Advocacy Talking Points 7 June 2022
ESG Talent Development Trends and Strategies
Strengthen Your Firm, Prepare Your People
Webinar presented by CFA Institute
Webinar Presentation
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ESG is fast becoming a driving force in the investment management industry. In the 2022 CFA Institute Investor Trust Study, which surveyed the views of 3,588 retail investors and 976 institutional investors, 100% of institutional investors and 77% of retail investors have stated that they are either interested in, or already using, ESG strategies in their investment process.
That is why, as a leading organization for investment management professionals, CFA Institute is proud to offer the Certificate in ESG Investing to help firms and individuals stay competitive in this new landscape, and to equip them with skills to better integrate ESG factors into their investment analysis and client conversations.
In this information session, we highlight the latest trends and opportunities in the ESG investment space, share details of the curriculum of the Certificate in ESG Investing, and discuss with industry leaders how they are filling the ESG talent gap in their companies.
Speakers:
- Anubhuti Gupta, CFA, head of APAC, Rosenberg Equities and CEO, AXA Investment Managers Singapore
- Mary Leung, CFA, head of advocacy, APAC, CFA Institute
- Janet Li, CFA, partner and wealth business leader, Asia, Mercer
- Gabriel Nam, partner, Page Executive
- Grace Yeung, CFA, senior director, exam development, CFA Institute
Moderator:
- David von Eiff, PhD, director of institutional relations, CFA Institute
Duration: 1 hr 32 min.
Recorded: 7 June 2022
Speakers
Anubhuti is a Senior Principal Consultant for the Wealth Business in Mercer, Singapore. She is responsible for delivering investment solutions and advice and driving strategic partnerships across South-east Asia.
She has over 17 years’ professional experience in the investment industry with a focus on quantitative strategies and equities. Before joining Mercer, she was the CEO for Singapore and Head of Equity Quant Investments (formerly Rosenberg) for APAC at AXA Investment Managers. She was responsible for developing the strategy and driving the business, research, sustainability and investment agenda for Rosenberg in the region. She was a member of regional and global leadership teams including Asia Executive Committee and Rosenberg Global Management Committee and worked on multiple complex client and business projects.
Prior to this, she served as the Head of Portfolio Management and Deputy Chief Investment officer for the region. During that period, the business delivered several important milestones, developed complex new investment capabilities, undertook leading-edge platform-wide ESG integration and completely overhauled the portfolio construction process.
Anubhuti is an active contributor on investing, leadership and ESG related topics. She advocates for diversity, mentoring and knowledge-based volunteering to advance the investment industry. She has served on the global CFA Institute Education Advisory Committee as a member and Vice-chair for a term of 6 years. She is a member of the Nominating Committee for CFA Institute Board of Governors. She has been appointed as a member of the CFA Institute ESG Technical Committee starting September 2022.She sits on the Advisory Board of Singapore Chapter of CAIA Institute. She is a mentor and champion at Financial Women’s Association of Singapore and supports LGBT Great.
Anubhuti holds a Master’s degree in Financial Engineering and a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering (First class Honors) from Nanyang Technological University and a Certificate in Computational Finance from Carnegie Mellon University. She is a CFA and CAIA Charterholder and has Certificates in ESG Investing and Investment Performance Measurement (CIPM).
Mary Leung, CFA, is the head, standards and advocacy, Asia Pacific, at CFA Institute. She is responsible for the development, maintenance, and promotion of capital markets policy perspectives in the APAC region. She also oversees the promotion and development of CFA Institute professional standards in the region. Mary has over 20 years of experience in the global financial industry, having worked in corporate finance, wealth management advisory, and fund management. Previously, she was with Coutts & Co, where she was director of Business Development and Management for North Asia. Prior to that she was executive director at UBS AG, where she led the Corporate Advisory Group in Hong Kong. With experience in both the buy- and sell-sides, Mary has a strong understanding of the drivers and dynamics of different investor groups, including institutional investors, corporates, family offices, asset owners, and high-net-worth individuals. Mary graduated from Peterhouse, Cambridge with a degree in Engineering. She is a CFA charterholder and speaks English, Putonghua, and Cantonese.
Janet Li, CFA, MAoF, is a Partner and the Asia Wealth Business Leader at Mercer. She oversees and is responsible for Mercer’s Wealth (Investment and Retirement) Business in Asia. In her role, she leads and drives strategic growth to the business as well as its operations and implementations. Janet has vast experience working with institutional clients (sovereigns, pension, insurance, corporate and wealth management). Her experience also spans across a wide range of retirement and investment services (asset liability review and strategy, portfolio construction, manager review, selection and monitoring, investment governance and transformation, discretionary management, member communication and education and related tools’ developments) and a diverse range of asset classes (public equities and fixed income, private equities, illiquid credit, real estate and infrastructure).
Gabriel is the Partner of Page Executive, leading the ESG, Strategy and Transformation practice in Asia. Based in Hong Kong and Singapore, Gabriel advises his clients on senior-level executive searches across different private sectors. In addition, Gabriel is also an active member in conducting senior talents searches in business/professional services and NGOs.
Before joining Page Executive, Gabriel has over 15 years of experience in research, recruitment/executive search, and leadership roles at Egon Zehnder, Michael Page and Standard Chartered. Prior to joining the recruitment sector, he had a career in sales and marketing positions in Hong Kong and Europe. Gabriel has a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and a Master’s Degree in Global Political Economy (Dean’s List) from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Grace Yeung, CFA, CPA, CPA (CA), CPA (Practising), is Senior Director, Exam Development, Asia Pacific of CFA Institute. Grace plays a global role and she leads the development and production of CFA Exams and other CFA Institute Credentialing products. Grace’s team consists of over one hundred fifty consultants and staff worldwide. She is responsible for developing strategies and driving projects of the CFA Program and the Exam and the mission of CFA Institute. One of Grace’s key projects is transitioning the CFA Exam from paper-based to computer-based. With her background and professional experiences in Asia Pacific, Grace outreaches to CFA Societies, professional standard setting bodies, practitioners and credentialing organisations in the region to seek insights and develop strategies that are relevant to the CFA Program and the Exam.
Grace has over twenty years of global experiences in the financial services and investment management industry. Prior to joining CFA Institute, Grace held the position of Senior Manager, Assurance, Financial Services and Asset Management of PwC Hong Kong. Her clients include global and regional asset managers in traditional and alternative investment spaces, hedge funds, private equity, venture capital, real estate and infrastructure. She led assurance and consulting projects including investment fund set-up, regulatory licensing and internal control compliance. Grace had assurance, consulting and financial services working experiences in United States and Canada.
Grace holds a Master of Economics from University of California at Berkeley and a Master of Laws, Corporate and Financial Laws from University of Hong Kong. She graduated as a Bachelor of Science with summa cum laude, distinction in Management Science, and Phi Beta Kappa from University of California, San Diego. Grace is a CFA charterholder, a Certified Public Accountant licensed with California, USA, a Chartered Professional Accountant of Canada and a Certified Public Accountant (Practising) at Hong Kong SAR. Grace is a member of the Task Force for Digitalization of the Qualification Programme under the Qualification and Examinations Board of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants. She is also an active participant in the accounting standards roundtable panel of the HKICPA.
David von Eiff joined CFA Institute in 2021 as a sustainability specialist. David brings has a combined 13 years of experience in environmental compliance, research, and sustainability. He obtained his Doctor of Philosophy at the City University of Hong Kong and his Master of Science in Environmental Economics and Public Policy at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York. His main research areas address the economic, sustainability and climate change issues associated with water supply management decisions. He previously spent 8 years regulatory specialist in Environmental, Health & Safety Management Systems, having clients across a wide range of industries to improve their environmental programs and identified methods by which they could make their operations more sustainable, including process redesign, water and energy conservation, and developing environmental management systems.