On May 1st, 2024 the Sustainable Finance full day conference was held at Fordham University.  The conference was attended by a combined attendance of 222 individuals (in person and virtually).  Attendees represented 74 or so organizations, such as investment management firms, credit rating agencies, banks, insurance companies NGOs, ESG rating firms, as well as students from Fordham, Columbia, and NYU.

THE CONFERENCE AGENDA WAS AS FOLLOWS: 

• 9:00am -- 9:10am: Welcome Remarks & Emcee for Morning Sessions
  • Henry Shilling, Director of Research, Sustainable Research and Analysis and FIASI Board Member

• 9:10am -- 9:45am: Keynote Address
  • Shiva Rajgopal, Kester & Byrnes Professor, Columbia Business School

• 9:45am -- 10:45am: Panel 1: The State of Sustainable Investing 2024 and Outlook 
  • Moderator: 
    • Shaheen Contractor, CFA, ESG Research Associate, Bloomberg LP
  • Panelists
    • Stephanie M. Doyle, CFA, Credit Portfolio Manager, JP Morgan Asset Management
    • Jamison Friedland, Sustainability Analyst, AXA Investment Managers
    • Amy Levine, CFA, Senior Vice President, Director of ESG, Shenkman Capital Management, Inc.

• 10:45am -- 11:00am: Break 

• 11:00am -- 12:00pm: Panel 2: Sustainable Bonds: Green, Social, Sustainability and Sustainability-Linked Bonds
  • Moderator:
    • Henry Shilling, Director of Research, Sustainable Research and Analysis and FIASI Board Member
  • Panelists:
    • Marcy Block, Managing Director, Global Head of ESG Ratings, Sustainable Fitch
    • Matt Kuchtyak, Vice President – Sustainable Finance, Moody’s Ratings
    • Stephen M. Liberatore, CFA, Senior Managing Director, Head of ESG/Impact, Global Fixed Income, Nuveen
    • Joshua Linder, CFA, Senior Credit Analyst, Fixed Income, APG Asset Management USA, Inc.
    • Heike Reichelt, Head of Investor Relations and Sustainable Finance, World Bank Treasury

• 12:00pm -- 12:30pm: Fordham / FIASI Sustainable Finance in Fixed Income Research Competition
  • Announcement of Award Winners
    
    • Sris Chatterjee, Gabelli Chair in Global Security Analysis Finance and Business Economics
    • Amy Levine, CFA, Senior Vice President, Director of ESG, Shenkman Capital Management, Inc.
    • Stephen M. Liberatore, CFA, Senior Managing Director, Head of ESG/Impact, Global Fixed Income, Nuveen

• 12:30pm -- 1:30pm: Lunch & Networking
  • One flight down on the garden level dining room
• 1:30pm -- 1:35pm Emcee for Afternoon Sessions
  • Ralph DeCesare, CFA, CAIA, Head of Credit Research, TD Asset Management

• 1:35pm -- 2:00pm: Post Lunch Keynote Address
  • Diana Glassman, Director-Engagement, EOS at Federated Hermes

• 2:00pm -- 3:00pm: Panel 3: Divestment Developments 
  • Moderator:
    • Geeta Kapadia, CFA, Chief Investment Officer, Fordham University
  • Panelists:
    • Susanna Gibbons, CFA, Managing Director, Carlson Funds Enterprise, University of Minnesota
    • Bhakti Mirchandani, Managing Director, Responsible Investing at Trinity Church Wall Street
    • Walter Prahl, Ph.D., Professor, Fordham University

• 3:00pm -- 3:15pm: Break

• 3:15pm -- 4:15pm:  Panel 4: Investment Company Rulemaking and Corporate Climate Reporting and Disclosure
  • Moderator:
    • Alexander Dill, Assistant Adjunct Professor, Master of Financial Engineering Program, UCLA Anderson School of Management
  • Panelists:
    • Richard Freund, Associate Director, CDP Capital Markets, CDP North America
    • Michael Mencher, Special Counsel, Cooley LLP
    • Anya Solovieva, Director, Global Commercial Product Strategy, Climate Solutions, Sustainalytics
    • Diana Stoltzfus, National Quality Organization Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers

• 4:15pm -- 5:15pm: Panel 5: Private Assets/Private Credit
  • Moderator: 
    •  Michael Ferguson, CFA, Americas Analytical Manager for the Sustainable Finance, S&P Global Ratings
  • Panelist:
    • Jeff Cohen, CAIA, Managing Director, Head of ESG & Sustainability, Oak Hill Advisors
    • Matt Kaczmarek, Head of Private Debt Sustainable Investing, BlackRock
    • Abdulla Zaid, Vice President – Private Capital Research, MSCI

•  5:15pm -- 5:30pm: Concluding Remarks
  • Erin Lyons, Co-President, CreditSights

We also wish to acknowledge the roll of the following Sustainable Finance in Fixed Income Research Compeition reveiw Committee Members:

• Sris Chatterjee, Gabelli Chair in Global Security Analysis Finance and Business Economics
• John Finnerty, Ph.D., Professor, Finance and Business Economics
• Mark Howard, CFA, Managing Director and Senior Multi-Asset Specialist, BNP Paribas
• Amy Levine, CFA, Director of ESG at Shenkman Capital Management
• Stephen Liberatore, CFA, Senior Managing Director, Head of ESG/Impact, Global Fixed Income at Nuveen
• Henry Shilling, Director of Research, Sustainable Research and Analysis LLC
• Mariarosa Verde, Senior Vice President and Group Credit Officer for the Americas Corporate Finance team, Moody’s Investors Service
• An Yan, The Robert Bendheim Chair Professor in Economics and Financial Policy, Professor of Finance and Area Chair, Finance and Business Economics, Co-Director of the Center for Research in Contemporary Finance