understand the forms of value that impact investing creates for investors. The session also includes the update of the current evolving trend, then discussing how this trend is going to shape the future of the impact investing, and the role of major global initiatives and organizations in this process.
Moderator: Mr. Hans Peter Lankes, Vice President, Economics and Private Sector Development, International Finance Corporation (IFC)
Panelists:
Session 2: Markets and Products
10:30 – 11:40 – Following the previous one, the second session is aimed at discussing how the current trend of the impact investing is reflected in the financial markets. The session provides awareness about the new market products and their risk-return characteristics that evolved as a consequence of changing environment, and to explain the role of these products on institutional investor profiles. Finally, it is important to understand how managers’ return spectrum is expected to change as a consequence of all these changes.
Moderator: Mr. Jonathan Bailey, Managing Director, Head of ESG Investing, Neuberger Berman
Panelists:
11:40 – 11:55 – Networking break
Session 3: Strategy integration and implementation
11:55 – 13:05 – This session which mainly focuses on practical aspects, starts by the discussion of the strategic integration and implementation of impact investing by institutional investors. It outlines Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) developed by UN, and discusses how these goals are utilized in defining investment strategies. Furthermore, examples of successful strategies are going to be presented and discussed.
Moderator: Mr. Tom Beagent, Director, PwC United Kingdom
Panelists:
Lunch Time: 13:05 – 14:10
Session 4: Measurement and Reporting
14:10 – 15:10 This session is dedicated to the measurement and reporting aspects of the impact investing. More specifically, this session is going to address the complexities and costs related to impact measurement, monitoring and reporting. Current developed monitoring tools and processes will be presented. Later discussion will cover reporting and auditing rules that are needed to assess soundness of the existing strategies and frameworks. Examples of successful investment processes and metrics tracked will be presented and discussed.
Moderator:Ms. Yulia Sofronova, Head of Nordic, CEE & CIS, Global Networks & Outreach, UNPRI
Panelists:
Session 5: A Sound Policy Framework for Impact Investing
15:10 – 16:10 As a relatively new development financing tool, impact investment needs a sound policy framework to prosper. This session will shed lights on the role of governments in impact investing mainstreaming. Specifically, the session will look into the key policy barriers that impact investors face in developing economies and what governments and international organizations can do to facilitate these investments and magnify their impact on sustainable development.
Moderator: Mr. Patrick Schena, Adjunct Assistant Professor of International Business, The Fletcher School, Tufts University
Panelists:
16:10 – 16:30 – Networking break
Session 6: Investing in a Time of Energy and Climate Transition
16:30 – 17:30– Long-term, non-traditional risks such as climate change pose unique challenges to investors because they combine varied physical, technological, and regulatory impacts. Furthermore, these risks will play out over a multi-decade horizon which is not fully encompassed by most market analyses but is nonetheless financially material to long-horizon investors, including many sovereign and pension funds. Reduction of portfolio carbon exposure is an increasingly popular approach, but are there more impactful steps investors can take to systemically reduce and build global resilience against a broader set of climate risks? This session examines the unique position of long-term investors as impactful leaders against climate change.
Moderator:Mr. Adam Robbins, Project Lead, Investor Industries, WEF
Panelists:
17:30 – 17:40 – Closing remarks
19:00 – 23:00 – Gala Dinner (Han Restaurant Baku)
September 27
10:30 – 15:30 - City Tour
Attendees are invited to the City Tour to discover historical, architectural, cultural and modern faces of Baku.