Sustainable Investment Conference

Thu 03 Oct 2024 -
09:00 - 20:00

The conference will include a day of sustainable investment-related sessions, including a keynote session with a Sustainable Disclosure Requirements focus with Sacha Sadan, and panel sessions with industry leaders. In addition, there will be an opportunity to network at a drinks reception.

The conference will showcase the IFoA’s commitment to sustainability, and the intention is to not only raise awareness of and highlight the need for sustainable investment but also to ensure actuaries have a mutual understanding of their professional responsibility in this area.

The conference also aims to empower and inspire actuaries by highlighting best practices through sharing knowledge and practical tools with which participants can take away and actively apply.

Schedule

Activity Time Details
Registration and refreshments 09:00 - 10:00
Panel session 10:00 - 11:00 Growing money on trees: understanding how nature impacts investments Read more

It is becoming increasingly important that asset managers and asset owners understand the impact that nature has on their investments. Regulatory and consumer pressures are driving us to learn a whole new language of nature risk.

This panel will look at the impact nature has on our investments as well as the broad impact our investments have on nature. We will discuss how nature and climate are best tackled together, the emerging risks and opportunities related to nature, how the regulatory environment is changing, and what we actuaries can do to make a difference in this area.

Speakers:

  • Chair: Thrinayani Ramakrishnan
  • Nick Spencer, Milliman
  • Aled Jones, ARU
  • Charlie Dixon, GFI
Morning break 11:00 - 11:15
Panel session 11:15 - 12:00 Climate scorpion: exposing the great climate fraud Read more

Actuaries can see climate through a solvency lens, with the temperature limit of 1.5C as a solvency limit and key assumptions including the sensitivity of the planet to greenhouse gases, which drives carbon budgets. As with solvency, risks can be assessed and actuarial principles applied to investigate where we should set our risk appetite. As with solvency complex projections are required over long time periods to assess how things might pan out.

However, unlike solvency, there isn’t a global regulator, audit standards, or actuarial principles to adhere to. Applying actuarial principles to our climate ‘solvency’ position reveals over-stated carbon budgets, a lack of experience analysis, no process to update our assumptions and an absence of structured governance and reporting. We risk climate ‘insolvency’, shooting past the 1.5C target even as we continue to use ‘net zero’ carbon budgets that are increasingly implausible for meeting the temperature goals of the Paris Agreement.

This talk explores the concerning findings from the recent IFOA research paper Climate Scorpion, provides a realistic assessment of warming trajectories and exposes the inadequacy of commonly used carbon budgets, as well as providing recommendations for how to address these shortcomings.

Chair: Mike Clark
Speakers: Sandy Trust, Lucy Saye, Luke Kemp

Panel session 12:00 - 13:00 Investing for a sustainable society Read more

Sustainability isn’t just about the human impact on the environment it’s also about the human environment itself. In this panel session, we’ll explore a number of Social issues including labour issues in the farming sector, housing, education and the just transition. How can investors help these issues, and derive financial returns?

Speakers:

  • Natasha Stromberg, FAIRR
  • Nigel Purves, WayHome
  • Jonathan Maguire, Tomorrow's Company
  • Charlotte O’Leary, Pensions for Purpose 
Lunch 13:00 - 14:00
Keynote session 14:15 - 15:00 Keynote with Sacha Sadan, Director of ESG, Financial Conduct Authority Read more

Chair: Nico Aspinall, Senior Vice President, Sustainable Investment
Speakers: Sacha Sadan, Director of ESG, Financial Conduct Authority

Session 1 15:00 - 16:00 Session 1: Economics of sustainability Read more
  • Energy transition economics
  • What are the elements in economic understanding that make the practicalities of sustainable investment difficult?
  • Financial system, government finance, money creation

Speakers:

  • J. Doyne Farmer, Director of the Complexity Economics programme at the Institute for New Economic
  • Angus Armstrong, Director of Rebuilding Macroeconomics and Chief Economic Adviser to Lloyds Banking Group
Session 2 16:00 - 16:45 Session 2: Assets owners and asset managers - current approaches to sustainable investment in practice Read more

The session aims to discuss and provide examples of current sustainable investment approaches and strategies adopted by asset managers and asset owners

Chair: Rosalind Rossouw
Speakers: David Thompson, Zurich Chief Investment Officer: UK

Chair summary and event close 16:45 - 17:00 Chair summary and event close
Networking drinks reception 17:00 - 20:00

Featured Speakers

Sacha Sadan is the Director of ESG at the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority). Facilitating the UK financial regulator to embed ESG across the wide spectrum of regulatory activities and reporting to the CEO.

He has been named a City Influencer by Financial News as one of the biggest 25 names who have been instrumental in shaping the UK’s financial services industry and has also recently been appointed an Honorary Professor at the Alliance Manchester Business School at The University of Manchester.

Previously Sacha was Director of Investment Stewardship (10 years) and on the board at LGIM, one of the world’s largest asset managers. Sacha had responsibility for investment stewardship, including environmental, social and governance (ESG).

He was recognised in the Financial Times as one of ‘the 30 most influential people in the City of London’.

Sacha was previously a UK equity portfolio manager at Gartmore and was voted the top-rated Pan-European fund manager in the Thomson Reuters Extel awards.

He started his career at Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) pension fund.

Sacha is a Fellow of CFA, CGI and a founding member of the UK Investor Forum.

Pricing and booking information

Members Book for free
Non-members Book

Sponsor

Milliman

Location

London Staple Inn, 1-3 Staple Inn Hall, 
High Holborn, 
London, 
WC1V 7QH

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Events Team

Contact our Events Team for more information.
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