ESG Competencies for Your Career

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.

Yi Cheng Lim is Head of Talent Development Solutions, Financial Services (Asia-Pacific) at BPP, providing advisory to financial institutions on talent and skills development in Asia Pacific. Often invited for speaking engagements in the areas of skills development for professionals in the financial services industry, he has over 15 years of working experience accumulated across senior functions in high-net-worth wealth advisory, commercial lending, and structured trade finance. Starting his professional career with Citibank and in recent years leading regional commercial activities in the FinTech sector, Yi Cheng graduated with a Bachelor’s degree from the National University of Singapore, and has also received the CFA Certificate in ESG Investing amongst other professional certifications. He is a member with the Chartered Institute of Securities & Investment and serves actively in the Financial and Fintech Committee of the British Chamber of Commerce Singapore.

Grace Yeung, CFA, FCPA (Practising), CPA, CPA (CA) 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 CFA Institute’s certificates. Grace’s team consists of over one hundred fifty consultants and staff worldwide. She develops strategies and leads projects of the CFA Program, CFA Exam, certificates, and accomplishing the mission of CFA Institute. One of Grace’s key projects is transitioning the CFA Exam from paper-based to computer-based. Grace is committed to advocating for ESG and the Certificate in ESG Investing program. She often shares her views about ESG with the media. 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 Certificate in ESG Investing.

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 the 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. She completed the Certificate in ESG Investing program and holds the certificate. She is also a Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP)’s Sustainability and Climate Risk Certificate holder. Grace is a Fellow and 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 a member of Greater Bay Area Green Finance Alliance Working Group of Hong Kong Green Finance Association. She is also an active participant in the accounting standards roundtable panel of the HKICPA.