Webinar: ESG investing: Hot air, or here to stay?

About the event

The Covid-19 outbreak threw the spotlight on the importance of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing. It prompted investors to find ways to limit the effects of climate change and create positive social impact through their investing dollars.

But high oil prices tied to the Russia-Ukraine war this year have distracted some investors away from the ESG investing agenda. Naysayers also continue to think that ESG investing is a mere fad.

Join Min Axthelm, Director of Investment Research at Endowus, together with Yasunori Iwanaga, Chief Responsible Investment Officer at Amundi Japan and Mervyn Tang, Head of Sustainability Strategy at Schroders, as they tackle the tough questions on ESG investing.

• Why has the ongoing war hurt the ESG investing landscape?
• Is ESG investing still relevant amid inflation and recession risks?
• Should investors reset their expectations about ESG investing today?
• How serious are greenwashing risks now?

About the speakers

Min Axthelm, Director of Investment Research, Endowus

Min Axthelm is the Director of Investment Research at Endowus, a leading digital wealth platform in Asia.

In her current role, Min leads the efforts at Endowus’ Investment Office on research and content creation on the macro market and asset allocation, portfolio construction & optimisation and investment manager due diligence. She also works closely with the Product team on product research and development.

Min has more than a decade of experience in the investment industry, including fund manager due diligence and asset management, and joined Endowus from Morgan Stanley in New York, where she was Lead Analyst with its Wealth Management Global Investment Office, overseeing the due diligence process from inception to completion for US Equity strategies and mutual funds.

Mervyn Tang, Head of Sustainability Strategy, APAC, Schroders

Mervyn Tang is responsible for Schroders’ Sustainability Strategy in the Asia Pacific. In this role he works in partnership with our client facing and product teams to build our sustainable investment propositions across the region and leads the company’s Regional Centre of Excellence for Sustainability.

Prior to this he was Global Head of ESG Research at Fitch Ratings from 2019 to 2021, overseeing a research team of 4 analysts across London and Hong Kong which primarily focus on thematic and cross sector ESG research.

Mervyn was also Head of Fixed Income, ESG Research, at MSCI from 2017 to 2019, a Sovereign credit analyst at Fitch Ratings from 2015 to 2017, an Economist at the Bank of England from 2009 to 2015, and an Equities Sales Analyst at Citigroup in London from 2007 to 2009.

Yasunori Iwanaga, PhD, CFA, Chief Responsible Investment Officer at Amundi Japan

Yasunori Iwanaga represents Amundi in Japan on responsible investment and oversees the local stewardship activities. He joined Amundi Japan in 2014 as CIO and headed its investment platform for six years.

Prior to this role, Yas was a managing director and CIO at BlackRock Japan, the former Barclays Global Investors Japan. He started his career in the asset management industry in 1997 at the former Nippon Credit Bank.

Yas earned his BA in law from Hitotsubashi University, MBA from the Wharton School, the University of Pennsylvania, and PhD in Finance from EDHEC Risk Institute.

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