ESG in Fixed Income Mega-trends

Chair’s opening remarks

Thomas Cox, Senior Writer, Environmental Finance

KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Central banks – what do they think of green bonds?

Speaker:

Emmanuelle Assouan, delegated Director General, Financial Stability, DG Financial Stability and Operations, Banque de France

PANEL: A year in review - outcomes and outlooks for 2022

• What are the mega-trends that have come into sharp focus in 2021?
• What are the key developments that issuers and investors will be looking for in the year ahead?
• The key outcomes from COP26 and what this means for capital markets?

Moderator:
Sophie Dejonckheere, Director, Sustainable Finance, TD Securities

Speakers:
Heather Lang, Executive Director, Sustainable Finance Solutions, Sustainalytics
Jakob Thomä, Managing Director, 2 degrees Investing Initiative
Ulf G. Erlandsson, CEO, Anthropocene Fixed Income Institute

FIRESIDE CHAT: Bringing transparency to ESG and credit ratings

To fully integrate ESG into decision making, investors, issuers, and markets need a more transparent, consistent, and quantified assessment of the credit impact of ESG issues.
Moody's Investors Service published an updated ESG Cross Sector Methodology in April 2021. In the update, Moody's describes how ESG Issuer Profile and Credit Impact Scores are applied to rated entities. During the course of 2021, Moody's expanded to an increasing number of issuers and transactions across corporates, infrastructure, public finance and financial institutions.

• How do the scores enhance integration of ESG considerations into credit ratings?
• How are specific issuers exposed to ESG risks?
• What are the underlying data sources used in the methodology?
• What case studies, sample profiles, and heatmaps are available?
• How does Moody's define Issuer Profile Scores (IPS), ESG Credit Impact Scores (CIS) and their relationship to credit ratings?

Moderator:
Ahren Lester, Assistant Editor, Environmental Finance

Speaker:
Swami Venkataraman, Senior Vice President – Manager, Environmental, Social and Governance, Moody's Investors Service

INVESTOR HUDDLE: Greenwashing – truth or myth?

• Understanding and analysing investments in order to avoid ‘greenwashing’
• Best practices, tools and methodology for conducting due diligence
• Dispelling myths and managing unfounded claims
• ESG in fixed income products: are some more prone to greenwashing than others?

Moderator:
Madeleine Jenkins, Reporter, Environmental Finance

Speakers:
Jarek Olszowka, Head of Sustainable Finance, Nomura International
Alban de Fay, Credit Portfolio Manager, Head of Fixed Income SRI Processes, Amundi
Joshua Kendall, Head of Responsible Investment, Insight Investment
Kristian Atkinson, Fixed Income, Portfolio Manager, Fidelity International
Isobel Edwards, Green Bond Analyst, NNIP

PANEL: Securitisation - uncovering the potential for sustainable securitisation

• What is sustainable securitisation?
• Current principles: does the market need further guidance to develop?
• Uncovering new opportunities: what is the potential for sustainable securitisation?
• New frontiers for ESG and securitisation investors: is there a specific investor demand?

Moderator:
Agnès Gourc, Co-head, BNP Paribas Sustainable Finance Markets

Panellists:
Boudewijn Dierick, MD, Country Executive, Auxmoney Investments
Richard Johns, Chief of Funding, MOSAIC
Vlad Olteanu, Portfolio Manager ABS & Mortgages, NNIP
Stephen Liberatore, Managing Director, Head of ESG / IMPACT, Global Fixed Income, Nuveen

Trends in ESG and Climate Fixed Income Indexes

Demand for ESG investing continues to soar with fixed income ESG indexes experiencing record-breaking growth over the past year. Join MSCI's Rachael Camargo as she takes a look at how the bond world has been adopting ESG and climate indexes into their investments.

• What are the current industry trends driving this growth?
• How are investors reaching their objectives?
• What different types of indexes are available to investors?

Speaker:
Rachael Camargo, Executive Director, MSCI

PANEL: ESG at the intersection of private and public markets

• How is European sustainable finance regulation driving changes in private equity investment?
• What are private equity firms doing to ensure their holdings remain sustainable?
• How important is ESG disclosure to access public markets?
• Are sustainability-linked bonds positioning private companies for better exit valuations?

Moderator:
Trisha Taneja, Capital Markets & Advisory, Deutsche Bank

Panellists:
Sumit Mehta, Head of Investment Solutions, Legal and General 
Archie Beeching, Director of Responsible Investing, Muzinich & Co. Limited
Stefanie Kneer, Head of ESG & Sustainability, Three Hills Capital Partners

PRESENTATION: Survey: Bondholder Perspectives on ESG investing across North America & Europe

• Insight on current ESG investment approaches
• A review of key trends, and structuring considerations from over 150 asset managers, insurance companies, pension funds and hedge funds across North America & Europe

Speakers:
Moses Choi, Sustainable Finance Group, RBC Capital Markets
Dan Hosegood, CFA - Credit Trading Strategist, RBC Capital Markets

Chair’s closing remarks