I recently had the opportunity to attend and volunteer at the Boston CFA Society 2022 Sustainable Investing Conference.
As an investment professional who practices ESG investing for clients’ portfolios daily, I found the event very informative. The conference covered a variety of topics in sustainable investing. I have learned a lot from the conference and the speakers, including thought leaders, industry practitioners, and asset managers.
For me, the biggest takeaway was from the panel discussion, “Regulatory Reporting Implementation: European Practitioner Stories from the Field and What Can European Implementation Tell Us About How US implementation Will Take Shape?”. The panelist gave an excellent summary of ESG investing and reporting history. I was able to hear from financial firms about their experiences and lessons learned as they finished their first round of reporting under the Sustainable Financial Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) in the EU region. The panelists compared the similarities and differences between the US regulatory reporting regimes and the EU’s. I have learned from the panelists that the EU and the US have different intent: the EU wishes to redirect capital toward sustainable finance, while the US focuses more on protecting consumers. They also discussed how their EU reporting experience could give us insight into the future US regulatory and reporting requirements.
I also strongly agree with the speakers that ESG reporting infrastructures and platforms should be a great portfolio management tool to help manage clients’ portfolios effectively and efficiently, not just for meeting compliance requirements. Over the long term, sustainability investing should be able to provide better returns.
The event was very well organized. Attendees had access to the Cvent Event app to follow the sessions and participate in poll questions. Throughout the day, I had opportunities to network with speakers, other attendees, and event sponsors. Many are from well-known firms, such as Wellington Management, Amundi Asset Management, MSCI, State Street, Breckinridge Capital, etc. The networking reception sponsored by Brown Advisory end of the day was excellent. The food and snacks were great. I highly recommend that professionals who are interested in ESG investing attend future CFA sustainable investing conferences.