Bay/Wall Street and Sustainability: Does your CSR Report Resonate with Investors?

BREAKING NEWS: Sustainable Business Practices Dramatically Boost Stock Valuations

Did you read this title and think, “it’s about time?” Unfortunately, the title is more future prediction than current fact. Bay/Wall Street often fails to appreciate the proven bottom line benefits of sustainable business practices. But on February 5th TSSS is excited to launch its 2015 season with a distinguished panel of experts that will discuss how corporations can have their sustainable development (SD) work more accurately reflected in their stock valuation.

Ask yourself:

Does your company’s CSR Report resonate with the investment community? Does it tell analysts and money managers the information that they need to know? Is the information actionable for immediate investment decisions? At the end of the day, are your sustainability efforts reflected in your company’s stock price? If the answer is NO and the capital markets are not rewarding your sustainability efforts then this event is for you.

ENGAGE DIRECTLY WITH THE PANELISTS VIA OUR LIVESTREAM AND TWITTERCHAT #tssschat
REGISTER FOR LIVESTREAM BELOW

Distinguished Guests:

Ian McPherson

Martin Grosskopf

Julie Desjardins

Ian McPherson, Launched Canada’s 1st Global Clean Energy Fund & Chairs the Investment Committee of the United Church of Canada
Martin Grosskopf, Vice President and Portfolio Manager, Director of Sustainable Investing at AGF
Julie Desjardins, President at Desjardins & Associates Consulting Inc., Co-author of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Issues in Institutional Investor Decision Making

Moderator: Dr. Blair Feltmate, Associate Professor and Director of Sustainability Practice, University of Waterloo

DATE: Thursday, February 5, 2015 (registration closes February 3rd)
TIME: 4:30-7:30 EST (snacks & networking from 6:45-7:30)
LOCATION: Loyalty One, 438 University Ave., 12th Floor, Toronto (use elevators on the left in the lobby)
TWITTERCHAT: #tssschat from 5:15 – 6:00 PM EST
LIVESTREAM available: Register for password

Register Now

During the event we will explore some the of the following:

Why most money managers on Bay/Wall Street aren’t using sustainability reporting in their investment decisions
5 Sustainable Development (SD) metrics that can help money managers better understand your company’s investment opportunity
Why GRI metrics simply don’t hit the radar for the vast majority of money managers (or Boards of Directors or Senior Managers)
How companies can re-frame the conversation with investors to ensure a more accurate stock valuation
How money managers and analysts can sharpen their analytical skills to better assess the ROI opportunity of sustainability megatrends

Agenda:

4:30 – 5:00 pm: Registration, snacks and networking
5:00 – 5:15 pm: Introductions and special announcements
5:15 – 6:00 pm: Panel Discussion: Ian McPherson, Martin Grosskopf & Julie Desjardins
6:00 – 6:15 pm: Small group discussion/brainstorming
6:15 – 6:25 pm: Groups report back to main audience
6:25 – 6:45 pm: General Q and A
6:45 – 7:30 pm: Networking and snacks

Register Now

Breakout Session:

During the breakout session the audience will form small groups to discuss what they think are the biggest reasons why Bay/Wall St. is drastically underutilizing sustainability reporting in investment decisions AND what companies can do to reverse this reality. During the idea harvesting phase, several groups will be asked to share the highlights of their discussion with the general audience.

About Our Panelists:

Ian McPherson has been an Investment banker in London and Toronto for 17 years and is a pioneer in the world of sustainable investment. In 2007, as the President of Criterion Investments, Ian launched Canada’s first Global Clean Energy Fund and first Water Infrastructure Fund. Ian is a Certified Investment Manager, was the CFO (9 years) of Canada’s first income trust in the financial services sector and has written over 30 annual reports. He is also the Chair of the Investment Committee of the United Church of Canada which is a new signatory to the UN Principles for Responsible Investment.

Martin Grosskopf is Vice President & Portfolio Manager and Director of Sustainable Investments at AGF. Martin brings a unique perspective to the analysis of potential investments using a sustainable thematic framework. Martin obtained his MES from York University and an MBA from the Schulich School of Business and NIMBAS. Martin applies his knowledge of environmental technologies and global sustainable development trends to help optimize investment decisions. Martin has worked in the investment industry since 2000 and prior to this worked as an environmental scientist with a large Canadian engineering firm and as a project manager with the Canadian Standards Association, facilitating the development of the ISO 9000 and 14000 standards. Since 2003, Martin has been a member of the UNEP Asset Management Working Group through which he has been involved in seminal research on ESG integration within institutional investment management. A frequent speaker, Martin focusses on the topics of ESG integration, thematic investing and clean technologies.

Julie Desjardins is a Chartered Professional Accountant, Chartered Accountant, with over 20 years of business consulting experience. As President of Desjardins & Associates Consulting Inc., Julie has advised multinational corporations, provincial and national accounting bodies, Canadian securities regulators, provincial and federal governments and thought-leadership organizations on issues related to corporate reporting, including sustainability reporting. She has been an invited international and national speaker on business reporting, climate change and sustainability issues. She has authored or co-authored a number of publications including The Measurement of Shareholder Value Creation, Management’s Discussion & Analysis (MD&A): Guidance on Preparation and Disclosure, Financial Reporting Disclosures about Social, Environmental and Ethical Issues, Environmental Performance: Measuring and Managing What Matters, Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Issues in Institutional Investor Decision Making, Briefing on Sustainability: Questions for Directors to Ask about Environmental and Social Issues, A Primer for Environmental and Social Disclosure.

Dr. Blair Feltmate is Associate Professor, and Director of Sustainability Practice, in the School of Environment, Enterprise and Development (SEED), Faculty of Environment, University of Waterloo. He is also Intact Chair, Climate Change Adaptation Project – Canada. Dr. Feltmate is a key researcher in two areas: identifying the value of sustainable development to specific industries, and establishing a pragmatic climate change adaptation plan for Canada.

He has appeared as an expert in a number of programs including CBC’s DocZone and The Current, and his writings have appeared in national print media including The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star, The National Post and the (TSSS) Toronto Sustainability Speaker Series.