In-person and virtual: etc. venues Monument, London
IR, governance, and sustainability professionals share best practices on articulating material ESG issues.
Regulators in Europe continued to develop regulations that impact sustainable finance, ESG reporters, and ESG raters. However, a section of the investment universe was becoming more vocal regarding their opposition to the ESG movement.
At the ESG Integration Forum – Europe 2022, we were joined by sustainability professionals, investor relations officers, and corporate secretaries to examine future investor expectations of company ESG performance and sustainability reporting.
Attendees learned how to adapt your ESG strategy to tackle the challenges of the year ahead.
“ESG risks and opportunities are constantly changing and bringing up new challenges. In the last 12 months, we have seen ESG activism, momentum building regarding policy on sustainability, new diversity requirements for public companies and increased focus on net-zero commitments. The ESG integration forum was the only event that brought together the key functions within a public company to tackle the challenges in this rapidly developing space. We believe that businesses don’t operate in silos, and neither should our events!” – Steven Wade, head of event content, Corporate Secretary and IR Magazine.
The format, far removed from a traditional conference, consisted of fast-paced panel discussions, exclusive investor Q&A, face-to-face networking and topical roundtable discussions. Attendees included investors, analysts, IR, governance and sustainability professionals at publicly listed companies from the UK and Europe.
09:00 AM
Registration and networking
09:30 AM
Welcome to the ESG Integration Forum – Europe
09:40 AM
Keynote panel: Embedding ESG in your core business strategy
In this panel our C-suite speakers will help set the scene by providing a top-down perspective on ESG. We’ll discuss how companies can integrate ESG into the highest level of corporate strategy in a way that aligns with long-term investor needs.
Moderator: Steve Wade, head of event content, IR Magazine and Corporate Secretary
Derek Harding, CFO, Spectris
Richard Lacaille, senior advisor and ESG lead, State Street
10:10 AM
ESG in context: Navigating new regulatory and market forces
Alongside changing shareholder priorities, public companies across Europe are facing a wave of new ESG regulation. In this panel, we’ll bring you up to date on some of the key changes, and how IR and governance teams should prepare.
Moderator: Tim Human, senior reporter, IR Magazine
William Houston, senior investor relations and ESG manager, BAT
Lili Huang, head of investor relations, discoverIE Group
10:40 AM
Morning refreshments and networking break
11:00 AM
Sending the right message: Trends in ESG communicating, reporting and storytelling
Developing a robust and holistic ESG strategy is crucial, but it is just as important to ensure this strategy is communicated to all stakeholders in an impactful and succinct way. Here our panellists will discuss how best to tell your ESG story effectively and share their own insight when it comes to ESG reporting best practices.
Moderator: Laurence Taylor, senior conference producer, IR Magazine and Corporate Secretary
Seb Beloe, partner, head of research, WHEB Asset Management
Charles Chalkly, investor relations & ESG senior manager, Hays
Tish Crawford-Jones, investor relations, director, Q4
11:45 AM
Overcoming the challenges to ESG data collection
Collecting robust and reliable data is often cited as one of the biggest challenges when it comes to developing effective ESG targets and measuring progress. In this session, our speakers will share their own approach to ESG data gathering, ranging from scope 1 to scope 3 emissions, and discuss how best to identify which issues are most material to your business.
Moderator: Tim Human, senior reporter, IR Magazine
Juliette Faure, VP, sustainability strategist, BlackRock Systematic
Benedicte Hautefort, co-founder and CEO, Scalens
12:30 PM
Lunch
13:30 PM
Taking a holistic approach to environmentalism: Decarbonization, biodiversity and water use
When addressing the ‘E’ of ESG, climate is understandably in the spotlight. But investors are increasingly interested in other topics, in particular around nature-related risks and opportunities. In this panel we will look at some of the key concerns shareholders have when it comes to decarbonization, biodiversity and water use, and how public companies can integrate nature into decision making.
Moderator: Laurence Taylor, senior conference producer, IR Magazine and Corporate Secretary
Roslyn Stein, head of climate and biodiversity, AXA Group
Sarah Woodfield, active ownership manager, Schroders
14:15 PM
Building a governance structure focused on ESG
In this panel our speakers will discuss how to effectively oversee and govern ESG processes, including setting organization-wide ESG KPIs, building board leadership on ESG issues and setting up cross-divisional sub-committees.
Moderator: Laurence Taylor, senior conference producer, IR Magazine and Corporate Secretary
Liana Logiurato, NED Intesa Sanpaolo, Board Advisor
14:45 PM
What investors want: How are shareholder needs changing with regards to ESG?
Our panel of experts will answer any questions you have about how investors are integrating ESG into their investment decisions. Understand their key ESG priorities for 2023.
Moderator: Steve Wade, head of event content, IR Magazine and Corporate Secretary
Nick Spooner, climate change engagement specialist, Robeco
Jana Jevcakova, managing director – head of ESG international, Morrow Sodali
Sara Woodfield, active ownership manager, Schroders
15:30 PM
Champagne roundtables: Exchange ideas with your peers in sector-specific discussions
How the roundtables work:
Roundtable topics include:
Steve Wade, head of event content, IR Magazine and Corporate Secretary
Tim Human, senior reporter, IR Magazine
Laurence Taylor, senior conference producer, IR Magazine and Corporate Secretary
16:30 PM
Closing remarks and networking drinks
Laurence Taylor, senior conference producer, IR Magazine and Corporate Secretary
We're adding new speakers every day! To inquire about speaking opportunities, please contact [email protected]
William Houston
Senior investor relations and ESG manager
BAT
Roslyn Stein
Head of climate and biodiversity
AXA Group
Roslyn Stein is Head of Climate and Biodiversity at AXA Group, a worldwide leader in insurance and asset management headquartered in Paris, France. In this role she is responsible for the overall coordination of AXA Group’s Climate Strategy, TCFD reporting, and biodiversity engagements. Roslyn is currently an active member of the Taskforce on Nature Related Financial Disclosures Metrics and Targets Working Group and is working with peers and the TNFD Secretariat to develop recommendations on decision-useful nature-related metrics. Prior to joining AXA, Roslyn practised law at magic circle law firms in Sydney and Paris. She holds a combined Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Laws with Honours from the University of Sydney and a Masters in Sustainable Development and Organisations with Honours from Paris Dauphine University.
Tim Human
Senior reporter
IR Magazine
Sarah Woodfield
Active ownership manager
Schroders
Charles Chalky
Investor relations & ESG senior manager
Hays
Lili Huang
Head of investor relations
discoverIE group
Laurence Taylor
Senior conference producer
IR Magazine and Corporate Secretary
Steve Wade
Head of event content
IR Magazine and Corporate Secretary
Tish Crawford-Jones
Investor relations, director
Q4
Bénédicte Hautefort
Co-founder and CEO
Scalens
Bénédicte Hautefort is co-founder and CEO of Scalens, She created Hebdo des AG in 2018, as spin-off of Equitystories Finance PR firm, which she also created in 2014. Bénédicte is often asked to speak in various conferences related to corporate governance and financial communication, and holds a weekly column in the newspaper Challenges for which she shares her views on how French corporates and investors are acting. Bénédicte is also a director of Groupe Flo, Chairman of the Audit Committee, and member of the Supervisory Board of JCDecaux, also a member of the Audit Committee. Bénédicte started her career as an auditor in financial and corporate strategic management at Arthur Andersen, then Péchiney, before creating in 2003 a first PR financial agency, InvestorSight, which was merged with Havas Paris in 2009. She graduated from French top business school HEC Paris.
Seb Beloe
Partner, head of research
WHEB Asset Management
Nick Spooner
Climate engagement specialist
Robeco
Liana Logiurato
Non executive director, ISP
Board advisor
Juliette Faure
VP, sustainability strategist
BlackRock Systematic
Juliette Faure, VP at BlackRock is leading the sustainability strategy for the Systematic Active Investments platform. As part of her role Juliette defines and implements the global platform’s business strategy on sustainability, including sustainable product development, regulatory implementation and reporting initiatives across BlackRock Systematic. Previously, Juliette was part of the BlackRock Sustainable Investing team where she was focused on global ESG integration efforts.
Jana Jevcakova
Managing director, head of ESG international
Morrow Sodali
Rick Lacaille
Global head of ESG
State Street
Derek Harding
CFO
Spectris
Our attendees are leading governance, IR and sustainability practitioners with an established track record and strategic governance or IR role within their company.
Below is a sample of some of our attendees:
Job title | Company | Job title | Company |
Associate director, investor relations & communications | Liminal BioSciences | Head of ESG integration | Schroders |
CEO | Ellinghorst IR | Head of investor relations | discoverIE Group |
CFO | Spectris | Head of investor relations | Mister Spex |
Director | Instinctif Partners | Head of IR | TT Eletctronics |
Director of capital markets & ESG | CRH | Head, IR | Caverion Corporation |
Director of investor relations and sustainability | Galata Wind | Managing director – legal group | Accenture |
Director, ESG | Micro Focus | MD | Rothschild & Co |
Director, investment stewardship research | Morningstar | Partner | Deloitte |
ESG director | Zabka Polska | Partner, head of research | WHEB Asset Management |
Financial communication & investor relations vice president | Imerys | SVP and head of investor relations | Iron Mountain |
Head of climate and biodiversity | AXA Group | VP finance | Seplat Energy |
Head of corporate responsibility | Ascential Plc | VP IR & ESG | Hexagon Composites |
Head of environmental transaction services | Tetra Tech | VP, sustainability strategist | Blackrock Systematic |
Why partner with us?
The ESG Integration Forum – Europe brings together some of the most influential people in the IR and governance communities.
The event offers an effective approach to targeting clients when they are exploring how they can improve their ESG practice. Through our unrivalled knowledge of the subject matters and commitment to in-depth agenda research, our events are guaranteed to attract a qualified audience.
The unique buzz we create at our hybrid events – a far cry from a traditional conference – makes them multi-faceted and highly interactive with great engagement in particular from heads of IR and governance teams. This allows our partners to have meaningful conversations with corporates who are deciding which parts of their ESG program to invest in, which service providers to engage and which consultants to retain. By partnering with us on an event, you can generate leads, showcase your thought leadership and position yourselves as the partner of choice to the IR and governance communities.
We’d love to have a chat with you about how you can get in front of a truly engaged and motivated audience. Get in touch with Ross Ingram or call on +44 78265 38072.
Forum Partners
Morrow Sodali is the leading global consultancy specializing in shareholder services, corporate governance, proxy solicitation and capital markets transactions. The firm provides corporate boards and executives with strategic advice and services relating to a broad range of activities, including: mergers and acquisitions, annual general and extraordinary shareholder meetings, dissident and contested campaigns, shareholder activist initiatives and multinational cross-border equity and debt transactions.
From headquarters in New York and London and nine offices in major capital markets, Morrow Sodali serves more than 700 corporate clients in 40 countries, including many of the world’s largest multinational corporations. In addition to listed and private companies, its clients include mutual funds, stock exchanges, membership associations and activist investors.
For more information, visit morrowsodali.com.
Q4 is the fastest growing cloud-based investor relations and capital market solutions to the IR Industry with over 1,200 clients. Public companies the world over (many of which are Fortune 1000 brands) look to our leading web and intelligence solutions to power successful (and award winning) IR programs — and to better connect with their investors, make more effective decisions, and understand the capital markets.
Learn more at www.q4inc.com
Scalens, digitises the whole relation of listed companies with their shareholders and investors. From investment to voting, presentation of results at general meetings, recruitment of directors to executive compensations, the digital solutions developed by Scalens facilitate financial and extra-financial communication. Scalens relies on a unique and strong trademark: data collected in the field by experts assisted by technology; and online benchmarking tools, configurable at will and immediately operational, mixing the documents published by the companies with this exclusive data.
For more information, please visit our website.
Supporting Partners
Since 1991, AERI has been bringing together the most relevant IR professionals and other stakeholders in Spain, focusing on the development of best practices, but also on providing the best possible options for networking. AERI Members are well known for their top performance in the capital markets, always developing the highest standards in the Investor Relations world.
For more information, please visit www.aeri.es
For more information, please visit www.associazioneir.it
For more information, please visit www.ir-romania.ro.
Supporting the Investors Relations in Belgium. We are a community that actively exchanges experiences and ideas around investor relations. We help people grow active in investor relations by networking, knowledge exchange & meetings.
For more information, please visit www.belgian-ir.be
Created in 1987, the Cliff is the French association of financial communication professionals and is a recognized voice for the profession in France. With an active programme fostering the sharing of experiences, of expertise and of evolving topics, a successful education training programme in partnership with a renowned French University (Paris-Dauphine) and its contribution to the annual publication of the “Financial Communications: Framework and Practices” together with the OCF, the Cliff helps promote the status of Investor Relations professionals.
For more information, please visit www.cliff.asso.fr
Deutsche Börse Cash Market champions regulated and transparent markets that enable efficient, safe and fair securities trading. We provide solutions for efficiently raising and allocating capital, in this way laying important foundations for the real economy. Through this commitment, we make a valuable contribution to ensuring the exchanges fulfil their macroeconomic role.
Our product portfolio and services cover the admission of securities to trading – according to recognised rules and in customised markets. In the form of Xetra® and Börse Frankfurt, we operate two of the world’s most renowned trading platforms where prices are determined on the exchange and, thanks to the central counterparty (CCP), with minimum default risk for stock and bond transactions.
For more information, please visit: deutsche-boerse.com.
One service we offer is the Deutsches Eigenkapitalforum:
From 22 – 24 November 2021, listed companies and startups will present themselves in front of international institutional investors, financial analysts and press. During these three days, several thousand 1-on-1 meetings between investors, analysts and company representatives will take place. More than 170 companies have already registered for the Deutsches Eigenkapitalforum. Take advantage of an active dialogue with investors and companies from all over the world and participate in a forum programme on current capital market topics.
For more information regarding the Deutsches Eigenkapitalforum, please visit: www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCtWwyCWjEM.
About DIRF
The Danish Investor Relations Society (DIRF) was established by investor relations officers, financial and communications executives in a few Danish companies in 1988. The objective was and still is to promote communication between listed companies and their investors thereby increasing investor interest in Danish shares and company bonds.
DIRF represents some 270 members from approximately 100 companies. Members are primarily listed companies, and the member base represents about 95 per cent of the Danish market cap. However, also not-listed companies, organisations, service providers and consultants working with financial communications are represented, cf. DIRF members list.
DIRF activities
The DIRF network seeks to meet its objectives by arranging members’ meetings and conferences dealing with current IR-topics, sessions with academics researching in IR-related areas, trends and new ways of performing the IR-profession, new media developments, new evaluation methods, and once a year the Copenhagen Stock Exchange hosts a network meeting etc. Members’ meetings normally take place 5-6 times a year.
For more information, please visit www.dirf.dk.
Governance & Accountability Institute, Inc. (G&A) is an ESG and sustainability consulting firm, founded in 2006 and based in New York, helping clients become leaders in corporate sustainability and corporate responsibility. We understand and advise on the important ways that institutional investors – asset owners and their asset managers – evaluate opportunities to invest in public and private companies. We also help savvy and enlightened corporate executives position their enterprises for success in the “new norms” of the capital markets.
For more information, please visit ga-institute.com.
IR Club is a well-established investor relations community that allows IR professionals to network with peers from all over the world.
IR Club was formed in 2011, to address the need for an online investor relations community. Since then, it has become an overwhelming success and has around 1,400 members!
The main objectives of IR Club include the promotion of networking, communication, exchange and transfer of knowledge among investor relations professionals – we are particularly interested in the use of social media in investor relations.
IR Club is open to anyone interested in investor relations such as scientists, students and those wishing to make a career change. For the opportunity to mingle with practising IROs at all levels, as well consultants and service providers. Colleagues from the areas of private equity, open-end and closed-end funds, unlisted companies and of course all those who deal with the communication with lenders (creditor relations / fixed income) are welcome, too – we are all one ecosystem.
It takes no time to register as a member and it’s free of charge!
IR Club
Patrick Kiss
Email: [email protected]
Tel.: +49 177 232 0001
The IR club Schweiz was founded 1992 to promote the interests of the IR profession among Switzerland’s publicly-quoted companies. It is an interactive forum for the exchange of ideas, the discussion of current IR issues and the development of practical solutions.
For more information, please visit www.irclub.ch.
Turkish Investor Relations Society – TUYID, founded in 2009, is designed to foster collaborative ties among investor relations professionals and the constituencies which they serve such as management, shareholders, bondholders, private investors, analysts, employees, government, corporate customers and media, at both the corporate and personal levels, with a view to develop professional know-how, to be a reference center and to elevate Turkish investor relations applications on a par with global standards.
Our mission is to contribute to the promotion of the Turkish markets, provide assistance for Turkish companies to achieve fair market value for their capital market instruments and to support Turkish capital markets to gain depth and resilience.
For more information, please visit www.tuyid.org.
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