CFA Institute 10 February 2022

Climate Change Risk: Action for Industry Stakeholders

CFA Institute Alpha Summit APAC

Arnout van Rijn Chitra Hepburn Kenneth Hui Mary Leung CFA Satoshi Ikeda

Virtual Session: Video On Demand

Overview

CFA Institute Alpha Summit APAC, a two-day virtual conference focusing on the investment industry’s biggest challenges and most compelling trends across Asia Pacific, was held on 10-11 February 2022. From shareholder activism and advances in fintech to sustainable investment strategy and capital allocation, the nine thematic sessions of the conference aimed to give the audience the tools and guidance on best practices that financial professionals need to succeed.

The rapid growth of the ESG integration and impact investing strategies highlights the importance of efficient capital allocation in the transition to a low-carbon global economy. But despite rising popularity, climate-related investments continue to face fundamental challenges, such as limited data, “greenwashing,” and ESG ratings divergence. What are the best practices for measuring, disclosing and integrating climate change considerations into decision making? How can asset owners, investment managers and other financial industry practitioners move the needle in pursuit of net zero through better corporate engagement and stewardship?

In the panel discussion “Climate Change Risk: Action for Industry Stakeholders,” the panelists stress the necessity of not only making commitments to net-zero, but also transparency and disclosures that allow investors to monitor companies’ progress. Relevant policies will differ between markets, to reflect the makeup of their industries and economies, but global initiatives, such as creating of global carbon credit market or harmonizing ESG taxonomies, are needed to help counter greenwashing. Engagement with companies to help them with transition to net-zero is preferred to divestment, and evaluation of companies needs to include transition costs.

Watch the Video

Length: 53 min.

Recorded: 10 February 2022.

CFA Institute Alpha Summit APAC 2022

Virtual Sessions - Video On Demand:

Day 1:

Day 2:

Speakers

Arnout van Rijn

Arnout van Rijn is CIO Asia Pacific and a fund manager at Robeco Asia-Pacific Equities and Robeco Asian Stars Equities. With over 25 years of experience in the asset-management industry, he has held various positions in Robeco's investment department, covering European, Asian, US, and emerging-market equities. Before joining Robeco, Arnout headed up the fund desk at Rabo Investment Management in Hong Kong. Arnout holds a master's degree in business economics from Erasmus University, Rotterdam. He is also registered with the Dutch Securities Institute and a member of the Listing Committee of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong.

Chitra Hepburn

Chitra Hepburn is MSCI’s Head of APAC ESG & Climate, and Head of South & Southeast Asia. Based in Singapore, she is responsible for leading MSCI’s ESG and climate business across the diverse region, as well as managing and growing MSCI’s footprint and client relationships in South and Southeast Asia.
Chitra initially spent 15 years in Investment Banking, a number of those being in project finance in the green energy sector. Following that, she focused on cleantech investments in China, followed by a few years in corporate development and ESG.
Chitra has lived and worked in 10 countries across APAC as well as Europe. Chitra was on the Board of Collective Responsibility and Green Initiatives for a number of years. She holds a Master’s Degree in Environmental Economics from the London School of Economics, which spurred her on to a Sustainability-focused career path.

Kenneth Hui

Kenneth is in charge of the HKMA’s efforts to enhance Hong Kong's competitiveness as an international financial centre. Prior to joining the HKMA, Ken was a senior manager at the Investment Products Division of the Hong Kong Securities & Futures Commission (SFC), specialising in regulatory policies on retail funds and innovative retail investment products. During his time at the SFC, Ken was seconded to the Secretariat of the International Organization of Securities Commissions, where he was responsible for global OTC derivatives reforms.

Mary Leung CFA

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.

Satoshi Ikeda

The Financial Services Agency of Japan appointed Satoshi to become its first Chief Sustainable Finance Officer in March 2019, after deciding it needed an executive to plan and coordinate the promotion of sustainable finance. Satoshi covers a wide range of issues, including the promotion of TCFD disclosures by corporations and financial institutions. He has also served as Co-chair of the Workstream on Climate Disclosures of the FSB SRC and currently serves as Co-chair of the Workstream on ESG Data and Ratings of the IOSCO Sustainability Taskforce, as well as Co-chair of the Working Group on Sustainability Disclosure of the IPSF.