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CFA Institute and the PRI Partner on ESG Outreach, Focus on Global Workshops, ESG Survey, and Expanded ESG Survey

27 September, 2017
London United Kingdom

We are pleased to announce some of the positive results of a partnership between CFA Institute and the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) announced in May, which include a major study, the launch of 20 global workshops starting in October, and a proposed multilingual environmental, social, and governance (ESG) survey to be published in 2018.

This work is the formalization of a collaboration between CFA Institute and the PRI, which began in May. We have already collaborated and published an investing study regarding the integration and reporting of ESG factors, ESG in Equity Analysis and Credit Analysis.1 For more on the study, see “Notes to Editors” at the end of this document.

On 3 October 2017 at the London Stock Exchange, CFA Institute and the PRI will kick off the first of 20 global workshops for professional investors designed to enable crucial understanding of how ESG issues are affecting share prices, bond yields, and bond spreads. The workshops are by invitation only, and the list extends into 2018.2 For more on the global workshop schedule, see “Notes to Editors.”

As part of the workshop project, CFA Institute and the PRI will concurrently conduct a multilingual survey that will be administered by YouGov. The high-level preliminary results of the survey will be made available to all workshop participants, CFA Institute members, and members of other investment associations who participate in the study.

Following the informal workshop surveys, CFA Institute and the PRI will compile and expand the results of the ESG survey and feature detailed analysis, country-specific information on the current state of ESG integration, and best practices in the investment decision-making process. The expanded ESG survey will be published in 2018 after the workshops are concluded.

“There is still a lot of misunderstanding about what ESG factors are and how they can be incorporated into day-to-day decision making by financial analysts,” said Justin Sloggett, Head of Public Markets at the PRI. “We’d like to break down these misconceptions because the PRI believes strongly that there need not be any barriers to using ESG in investment practices.”

“We wish to determine to what extent investors of all stripes and from across the globe are applying aspects of ESG investing,” said Kurt Schacht, JD, CFA, Managing Director of Advocacy at CFA Institute. “The degree to which these concepts are incorporated into investor analysis and investment principles could have relevance for regulator disclosures and investor education.”

1

ESG in Equity Analysis and Credit Analysis explains what ESG integration is, and what it is not, to help investors identify to what extent their current investment practices already incorporate ESG issues. Through numerous case studies, it illustrates that ESG integration:

  • is used to generate returns, reduce investment risk, and identify investment opportunities;
  • does not reduce the investment universe and instead allows for investment in all sectors, countries, and companies/territories;
  • only requires the assessment of material ESG issues; and
  • does not require major changes to investment analyses and models.
2

CFA Institute and the PRI share their global schedule of workshops.

London

3 Oct 17

Paris

5 Oct 17

Zurich

9 Oct 17

Amsterdam

10 Oct 17

Johannesburg

16 Oct 17

Cape Town

20 Oct 17

Toronto

1 Nov 17

São Paulo

8 Nov 17

New York

10 Nov 17

Boston

14 Nov 17

Frankfurt

6 Dec 17

Dubai

TBD Jan 18

Tokyo

TBD Jan 18

Hong Kong

TBD Jan 18

Shanghai

TBD Jan 18

Mumbai

TBD Jan 18

Sydney

TBD Feb 18

Melbourne

TBD Feb 18

Singapore

TBD-Feb-18

Media Contact

Nicole Haroutunian Director, Corporate Communications EMEA +44-0-20-7330-9551 [email protected]