Responsible Investment Forum New York 2023

Erin Wolfe, Senior Conference Producer, PEI Media

Speaker:
Peter Dunbar, Head of Private Equity, UNPRI

Speaker:
Bruce Simpson, Advising ESG Board Member, Multiple Firms

Join a standard setter and allocator as they share perspectives on critical sustainable capitalism topics that are germane to asset owners, asset managers, and service providers.

Speakers:
Elizabeth Seeger, Board Member, International Sustainability Standards Board
Andrew Siwo, Director of Sustainable Investments & Climate Solutions, New York State Common Retirement Fund

•  Between all the different initiatives out there today, it can be difficult to figure out how to continue to build out the best ESG strategy for your firm.
•  Practical steps for ESG program streamlining and how to accurately measure each silo: E, S, and G.
• Understanding reporting requirements and certain regulatory concerns surrounding ESG inquiries.

Moderator:
Alan Kao, Principal, Ramboll

Speakers:
Angela Jhanji, Managing Director, EQT Partners
Lindsay Rosenstein, Vice President and Head of ESG, Crestview
Allison Spector, Head of ESG, One Rock Capital Partners

• Practical tips to put a plan into action, NOW!
• Current state of U.S. companies and their carbon programs and how close they are to matching the goals set out by the Paris Agreement
•  Understanding geopolitical changes and how that is affecting companies’ ability to get to net-zero.

Moderator:
John Fleming, Partner, ERM

Speakers:
Bethany Brantley, Head of ESG, IPI Partners
Michael Cappucci, Managing Director for Compliance and Sustainable Investing, Harvard Management Company
Kate McCauley, Principal, Ares Management
Jimmy Yan, Director of ESG, New York City Comptroller’s Office

• Practical steps for data intake, storage, examination, and identifying possible data gaps.
• Analyzing ESG data to drive progress on ESG value creation.
• Identifying ESG reporting quality and rooting out any biases in data.

Moderator:
Anastassia Bougakova, Senior Vice President, Malk Partners

Speakers:
Heidi DuBois, Global Head of ESG, AEA Investors 
Chenkay Li, Managing Director, Direct Equity Investments, Hamilton Lane
Morgan Sheil,  AVP Impact & Sustainability, Energy Impact Partners
Madelyn Tutewiler, Vice President of ESG, MiddleGround Capital

• New SEC proposals around ESG requirements for investment advisers and firms and understanding enforcement policies
• Keeping compliant with current SFDR mandates
• Tactical solutions for ESG compliance within your firm and portfolio companies
• Understanding consequences for ESG infractions & potentials surrounding loss of operating licenses

Moderator:
Kristina Wyatt, Deputy GC and SVP of Global Climate Reporting, Persefoni

Speakers:
Rob Esposito, Managing Director & Senior Counsel, ESG, Apollo Global Management
Tracy Harris, Independent Director, District of Columbia Retirement Board Trustee
Mary Beth Houlihan, ESG & Impact Partner, Kirkland & Ellis

• Using technology- driven solutions to create processes for sourcing, capture and processing, and validation to overcome data issues.
• Getting ESG portfolio engines to scale, is it better to build solutions internally our outsource to third parties?
• How to build up your digital infrastructure to protect company assets and data.

Moderator:
Snehal Shah, Reporter, New Private Markets

Speakers:
Joshua Brunert, Global Head of ESG Product Development, Apex Group
Josh Green, Chief Operating Officer, Novata
Mackenzie Turner, Director of Impact & Policy, Vistria PRG

• Role of deal team in the decision-making process of responsible investments
• As a deal professional how influential is identifying ESG value creation opportunities at the diligence stage to an investment decision?
• ESG as a risk mitigation strategy or a value creation opportunity?

Moderator:
Winna Brown, Private Equity Client Service Partner and Americas ESG Leader, Ernst and Young

Speakers:
Cornelia Gomez, Global Head of ESG, General Atlantic
Machal Karim, Head of ESG, Blue Owl
Tricia Winton, Senior Vice President and Global Head of ESG, Bain Capital
Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, Senior Partner, Antin Infrastructure Partners

• Status of the impact landscape and where PE firms are beginning to implement strategies.
• Who should think about including impact funds and are there pros and cons to its implementation?
• Expected trends in the impact space going into 2023 and beyond.

Moderator:
Michael Eisenberg, Partner, ESG Services, ERM

Speakers:
Rini Greenfield, Founding General Partner, Rethink Food
Michael Korengold, President & CEO, Enhanced Capital Partners
Kyle Matter, Managing Director, Global Impact, KKR
Jones Thomas, Director, Capricorn Investment Group

ESG Programs now require multiple functional experts to collaborate to solve the ESG problems that matter. We would talk about a few macro trends and ask how each role needs to deliver for their firms’ success.

Moderator:
Chase Jordan, Partner/Principal, Ernst & Young

Speaker:
Jean Gulliver, Director of Investor Relations, Court Square
Kim Erle, Managing Director and Global Head of ESG, H.I.G. Capital
Maha Eltobgy, Chief Sustainability Officer & Managing Director, Brightstar Capital Partners

• Proactive approaches to combat lack of regulatory clarity and inadequate ESG data in private debt.
• Comparing approaches for syndicated loans, direct lending loans, and sustainability linked loans.

Moderator:
Snehal Shah, Reporter, New Private Markets

Speakers:
Priya Prasad Bowe, Managing Director and Head of ESG, Oaktree Capital
Kristina Matthews, Head of Investor Relations & ESG, Brightwood Capital Advisors
Tess Virmani, Deputy General Counsel & EVP, Public Policy, Head of ESG, Loan Syndications and Trading Association

• Discuss how GPs are establishing climate strategies and goals at the firm/fund level
• Review how these goals translate into specific initiatives for portfolio companies
• Look at examples of how portfolio companies are operationalizing these through discrete decarbonization levers and programs

Moderator:
Josh Hesterman, Managing Director, KPMG

Speaker:
Irina Markina, Director of Impact and Sustainability, Ara Partners
Ben Saunders, Principal, ESG, Apollo Global Management

• Deeper understanding of supply chain ecosystems with a focus on human rights considerations and resiliency.
• The untapped potential of supply chains to achieve impact goals and drive value.
• Recommended areas of focus for ESG Commitments driving incremental and impactful change.

Moderator:
Kristin Sjoholm, Managing Director, FTI Consulting

Speakers:
Tynesia Boyea-Robinson, President, and CEO, CapEQ
Rob Celin, Principal & Chief of Staff, Tilia
Sam Kass, Partner, Acre Venture Partners

• How can your portfolio companies outperform their peers and unlock value
• Which metrics matter and what are investors looking for
• From reporting to improvement – the importance of continuous engagement and corrective action plans

Speakers:
Klaus Koeningshausen, Partner, Bain Capital
Amanda Murphy, Strategic Account Executive, EcoVadis

• The current state of the infrastructure market and detail the significant trends affecting the asset class and what to expect coming up in 2023.
• The importance of moving away from fossil fuel investments and into more renewable energy resource investment.
• Opportunities and key takeaways from the inflation reduction act.
• The Role of Government in Building the Green Infrastructure Needed to Support the Energy Transition in the United States, Canada and abroad

Moderator:
Peter Ellsworth, Senior Director, Ceres

Speakers:
Eric Newman, Treasury Manager, City of Stamford
Laura Fernandez, Managing Director, Transactions & Permitting / ESG, Kinterra Capital
Andrew Harris, Head of ESG and Investor Relations, Tiger Infrastructure

• different benchmarks in the ESG space
• the power of benchmarking and analytics
• public market benchmarks for the private space
• early data insights from the private markets
• applying that data to your program

Speakers:
Carrie Braddock, Managing Director, Head of ESG & Impact, Silver Lake
Lorraine Wilson, CIO and Head of ESG, Novata

• Greater desire for co-investment
• How are investors allocating specifically for impact & ESG?
• ESG considerations during fundraising.

Moderator:
Neda Jafar, Partner, Kimmeridge

Speakers:
Maximiliane Heidenblut, Head of ESG & Climate Products, Americas, MSCI
Jessica Pan, Senior Portfolio Manager, APG Asset Management
Sheryl Schwartz, Chief Investment Officer, ALTI

• Understanding the basics and the impact of recent EU regulation for US firms
  • What is the current status of the development and enactment of regulation?
  • What potential impacts will this regulation have on your firm?
  • What are the basic actions you should start doing to prepare?

Speaker:
Corey Barnes-Covenant, Head of Strategic Sustainability Consulting, Ramboll

•  The push for using renewable resources and green construction materials in future building plans.
• Understanding property values and returns for green rental properties vs. properties with weaker environmental performance.
• How funds are going about engaging tenants on sustainability.

Moderator:
Peter Benson, Senior Reporter, Private Equity Real Estate, PEI

Speakers:
Helen Gurfel, Head of Sustainability & Innovation, CBRE
Lauren Winkler, Senior Director, ESG, The Green Cities Company
Dan Winters, Senior Director, GRESB

• Starting with impact themes or taking a company-by-company approach?
• SDGs and other metrics: how to avoid rainbow washing
• Value creation from a multistakeholder perspective
• Demonstrating impact improvement over the investment lifecycle

Speakers:
Callie Mattson, Co-Head of ESG & Impact Strategy, Reporting 21
Anne Matusewicz, Co-Head of ESG & Impact Strategy, Reporting 21

• Consider the reasons to launch a separate impact strategy vs. addressing sustainability throughout the fund
• Are ESG and impact differentiated enough for separated strategies?
• The implications for ESG specialists on evolving approaches

Moderator:
Tania Carnegie, Global and US Lead for ESG, Private Equity and Asset Management, KPMG

Speakers:
Pedro Henriques da Silva, Associate, Impact Investments, Global Endowment Management
Cristian Norambuena, Director, Private Equity, Tikehau Capital
Abrielle Rosenthal, Chief Sustainability Officer, Chief Human Resources Officer, Managing Director New York, Towerbrook

• Working with portfolio companies to establish a biodiversity program
• Identifying states where biodiversity decisions have the greatest impact
• Moving beyond acquisition strategies to strategies that address habitat degradation, loss and fragmentation, and exotic species invasions.
• Working with local groups to achieve conservation goals.

Moderator:
Bruce Simpson, Advising ESG Board Member, Multiple Firms

Speakers:
Carter Ingram, Executive Director, Pollination Group
Carl Johan Renstrom, Partner, EQT

• Identifying the key priorities for ESG in VC
• To what extent does a VC’s business model contribute towards the resolution of an ESG challenge?
•  How best can we assess the value of an ESG-oriented startup?

Moderator:
Peter Dunbar, Head of Private Equity, UNPRI

Speaker:
Pat Burtis, Partner, Amadeus Capital Partners
Shu Dar Yao, Founder, Managing Partner, Lucid Capitalism
Lauren Densham, Head of Impact & ESG, Energize Ventures
Hillary Flynn, Director of ESG, Private Investments, Wellington Management Company

•   Technical challenges in automatically identifying references to small, private companies (and how to overcome them)
• How to adapt filters for ESG, SDG and other standards to uncover information about smaller firms and supply chain dependencies
• How to rank risk for small, private firms which attract less attention but are subject to a wider range of idiosyncratic risk

Speaker:
Robert Schuessler, Head of Quantitative Research, North America, SESAMm