Welcome to FIASI

ESG in Fixed Income: Green or Greenwashing

By Andrew Auslander, CFA, FRM

I had a chance to catch up with Henry Shilling, a board member of FIASI (Fixed Income Analysts Society, Inc.) and Caroline Flammer, Associate Professor and Dean’s Research Scholar at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business. Professor Flammer’s work examines how companies’ social and environmental engagement, and their corporate social responsibility (CSR), contribute to their competitiveness. Henry, who founded Sustainable Research and Analysis LLC, is the organizer and a moderator of a panel of a very special event, ESG in Fixed Income: Shining a Light on Transparency, that will take place on Thursday, April 22nd from 2-4:30pm ET and Friday, April 23rd from 10:00am-3:30pm ET. Professor Flammer will be moderating a panel with experts from BNP Paribas, Nuveen and BlackRock at this event.

There are questions around the very definition of ESG. The lack of consensus around ESG has brought to light the risks and implications of greenwashing, and FIASI aims to address this and several related topics in this two-day virtual summit. Read on to get a sample of some of Henry and Caroline’s insight into ESG and green bonds.

Read more: ESG in Fixed Income: Green or Greenwashing

04/22/21 & 4/23/21 | ESG in Fixed Income: Shining a Light on Transparency

The Fixed Income Analysts Society, Inc. (FIASI) is moving the ESG conversation forward by hosting a 2-day event scheduled to coincide with Earth Day 2021: Shining a Light on Transparency; Navigating the Risks and Opportunities of Sustainable Investing. The event will feature four thought provoking and informative panel discussions between Thursday, April 22nd from 2-4:30pm and Friday, April 23rd from 10-1:30pm ET. 

ESG integration in the investment process has been gaining traction over the last decade and has accelerated dramatically in the last two years within the US mutual funds and ETFs community. Accounting for ESG in fundamental analysis has been by far the most popular integration method, though there remain questions around the very definition of ESG and what integration consists of from both a portfolio construction and measurement standpoint. The lack of consensus around ESG has brought to light the risks and implications of greenwashing, and FIASI aims to address this and several related topics in our annual two-day virtual summit.

Topics include ESG risks and opportunities within corporate credit; green, sustainable and social bonds; fixed income ESG indices, ESG applications within CMBS and a workshop featuring forward-looking carbon analytics and climate transition solutions, with speakers from JP Morgan, BNP Paribas, PIMCO, TIAA-CREF, MSCI, Blackrock, Western Asset and more.

Conference Schedule (all times are approximate)

Thursday, April 22nd, 2021 

• 2:00pm - Introduction & Launch:
  • Moderator: Larry White, Managing Director Business Development, DBRS | Morningstar
    • Baer Pettit, President and Chief Operating Officer, MSCI

• 2:30pm - ESG Corporate Bonds Panel:
  • Moderator: Ulf G. Erlandsson, Ph.D., CEO of Anthropocene Fixed Income Institute (AFII)
  • Panelists:
    • Olivia Albrecht, Executive Vice President, PIMCO
    • Andrew Lin, CFA, Managing Director, Infrastructure, Power and Utilities, DBRS Morningstar
    • Joshua Linder, CFA, Senior Credit Analyst, APG-USA
    • Bonnie Wongtrakool, CFA, Global Head of ESG Investment and Portfolio Manager, Western Asset

• 3:30pm - Green Bonds Panel: 
  • Moderator: Caroline Flammer, Associate Professor and Dean’s Research Scholar at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business, Boston University
  • Panelists:
    • Trevor Allen, Head of Sustainable Finance Research Global Markets Research Division, BNP Paribas
    • Stephen Liberatore, CFA, Managing Director Head of ESG/Impact, Nuveen
    • Alastair Sewell, CFA, Senior Director, Fund & Asset Management, Fitch Ratings
    • Ronald van Loon, CFA, Managing Director, BlackRock

• 4:30pm - Conclusion of Day One:
  • Ralph DeCesare, CFA, CAIA, Managing Director & Head of Credit Research, TDAM USA, Inc.

Friday, April 23rd, 2021

• 10:00am - Introduction Day Two and of Student Scholarship Award Winners
  • Mark Howard, CFA, Senior Multi-Asset Specialist, BNP Paribas Securities

• 10:30am - ESG Fixed Income Indices
  • Moderator: Henry Shilling, Director of Research, Sustainable Research and Analysis
  • Panelists:
    • Philip Galdi, Head of Indices, ICE Data Indices, LLC
    • Chris Hackel, Index Product Manager, Bloomberg LP
    • Kumaran Ram, Executive Director, J.P. Morgan Global Index Research
    • Elisabeth Seep, Executive Director, ESG Fixed Income Product Manager, MSCI

•  11:30am - ESG CMBS 
  • Moderator: Keith Kockenmeister, Senior Managing Director, Kroll Bond Rating Agency, Inc.
  • Panelists:
    • Peter Beer, Vice President & Securitized Credit Analyst, Payden & Rygel
    • Leland Bunch, Managing Director, Head of CMBS Capital Markets, Bank of America
    • Thomas A. Fink, CRE, Senior Vice President and Managing Director of Trepp, LLC
    • Edward Reardon, Managing Director, Deutsche Bank

• 12:30pm -  J.P. Morgan ESG Workshop Panel: Investing within planetary boundaries – pursuing Paris-Alignment through Carbon Analytics
  • Moderator: Lydia Harvey, Senior ESG Specialist, J.P. Morgan Global Index Research Group.
  • Panelists:
    • Hasan Cerhozi, Head of Product Development - Methods and Innovation, Vigeo Eiris (V.E.)
    • Francis Condon, Sustainable Investment Team – Fixed Income Specialist, UBS Asset Management Switzerland AG
    • William Perry, Head of Global High Yield/Emerging Markets, Co-Head of ESG Committee, Stone Harbor
    • Rupert Rink, ESG Specialist, J.P. Morgan Global Index Research

• 1:30pm - Conclusion of Day Two:
  • Monica Aggarwal, CFA, Managing Director, Fitch Ratings

Where: Webinar, and recorded!

Price: $80 for the whole event

Register Online

05/19/2021 | Underrepresentation of Women Investment Managers

Authors of the upcoming book:

pdf Undiversified: The Big Gender Short in Investment Management (360 KB)

• Ellen Carr, Fixed Income Portfolio Manager, Weaver Barksdale
• Katrina Dudley, Senior Vice President, Investment Strategist and Portfolio Manager, Franklin Templeton Investments.

The Q&A will be conducted by Bob Kricheff, Senior VP and Global Strategist, Shenkman Capital Management.

The authors will cover the psycho-cultural barriers leading to a dearth of female investors across all asset classes. By analyzing the Investment Managers flywheel and understanding the barriers to recruitment, retention and promotion of women, the authors issue a challenge to IM firms, their employees, allocators and influencers with tangible and actionable steps they can take to achieve gender parity in the industry.

Event details: Wednesday, May 19, 2021 from 5PM to 6PM
Location: Virtual and Recorded
Cost: Non-Members $30, Members Free (login to receive the discount)

Register Online

COVID-19 Research shared by our Corporate Sustaining Member Firms

New to FIASI?

The Fixed Income Analysts Society is dedicated to the education of its membership and the fixed income community at large. FIASI serves its members by sponsoring frequent, high quality educational programs and workshops covering topics of current interest to research analysts, portfolio managers, and other fixed income professionals. FIASI also sponsors an annual Hall of Fame ceremony to recognize lifetime achievements of outstanding practitioners in the advancement of fixed income security and portfolio analysis.

The Fixed Income Analysts Society is comprised of fixed income professionals who value the opportunity to learn, network and discuss important fixed income topics with colleagues across the industry. We draw from all disciplines – buy side, sell side, intermediaries, quants and academics – and all sectors – credit, rates, economics, securitized products, foreign exchange, emerging markets, municipal finance and commodities. Seasoned professionals as well as those new to the industry will reap the benefits of FIASI membership.

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